ALBUQUERQUE TRIBUNE (New Mexico) 02 April 05 Dead woman's home filled with snakes, other tough critters (Sue Vorenberg)
Tarantulas and scorpions and poisonous snakes, oh my.
Animal Control officers found 66 of these and other creatures, including a millipede and an ill-tempered gecko, in the home of a 48-year-old Albuquerque woman who died Thursday, officials said.
"Animal Services arrived and found several extremely dangerous snakes that could immediately kill a person," said Denise Wilcox, associate director of the East Side Animal Care Center, noting in particular a few cobras in the collection.
Police were called to the woman's home in Southeast Albuquerque Thursday for a natural death, so they can't give the woman's name or address, said Officer Trish Ahrensfield, an Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman.
"They're doing an autopsy, but we don't know anything else," Ahrensfield said. "There were no signs of trauma, although the primary officers don't look for things like snake bites."
The woman did not have city permits for any of the animals, Wilcox said.
The animals included a monocled cobra and a shield-nose cobra, a bird-eating tarantula, a Southeast Asian Tokay gecko, three African frogs and a few poisonous scorpions.
"The monocled cobra - that's a scary animal right there," said Ray Darnell, director of the Albuquerque Biological Park, keeping himself a safe distance from the glass tank holding it.
But Darnell eyeballed other cages containing the captured creatures with interest at a Friday press conference at the Animal Center.
"These are not animals you'd want around the house," Darnell said. "All these tarantulas are interesting, we only have four in the biopark. We might be interested in the gecko, too. The cobras, though, those are nasty. We got rid of those at the zoo, because they're too dangerous."
The animals will be held at the center for at least 15 days. After that they will be placed at zoos, including the Albuquerque Biological Park, said Greg Wheeler, an assistant city attorney.
Darnell speculated that the woman was selling the animals, because many of their cages had price tags on them.
"I don't know," said Lt. Earl Baca, a field supervisor for Animal Control. "I think she just became infatuated and started collecting them."
Animal Control also found two empty cages at the scene, but they looked like they hadn't been used in a long time, so Baca said he doubted any of the creatures were on the loose.
City Councilor Sally Mayer said she was shocked that somebody would have that many dangerous animals in an Albuquerque residence. She said stronger animal control regulations could help prevent this from happening again.
"I'm used to the two-legged kind of poisonous snake - not this kind," Mayer said with a laugh. "This kind, I don't think anyone in Albuquerque would want near their home."
Dead woman's home filled with snakes, other tough critters