Samstwitch
Senior Member
Thief Steals Car, Finds Out It's Filled with Snakes, Turtles, and Spiders
Let's call this karma.
A thief in Englewood, Colorado stole a car on Thursday -and the vehicle was filled with snakes, turtles, spiders, and other critters.
The owner of the SUV is Phil Rakoci, a local man who travels to schools and parties to teach people about reptiles, NBCNews.com tells us.
Among the guests in Rakoci's car when it was stolen: a 50-pound tortoise, a 13-foot Burmese python, a rattlesnake, five other (non-poisonous) snakes, three scorpions, five lizards, two turtles, one gecko, and one tarantula, according to the article.
That thief is lucky the snakes didn't have what scientists are calling "made snake disease."
The disorder makes the snakes act sort of drunk-they throw up, stare blankly for long spells, and tie themselves into knots, the Huffington Post tells us.
In August, scientists made big strides toward figuring out what the mysterious disease might be. They know believe arenaviruses-something seen before in rodents and mammals but never reptiles-are causing the odd behavior.
Scientists studied the disease again when man snakes at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco came down with the sickness. They're still not sure how it spreads from one animal to another.
One defense tactic you probably shouldn't try on reptiles, even if they're disabled by mad snake disease: biting--though that's just what one Nepali man did.
A cobra bit Mohamed Salmo Miya, so the man reacted by doing the same--and killing the animal in the process, MSNBC.com tells us.
The 55-year-old man said he could have just killed the animal with a stick, but he was angry, so he gave the creature the same treatment he got. Miya, fortunately, survived the bit.
Let's call this karma.
A thief in Englewood, Colorado stole a car on Thursday -and the vehicle was filled with snakes, turtles, spiders, and other critters.
The owner of the SUV is Phil Rakoci, a local man who travels to schools and parties to teach people about reptiles, NBCNews.com tells us.
Among the guests in Rakoci's car when it was stolen: a 50-pound tortoise, a 13-foot Burmese python, a rattlesnake, five other (non-poisonous) snakes, three scorpions, five lizards, two turtles, one gecko, and one tarantula, according to the article.
That thief is lucky the snakes didn't have what scientists are calling "made snake disease."
The disorder makes the snakes act sort of drunk-they throw up, stare blankly for long spells, and tie themselves into knots, the Huffington Post tells us.
In August, scientists made big strides toward figuring out what the mysterious disease might be. They know believe arenaviruses-something seen before in rodents and mammals but never reptiles-are causing the odd behavior.
Scientists studied the disease again when man snakes at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco came down with the sickness. They're still not sure how it spreads from one animal to another.
One defense tactic you probably shouldn't try on reptiles, even if they're disabled by mad snake disease: biting--though that's just what one Nepali man did.
A cobra bit Mohamed Salmo Miya, so the man reacted by doing the same--and killing the animal in the process, MSNBC.com tells us.
The 55-year-old man said he could have just killed the animal with a stick, but he was angry, so he gave the creature the same treatment he got. Miya, fortunately, survived the bit.