STAR-NEWS (Wilmington, N Carolina) 19 August 06 This is not a fangless job (Angela Mack)

It was just an experiment.

But when Tanith Tyrr climbed inside the Cape Fear Serpentarium's king cobra cage at 11:30 a.m. Friday, it could've turned deadly.

Seated in a comfy blue airplane chair, Tyrr waved to spectators, flipped through a book and talked on her cell phone while a 15-foot cobra lay feet away in the 90-degree heat.

"She's keeping one eye on the snake and one eye on the book," said Delco resident Mary Beth Bordeaux as she and her daughters English, 9, and Darla, 6, watched in amazement.

Darla called Tyrr "brave" for jumping in the cage with the snake.

"I wouldn't do it," English said.

Tyrr, a curator for the serpentarium's reptile collection, was determined to prove her theory that snakes aren't the aggressive, volatile animals projected in movies like Snakes on a Plane, which hit theaters Friday. In the movie, an assassin traveling on a flight across the Pacific Ocean lets a crate of deadly snakes loose in an effort to kill another passenger.

"Snakes are always depicted as evil villains. Snakes are not like that," Tyrr said. "They're peaceful animals who just want to be left alone."

The king cobra, however, is the longest venomous snake in the world, reaching a length of 18 feet. Its venom is powerful enough to kill a full-grown elephant, said Scott McKenzie, assistant director of the Cape Fear Serpentarium.

No deadly charges were made in Tyrr's direction.

Baron Samedi - the serpentarium's king cobra named after the Caribbean god of death - hardly made a move once Tyrr entered its domain. It slithered inside of a wooden log where it remained for most of the hourlong demonstration. Another demonstration is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 27.

Wilmington resident James Davis said the event didn't prove anything to him since the snake was probably used to living outside of its natural habitat and didn't feel threatened.

"If you're in the woods and step up on a rattlesnake, it's either you or him," he said. "One more step and it's a done deal."

But Davis admits that he would've quickly exited the building if the cobra made the wrong move.

"I'd be a track star in five minutes," he said.
This is not a fangless job

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