I currently only keep this one male Caatinga lancehead. As for vipers, I currently keep 1.0. Agkistrodon contortrix 1.0. Bitis gabonica 1.1. Bothriechis schlegelii 1.0. Bothrops erythromelas 1.0. Cerastes cerastes 1.0. Crotalus basiliscus 1.0. Crotalus pyrrhus 1.0. Crotalus ornatus 1.0. Trimerusurus insularis (soon + 0.1.) 1.1. Vipera ammodytes 0.1. Vipera aspis 0.1. Vipera berus
To the apparent entertainment of the cobras, I'm trying out a recently bought GoPro camera Apart from a quickly fixed power shortage, the WdG venue has so far survived the recent summer storms pretty well. Customer numbers are slowly approaching pre-Corona levels. At the moment, I'm preparing a very exciting international animal transfer with quite the relevance for the UK Zoochatters.
Unfortunately, some uninvited "guests" broke into the venue of WdG due to a careless fellow resident on the ground floor. Luckily, our internal security system worked. Nothing was stolen and the animals are safe and sound.
They must have been pretty desperate to go looking for cash in a venomous snake zoo lol Lucky that they didn't go sticking their hands in terrariums in search of money or they would have had a nasty suprise
Apparently, they were not the smartest criminals. They got in via a half-open window on the ground floor and worked their way up from room to room. They missed quite a lot of truly valuable items and just took cash. Ours was probably the last one they got. They took a quick look inside and quickly left.
And I hope they did not made a lot of (financial) damage. However, to pick up @Onychorhynchus coronatus comment: What would be the best hide spot for a keeper of venomous animals for his (millions of) money if not the terrariums/tanks...?
My bed. Guarded by my trusty Polish Tatra dog and our young tomcat (who considers himself as the reincarnation of the Leopard of Rudraprayag).
Which one? My first Shiba Inu was a great guard dog, the second soso. The current model is still a work in progress.
"Yay", we even made the local news. And the venue is in Bergheim / Salzburg, not Itzling... Einbrecher suchten „Welt der Gifte“ heim
I love the perplexed body language of the intruder it looks like he is having a double take and thinking "Cobras ?! WTF !" I suppose there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Stating a wrong venue location might not be the best advertising, but hey, at least they got the rest somewhat right...
Not to be morbid though but you know what would have skyrocketed WdG to media world wide ? If one of the thieves had been bitten by a pit viper or rattle snake (and hopefully got anti venom in time).
A lot of people have made similar remarks, and I always reply: I would have lost my zoo, my veterinary and my husbandry license due to inadequate security measures. I would have faced legal charges by the man if he survived. If he had died, I would have to deal with homicide charges, potential jail time and revenge threads by his family / clan members. So all in all, I'm glad that this hasn't happened. And I'm doing everything I can to prevent it.
Indeed; wishing death or severe injury on someone is hardly appropriate even without those consequences......
