Jan 24 2005 10:56:23:520PM
Lindsay Barnes
A woman who was so passionate about her pet snakes that she said she'd like to die of snakebite, has had her wish fulfilled.
Pietermaritzburg - A Bellvue woman who was so passionate about her pet snakes that she said she'd like to die of snakebite, has had her wish tragically come true.
Patricia Cook, who kept 13 snakes at her home, was found dead on the sofa in her lounge on Sunday.
It appears she was bitten on the neck by a deadly cotton mouth late last week, says Mark Enslin, a snake enthusiast who has taken the pet snakes into his care.
Cook's snake menagerie included three large and deadly venomous puff adders, the vicious cotton mouth and an assortment of heralds and house snakes.
A neighbour calling around to collect her for church on Sunday looked through an open window and then called the police.
The police broke a door to gain entry to the house, but they refused to go inside when they realised it contained snakes.
Enslin says the snake probably attacked her when she placed a small mug of clean water in its tank.
The cotton mouth, which is indigenous to the US, escaped from its tank and had to be removed by Enslin before police could get into the house.
Enslin says Cook lived for her snakes.
"She told her next door neighbour about two weeks ago that she wanted to die of a snakebite," he said. Enslin plans to release the house snakes but will keep the three large puff adders.
He will either give the cotton mouth away to a snake expert or may have to have it put down.
