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IRISH INDEPENDENT (Dublin, Ireland) 29 August 06 Viper room New home for stowaway snake (Anne Lucey)

A deadly horn-nosed viper found in a box of imported stone cladding has been found a home in a zoo.

The snake, pictured above by Domnick Walsh - is the most lethal of the European snakes and a native of South Eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It was discovered in a building site in the village of Ballyduff in north Kerry last Thursday in a palette of stone imported from Greece.

Entomologist and snake expert John Lavery identified it for the Kerry branch of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (KSPCA). Yesterday he accompanied the snake from its secret location to the animal shelter in Tralee where it was introduced to the press .

Mr Lavery said the snake, which has a green tip to its tail, had been up to two months in the palette where it was kept warm by a plastic seal on the material.

"At the very most it is six months old," he said.

The snake had not eaten in weeks and had folds in its skin, he said. However it was now dining well on live mice. The small snake was able to extend its mouth around a young mouse and swallow it whole.

The odds of the snake surviving such a journey were huge, Mr Lavery added.

It was a most dangerous snake but would only strike when it was warm enough and when disturbed. It was now being kept in temperatures of around 30c.

Talks have been taking place between the Department of Agriculture, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and Sean Buckley the owner of the Coolwood Wildlife and exotic animal sanctuary in Killarney where arrangements were being put in place to give the snake a home.

The KSPCA's chief officer Harry McDaid said he now regularly receives calls from the public about exotic species such as spiders and lizards found in imported vegetables and fruit.

However this was the first highly dangerous snake they had come across.

His advice was not to touch any such unidentified species and to contact the Department of Agriculture or the KSPCA. Mr McDaid praised the reactions of the young building worker who had "the sixth sense not to touch the snake".
Viper room New home for stowaway snake

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