TORONTO STAR (Ontario) 03 January 07 3-month hunt for cobra puts bite on landlord (Michele Henry)
The problem with snakes is they don't leave footprints.
And the cobra still presumed to be living in a west-end rooming house hasn't left tracks either.
Aside from a few sightings more than three months ago, the deadly scaled fugitive has vanished without a trace.
The hunt for the venomous snake has shut down the rooming house, sent its five tenants packing and left the landlord, Philip Belanger, $20,000 poorer from lost rent and damage. Belanger says he's heard estimates that the City of Toronto has spent $100,000 in its bid to find the snake, calling in the police, fire department, paramedics and experts from the Toronto Zoo and Animal Services. The city will not confirm any figure.
"The thing about snakes is they've evolved to be elusive," Josh Feltham, a reptile expert, says. "If I was that snake I'd be having a great time in that house. There's food around. It can explore. What more do you need ... A female maybe."
Feltham, general manager of Reptilia, a reptile zoo in Vaughan, is also a snake hunter. He's putting his expertise and University of Toronto science degree to use to try to catch the cobra.
Called in by City of Toronto Animal Services, he's the latest hope in a string of attempts to end a three-month standoff between man and beast.
Belanger, 46, also a funeral director, has his fingers crossed. He just wants this drama to end.
"It's getting iffy as to how much further I'm going to go," he says. "This is crazy." He may have to sell the house, which he inherited from his late father, but isn't thrilled about potentially losing money on a property that is currently uninhabitable. Described by those who've seen it, the cobra is white with mottled brown and red skin. A bite from it can kill unless an antidote is quickly administered. It could be hiding in a few nooks within the western portion of Belanger's Victorian semi-detached house near Weston Rd. and Church St.
Yellow tape still surrounds the property at 16 Church St., which was sealed off by Toronto Public Health Sept. 30 after Belanger and a couple of tenants saw the snake coiled behind the fridge the day before.
A week later, Belanger caught a glimpse of the cobra in the basement ceiling. He removed a recessed light and peered into the dark gap with a mirror to find the snake hissing in his direction.
The cobra was last heard from on Oct. 2 when officials from the Toronto Zoo and Animal Services heard it slithering, once again, in the basement ceiling.
The cobra was owned by Helder Claro, the former tenant of 18 Church St. - the other half of the semi-detached house. Claro, who has a history of keeping dangerous animals in his home, fled the premises in September. Animal Services charged him with harbouring prohibited animals, an offence that carries a maximum $5,000 fine. He is now in custody awaiting trial on unrelated charges.
The house, built more than 100 years ago as one dwelling and later divided into a semi, has made the snake's commute from one side to the other easy. The cobra could serpentine its way through the joists between the hardwood floors and drywall ceiling.
That's where it's been spotted before, and where there is evidence of previous attempts to nab it. Drywall's been ripped out. Heat lamps have been placed strategically about the basement to coax the cold-blooded creature to the light.
Feltham thinks it might be staked out in a dirt-filled crawl space under the kitchen.
Snakes can slow their metabolism and under certain conditions can go for six months without eating, he says.
Even though there are signs of rodents - snake food - on the premises, chances are good, Feltham says, the cobra's hunkered down, not moving, in a dark crevice waiting for spring.
The likelihood it has left the house is slim, he adds, because it wouldn't survive the cold.
Feltham's confident he'll be victorious in his mission. "Snake people are generally very patient people," he says. "I'm catching this snake ... if it's alive."
3-month hunt for cobra puts bite on landlord

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