RATTLER SENDS OWNER TO HOSPITAL

A pet rattlesnake sent his owner to the hospital last week, so the owner sent his snake to St. Louis on Monday, Cape Girardeau police said.

A man who lives in the 300 block of South Lorimier Street reported being bitten by a pet western diamondback rattlesnake on Friday, Cpl. Rick Schmidt said.

The man had let the rattlesnake and three other snakes out of an aquarium on Friday. The snake, which had just eaten, struck and bit his owner's face, police said.

After going to the hospital on Friday, the man was treated and released. The man's face was swollen on Monday, but he had been treated for the bite and was not suffering any other side effects, Schmidt said.

Police found out about the snake bite when they were contacted by the hospital, the corporal said.

When Schmidt responded to the man's residence, he said it was clean and orderly. Except for the snakes, the man had no other pets.

"The snakes looked in good health," he said. "They had plenty of plant growth and vegetation in the aquarium."

In total, the man had two rattlesnakes, one pit viper and a false water cobra.

"The cobra was the kind with a hood," Schmidt said. "It was beautiful, if you can call a snake beautiful."

Under a state statute, exotic animals like lions, tigers and poisonous snakes are required to have a permit from local law enforcement in the county where they are kept, said Bob White, protection district supervisor for the state Conservation Department.

In many ways, state laws are more detailed when it comes to animals that are native or were once native to Missouri, he said. Rattlesnakes species such as the pygmy, massasauga or timber must be kept in a certain type of cage, purchased from a legal source and registered with a permit.

"There are not a whole lot of laws that protect people against exotic animals," White said. "We basically depend on the counties."

Police allowed the snakes' owner to voluntarily turn his animals over to a man from St. Louis on Monday. The man, an acquaintance of the snake owner, put the four snakes in plastic containers and will take them to St. Louis to sell them, Schmidt said.

A report will be filed with the city attorney to see if any charges should be filed against the snake owner, police said.