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DAILY NEWS (Galveston, Texas) 09 July 08 Moody Gardens seeks vanishing viper (Rhiannon Meyers)
Galveston: A venomous snake has disappeared from its exhibit at Moody Gardens, and officials suspect another venomous snake could have eaten it.
A Moody Gardens census keeper first noticed the African bush viper missing from the exhibit it shares with five other venomous snakes in the Rainforest Pyramid early Monday morning, said Greg Whittaker, animal husbandry manager.
Staff members checked the exhibit to make sure the snake didn’t escape and found no breaches in the exhibit walls, prompting Whittaker to speculate another snake ate the African bush viper.
“There’s no way the snake voluntarily got out,” he said.
It’s unusual for snakes in the exhibit to eat one another, but it’s possible, Whittaker said.
The snake, which is native to rainforests in tropical subsaharan Africa, typically hangs out in the tops of trees, Whittaker said.
It could have somehow fallen to the ground and landed on another snake, startling it and prompting the snake to swallow the viper whole, Whittaker said.
The snakes that inhabit the exhibit floor are Gaboon vipers, venomous snakes native to low altitude rainforests throughout Africa.
Gaboon vipers weigh 20 pounds and measure about six feet long — roughly six times larger than African bush vipers, which generally measure 10 inches to a foot in length and are the width of a man’s thumb, Whittaker said.
Moody Gardens staffers have removed all of the snakes from the exhibit and are running tests on them to see whether one of them ingested the African bush viper, Whittaker said.
Biologists are taking X-rays of the snakes and testing their feces for traces of the missing viper, he said. They are also continuing to search the exhibit, where the snake could be hiding, Whittaker said.
The snakes will remain off exhibit until the missing viper is found, he said. At no point were Moody Gardens guests ever in danger of being bitten by the snake, he said.
While it’s rare for an animal to escape from its enclosure at Moody Gardens, it happens.
In 2007, four of Moody Gardens’ 11,500 animals escaped into the wild, according to Moody Gardens’ records.
Often, that means birds flew out from the Rainforest Pyramid, Whittaker said.
The 10-story Rainforest Pyramid houses birds, tropical fish, lizards, sloths, cotton-top tamarins and exotic plants from rainforests in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The snakes are kept behind glass in an attached exhibit.
Moody Gardens seeks vanishing viper

Viper gives its minders a fright
Moody Gardens snake plays game of hide and seek

By HARVEY RICE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

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GALVESTON — The sudden disappearance of a deadly snake at Moody Gardens this week forced the closure of the venomous snake exhibit before relieved staff members found the errant serpent late Tuesday.

Employees at the exhibit had suspected that the 10-inch bush viper might have been gobbled by one of its larger brethren — even X-raying three larger Gaboon vipers and two other bush vipers before the snake was found within the exhibit, Moody Gardens spokeswoman Jerri Hamacheck said Wednesday.

"It's highly unusual, but it could happen," if the larger snake were startled, Hamacheck said.

The largest Gaboon viper was considered the most likely culprit, weighing 20 pounds, and 6 feet in length and 8 inches in diameter.

All six venomous snakes were accounted for on Sunday when the exhibit closed, Hamacheck said, but the bush viper, about the diameter of an index finger, could not be found Monday when the curator inspected the enclosure at about 8:30 a.m.

A missing bush viper is a big worry because of its highly toxic venom.

The tree-dwelling snake is commonly found in the rainforests of tropical sub-Saharan Africa. The exhibit remained closed, and the snakes were removed to a holding area, using hooks to keep workers away from their fangs.

The Gaboon vipers are less of a worry because their venom is less toxic, and they are sluggish and unaggressive, although they have the longest fangs and the highest venom yield of any poisonous snake.

A tropical slitherer
They live near the ground in the savannas and rainforests of tropical sub-Saharan Africa.

Moody Gardens staff members scoured the exhibit for the missing bush viper, but didn't discover it until late Tuesday, Hamacheck said.

"Snakes camouflage, and that's what he was doing," she said.

She said the snake was never outside the exhibit, and there was never any danger to patrons.

The exhibit will reopen this weekend.

>>The Gaboon vipers are less of a worry because their venom is less toxic

"The Gaboon vipers are less of a worry because their venom is less toxic...."

I was thinking the same thing!?! Man, you gotta love the press!

I think they were trying to say, the venom composite from a Gaboon, drop for drop, is less toxic than the Bush Viper.

The Gaboon is potentially more dangerous than the Bush Viper because of the QUANITY the Gaboon delivers.

It's really simple, quanity over quality, with quality being more toxic.

Randal Berry