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680 NEWS (Toronto, Ontario) 07 October 06 Spitting cobra on the loose in city's west end (Jason Satur)
A poisonous spitting cobra is on the loose in Toronto's west end.
As of late Saturday morning, Animal Control continued to catch the deadly snake roaming around a semi-detached home near Church and Weston.
Anti-venom for a bite from this particular type of snake isn't readily available in Canada according to police.
The snake is thought to be owned by a tenant in the home who once had a pet store.
Saturday's visit is not the first time Animal Control officials have been at the house. Last week they seized another snake and a komodo dragon.
Spitting cobra on the loose in city's west end

TORONTO SUN (Ontario) 08 October 06 Sneaky snake on the loose (Brodie Fenlon)
You half expect Samuel L. Jackson to bust down the door and shout, "I've had it with these mother----ing snakes in this mother----ing house."
But there are no hissss-trionics on this quiet street in Weston, where a cobra-like reptile is snaked out somewhere inside a two-storey roominghouse.
Instead, two serious-minded animal control officers stepped carefully into the building yesterday at 16 Church St., just north of Weston Rd. and Lawrence Ave. W., as they've done regularly since Sept. 27 when a tenant first spotted the creature coiled behind the refrigerator.
It's as long as 2 1/2 metres, prone to getting its back up, and a champion at hide-and-go-seek.
Despite its minuscule brain, the snake is a gigantic nightmare for landlord Philip Belanger, who has scrambled to house and feed his five male tenants after they were forced out by the animal.
"I've had a few sleepless nights. I'm dreaming about snakes," he said with a laugh. "I just really don't know what to think."
In just 10 days, the slippery reptile has forced an evacuation of the building, the basement ceiling to be ripped out, and a request for antivenom -- just in case -- from officials in New York.
It has also prompted visits by police, fire, paramedics, the Toronto Zoo, animal control and Toronto Public Health, which slapped a ban on occupancy of the building by order of the city's medical officer of health, Dr. David McKeown.
"The snake is living in the walls. It's a dark place, a secure place and it can live off mice once a week," said Toronto public health spokesman Rishma Govani.
"The snake is loving it. It's in snake heaven."
When Belanger first saw the snake behind the fridge last week, he closed the door and called animal control. When he returned, it had disappeared, likely through an old heating grate.
Two days later, he and a tenant heard the snake moving in the basement ceiling. They cornered it between two joists and peered at it using a mirror poked through the hole of a removed pot light.
"I didn't know what kind of snake it was," Belanger recalled. "I actually attempted to catch the thing with a snare and then it puffed up and flared like a cobra. I said, 'Guys, we've got a problem here.'"
Indeed, "all hell broke loose" the following day as the house was surrounded by emergency vehicles and a few police officers who carried weapons, Belanger said.
It's believed the snake came from the unit next door, which neighbours say is rented by a man with a connection to an exotic pet store. He has been seen only a few times since. A few days ago, officials removed a gaboon viper from his unit, Belanger said.
While docile, the gaboon's venom can be fatal and its bite can causes intense pain and swelling in humans.
Meanwhile, the missing snake, believed to be a cobra or python, has so far evaded several searches, special traps and the lure of a heat lamp. If all else fails, Belanger said he will have to fumigate.
Belanger said his primary concern is the welfare of his tenants, whom he put up in other properties he owns. "I can't expect these people to pay me rent. I have to look after these guys."
And he praised officials with animal control and the Toronto Zoo. "They have been so fantastic," he said.
http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/10/08/1978341-sun.html

TORONTO STAR (Ontario) 08 October 06 Deadly spitting cobra on the loose (Nick Kyonka)
If, as the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure, then surely residents of the Church St. and Weston Rd. neighbourhood of Toronto have learned that one snake's heaven is an entire community's nightmare.
For the past week-and-a-half, an escaped spitting cobra has been slithering through a local townhouse, causing two families to leave their homes and giving animal control officials headaches because of its elusive ways. So far, the venomous reptile has been enjoying its vacation away from captivity by hiding out in the walls of the home, well away from the grasping hands that would gladly take it back into custody.
"It's not a public risk because it's contained in the walls, so it won't be moving out that way," said Rishma Govani of Toronto Public Health yesterday. "Basically, the snake is in heaven because it's a dark space that it's in and it's a secure place where it's in and there's mice running around, which it could eat for a couple of weeks."
Who the snake belongs to, how it got loose, and even what species it is are unknown, Govani said, but neighbours have said the creature belonged to one of the building's tenants and the house is well known to animal control services. Govani confirmed animal control had visited the house before, but would not confirm reports other venomous snakes and a Komodo dragon were previously removed from the premises.
Canadian snakes on the loose
- Aug. 7, 2005: A 1.2-metre-long boa constrictor was let loose in Cambridge, Ont., following a break-in. It is illegal to keep exotic pets in Cambridge, but the bylaw is difficult to enforce.
- June 16, 2005: Resident in Newestminster, B.C., were warend to watch out for a snake described as having a head the size of a fist, after it was spotted entering a heating vent in an apartment building.
- July 10, 2004: Pinky, the albino California mountain king snake, had been missing for a week from the Duke family home in Calgary when it came crawling out of a neighbour’s drain.
- July 5, 2003: A 50-centimetre orange-and-black snake was found on a sidewalk in Winnipeg where he had gone to sun himself.
- May 9, 2000: Toronto Public Health department laid 14 charges after venomous snakes were found in an apartment on Queen St. W. and a saw-scale viper - considered to be the deadliest species in the world - got loose. Source: Star files, CP, Compiled by Victoria Kent
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1160259012569&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News

THE STAR (Toronto, Ontario) 09 October 06 Snake in the wall unwanted boarder - Five professionals work to trap cobra - Tenants ordered to vacate rooming house (Michele Henry)
Until he came face to face with the cobra, Willy Ruppenstein didn't believe the reptile he'd heard crawling through the ceiling was anything to worry about.
But the burly resident of a west-end rooming house was shocked nearly two weeks ago to find a 1.5-metre snake hissing and darting its spiked tongue in his direction.
"I walked into the kitchen, moved the fridge and there she was — behind the fridge," Ruppenstein said. "I took a step forward. Then she spread out and I took a step back."
He immediately dialled his landlord, who called Toronto Animal Services. Since that harried moment, when police, fire and other emergency personnel rushed to the scene, a team of five professionals has been working to capture the scaly fugitive.
The brown and green snake has made its home inside the walls of 16 Church St., a semi-detached house near Weston Rd. and Lawrence Ave. W.
Plastered onto both front doors of the building is a sign, posted by Toronto Public Health, advising occupants they are prohibited from living there.
"It's an inconvenience," said Robert Gardner, one of the residents, who peers nervously into the house for any sign of the snake before scurrying inside for a moment to grab some of his belongings.
He, like the other five residents, has been stealing sleep wherever their landlord can find them a bed until everyone is permitted to return to their shared dwelling.
The reptile belonged to a family that lived in the adjoining home, police say, adding a municipal bylaw prohibits anyone from keeping such a venomous animal.
Bob Johnson, curator of reptiles at the Toronto Zoo, says catching the snake has become a waiting game.
"We can find it quickly by tearing down walls," he said, noting that would also destroy the house and so far has not been an option. "We're hoping the snake will come to us."
The venomous reptile, Johnson explains, poses a health and safety risk because if it becomes frightened it will bite. Its poison could potentially kill a human in hours. "They want to be left alone and they don't want to waste precious resources on something they can't eat," Johnson said, noting the zoo, which normally stores anti-venom, has given half its stock to animal services, in case the serum is needed in a hurry.
Philip Belanger, landlord of the rooming house, is taking this experience in stride.
He's had to release mice into the home as a snack for the snake, and his basement's been booby-trapped.
Officials have created an elaborate scheme to coax the reptile toward a heat lamp — cobras like to nestle against lights, says Johnson.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1160345410351&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

TORONTO SUN (Ontario) 09 October 06 Pain in the asp - Cobra still hiding in apartment (Brodie Fenlon)
When a saw-scale viper bit a 26-year-old Barrie man on the thumb last month, a massive operation was launched to get antivenin from a New York zoo to his hospital.
Involved were the OPP, Health Canada, the Toronto Zoo, Air Canada and a curator from the Bronx Zoo, who flew to Canada with several ampoules of the antidote on the first flight he could find.
Now officials have torn apart a Weston rooming house looking for a cobra that appeared out of the blue Sept. 27 and has posed a major headache ever since for an innocent landlord and his displaced tenants.
Such are the costs of reckless exotic pet owners who own and trade venomous snakes despite municipal bylaws that make them illegal, said Bob Johnson, curator of reptiles at the Toronto Zoo.
"Some irresponsible person has caused this hardship for so many people ... There are breeders in Ontario who are breeding venomous snakes right now who are passing them on to young kids," he said.
"These aren't snake lovers. They aren't interested in conservation or snake welfare. They're just interested in profit or some other need they have. It's unfortunate."
There are no provincial or national laws restricting ownership of venomous snakes unless they're endangered.
Johnson has been involved in the Weston case, where a cobra appeared in a Church St. building near Weston Rd. owned by landlord Philip Belanger. It's believed the snake came from the neighbouring apartment in the semi-detached building, where Johnson and Toronto animal control officers pulled out a metre-long gaboon viper earlier this week.
Belanger, who's had to put up his boarders on his own dime, said the cobra was still missing yesterday. The house has been evacuated and holes have been punched in his ceiling and walls in an effort to spot the elusive reptile.
While the snake is believed to be a cobra, Johnson said it's "highly unlikely" it's a spitting cobra, as was reported by several media outlets, "because they're very accurate with their venom and this snake has been seen twice in the owner's house and the snake would have produced some venom at that point when it was agitated."
He also stressed that neighbours should not be concerned at this point.
In Barrie, the unnamed victim was treated and released from hospital.
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/10/09/1985159-sun.html

CBC (Toronto, Ontario) 19 October 06 Escaped venomous cobra in Toronto wanted dead or alive
Three weeks after a cobra went missing in a Toronto home, there are worries the venomous snake has either died or escaped.
And until the snake is found, the residents of the building can't go home.
The cobra, a pet of one of the residents of the west-end rooming house, has been living in the walls of the three-storey building since it escaped from the man's apartment on Sept. 27.
Concerns about the snake's whereabouts recently arose after a search team sent in to find the poisonous snake said they hadn't heard any noises in the house for over a week.
But the owner of the house on Lawrence Avenue and Weston Road says it's unlikely the cobra escaped into the chilly outdoors, and has either died or is relaxing somewhere in house.
Regardless, Toronto public health officials say the house is off limits to people until the snake is found, dead or alive.
Six residents of the building have been displaced and living elsewhere since the cobra first escaped.
A notice posted on the house door reads, "Occupancy of this premises is prohibited by order of the Medical Officer of Health."
But area residents continue to worry whether the snake will slither into their homes.
"I have to close my bathroom lids when I go to the washroom because it's in your mind that snakes can get through any little cracks," said Olga Medovaraski, who lives next door.
Medovaraski says she's moving in several days and is relieved to be leaving the area.
The decision to relocate was made well before the cobra's escape, but the incident has made her question why anyone is allowed to keep such exotic pets in an apartment.
One neighbour says landlords in the area have had difficulty renting out rooms since the story hit the papers.
"And there is a house right over here that is for sale," said Tony Flynn, who lives across the street. "Is that going to reduce the value?"
Escaped venomous cobra in Toronto wanted dead or alive

GLOBE AND MAIL (Toronto, Ontario) 23 December 06 A Grinch dressed in snakeskin - A still-fugitive cobra brings no cheer for five unlucky tenants (Deirdre Kelly)
The words "silent night" have a prophetic ring at the house Phil Belanger owns.
Since October, when a king cobra got loose in the property, an apparent fugitive from the house next door, 16 Church St. has been strictly off-limits to Mr. Belanger and his five tenants. The city has declared the building a public health risk until the elusive reptile is caught.
Ever since, a bright-red Public Health sign has blocked the door. And instead of Christmas lights and tinsel, thick yellow police tape encircles the porch.
At night, when the surrounding houses on this block of century homes in Weston light up for the holidays, 16 Church St. sits empty and forlorn. "It's black," says Mr. Belanger, shaking his head. "It's completely in the dark."
Last year at this time, his tenants, all elderly and with little money, displayed a plastic tree in the front window. This year, it's a different kind of Christmas story. The men have had to relocate, sleeping two to a room and on mattresses on the floor. "I'm 76," says Willy Ruppenstein, alone in his makeshift quarters, dragging on a cigarette before a TV that sits on the floor and relentlessly flashes the day's headlines. "I don't like living this way," he continues with a shrug. "But I don't have a choice."
Meanwhile, Mr. Belanger, who has been paying out of his own pocket for "my guys," as he calls them, to receive food and shelter, is out $20,000 and is left with a house he can't set foot in, let alone sell. To say he's frustrated may be the understatement of 2006.
"The city has not come forward for these people," he exclaims. "The city hasn't even asked if they need anything."
The men are homeless through no fault of their own. Helder Claro, the former next-door neighbour with a history of harbouring dangerous animals, is now awaiting trial on a number of charges, including public mischief.
Meanwhile -- despite the efforts of Toronto Public Health, the Toronto Zoo and a snake specialist retained by the city two weeks ago -- the reptile is nowhere to be seen.
Among the only ones to confirm its existence are Mr. Belanger and Mr. Ruppenstein, who last heard it dragging its two-metre-long body under the ground-floor floorboards three months ago.
"I was prepared to just rip the ceiling out," says Mr. Belanger, the director of a funeral home. "But the city said it wasn't as simple as that."
The sticking point appears to be who would bear the cost of demolition. But, Mr. Belanger says, "I don't know how to calculate what the city has put out, but I think it's substantial. It would have been a lot cheaper to have just torn it down."
"I think," says Mr. Ruppenstein, "the city should have done more. We are all seniors here. What if we had nowhere else to go?"
Away in a manger, indeed.
A Grinch dressed in snakeskin