HOUSTON, Texas – A deadly cobra held police at bay until a pest control company removed the animal. Residents of a luxury high-rise in downtown Houston called police to the scene.
Houston police reported that residents of the complex called when they noticed a two-foot long albino monocled cobra on the loose on the third floor, according to a report on KTRK-ABC13. When police arrived they used a broom to corner the snake until help arrived. Eventually, police contained the snake and turned it over to an animal control company.
“I look down and for a second your brain does not compute what that is, right? ‘Cause you’re in a high rise and you don’t expect that,” condo resident Jan Johnson told KTRK. “And I’m looking and looking and it moved and we screamed and we ran back into the apartment and shut the door. And then we opened it and we were like, ‘What’s going on out there?'”
Brian Moss, with A All Animal Control, said the snake is deadly and very dangerous. He took the snake into custody, but it was eventually euthanized.
Moss said they were unable to find anyone to take the snake. He said not many people are interested in this type of snake because of its aggressive nature.
“One misstep and one of them would have been in a hospital quick,” Moss said about the high-rise residents. “This is one of the deadliest snakes in the world.”
This is the second cobra event in Texas in as many weeks. Earlier this month, Breitbart Texas reported that Grant Thompson, 18, was found unresponsive in his car in Austin, Texas. Rescuers noticed snake bites on his wrist. The Temple, Texas, man was transported to the hospital where he later died. He owned a monocled cobra and it had escaped from its cage in his car. The cobra was later found on the highway feeder road near the scene where Thompson was found. The snake had been killed by a vehicle running over its head.
The monocled cobras are indigenous to Southeast Asia. They remain legal to own in Texas. This particular species of cobra is distinctive because of the circle pattern on its head that resembles a monocle.
At this time, it is not known who owned the snake found in the Houston high-rise. It is also not known how the snake found its way to the third floor of the building.
Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and on Facebook.