Two of the deadliest snakes in the world and a cobra that can spit venom up to 8 feet were found Thursday in a Bismarck apartment.
Andrew Greff said he came home Thursday afternoon to find police officers rummaging through his apartment at 306 N. 13th St. Bismarck Police Lt. Dan Donlin said they had a search warrant to look forsix snakes that were living there in aquariums and a plastic tub.
In an interview from jail, Greff, 21, said he and a friend, Doug Feist, 27, bought an East African green mamba, a death adder, an albino monocle cobra and a yellow-bellied racer from an Internet site. UPS delivered them to his apartment. Greff and Feist also had a bullsnake and a rattlesnake that they caught south of Mandan. All but the mamba were in the apartment for more than a month.
Greff said he and the Florida company he bought the snakes from checked North Dakota state law and there was nothing prohibiting poisonous snakes. But Greff forgot to check out Bismarck's regulations.
A Bismarck ordinance prohibits "dangerous animals" in city limits. Bismarck Animal Warden Lynnette Jacobs said four poisonous snakes -- the mamba, adder, rattlesnake and cobra -- are considered dangerous and were seized. The bullsnake and the racer were not poisonous and were left behind.
Greff and Feist were charged Friday with reckless endangerment for putting their neighbors in danger, Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Julie Lawyer said. Greff is being held in the Burleigh County jail on a $500 cash bond, and an arrest warrant was issued for Feist.
The adder and the mamba are among the top 11deadliest snakes in the world -- police say they're ranked 10 and 11, but Greff said they're ranked two and three. Greff also disputed officers' claims that the cobra could spit venom.
Zoo Director Jerry Lincoln said he was called to help transport the animals to the zoo. Lincoln and the officers duct-taped the covers of the snake containers shut and loaded them into a pickup. The snakes are now in a secure location at the zoo, off limits to the public.
The zoo has no plans to keep the poisonous snakes or show them to the public because of strict regulations. To display poisonous snakes, the zoo would need an alarm system directly connected to a local hospital, a hospital staff properly trained to handle snake bites and anti-venom on hand.
"Visitors can't see them because it's an open court case, and we don't want to expose the public to a potentially dangerous situation," Lincoln said.
Authorities found out about the poisonous snakes from a biologist at Bismarck State College. She called the police department after her co-worker identified the green mamba for Feist.
The snakes were shipped to Bismarck from Florida by Zoological Imports 2000. The Florida company told investigators that they sold the pets to Feist.
Greff said he wants his pets back. He spent more than $1,500 on the snakes and cages, and he dished out a dollar a mouse to feed them. Greff said if he gets the snakes back, he'll move them to his parents' farm north of Mott, if his parents don't object.
Greff became interested in snakes when he and Feist caught two snakes south of Mandan and bought the exotic breeds because "they're really pretty." When asked if he ever planned to set the snakes loose, Greff said, "That would be crazy. It never crossed my mind."
He said the mamba was the only snake to escape and although it moved "really quick" Greff and Feist caught it when it went under a bed. Greff said no one has been bitten by the snakes.
"I live near the hospital, so I wasn't worried," he said.
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