Posted on 02/15/2013 4:14:19 PM PST by nickcarraway
Federal prosecutors say a man on trial in Georgia was seeking to become famous as someone who survived a deadly bite from a black mamba -- but they say the story was a hoax.
Authorities still searching for Black Mamba snake John K. Rosenbaum Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., is accused of touching off a desperate search for the snake in south Georgia after telling authorities he was bitten in November 2011 while meeting someone willing to sell him the snake at an exit of Interstate 95 in Camden County.
The snake is among the world's deadliest, and his story touched off a massive search for the deadly snake native to Africa. Authorities said more than 500 man hours were spent looking for the non-existent black mamba and involved investigators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Kingsland police and the Camden County Sheriff's Office.
(Excerpt) Read more at news4jax.com ...
But apparently it will be lawful for him to falsely claim to be a Medal of Honor recipient to enlist the sympathy of the jurors.
I did field work in mamba country - danger danger. They can move at almost 10 mph and are territorial, so you don’t even have to mess with them to get them pissed. My rule of thumb: every snake in Africa will drop you like a stone - don’t stick your hands where you can’t see them and don’t go poking around if you don’t want a big surprise.
I saw a show today in which they said they would name the 10 deadliest snakes. I guessed a black mamba as number one and darn, I was right.
I think the deadliest in the U.S. is the Eastern diamondback.
And it’s usually not a good idea to buy a snake from someone willing to sell one on the exit of an interstate.
Someone needs to tattoo a big “ L “ on his forehead for “Loser.”
And don’t go to Africa.
“Two-Steps”, right!
And they are FAST! Thankfully, it was heading away from me.
Racist post...it’s mamba of color!
He made that up too.
There was an individual in Little Rock, Arkansas, a few years back that had a Mamba mailed to him. He picked it up at the Little Rock Airport and they found him dead several miles from the airport in his automobile killed by a Mamba. The Mamba was never found. Personally, I wait to open packages after I get home.
Needless to say, he won a stupid prize and got bit. As far back as I have that filed in my memory banks, I still get a chuckle out of one of the news accounts reporting that the snake was in danger of possible infection :-)
I actually remember both of those stories but I doubt if I would have ever thought of them again in a million years without being reminded.
Several years ago, I killed a Florida diamondback with a .30 cal. Tokarev. It was just short of 7 feet and really heavy. I still have a picture of me holding it somewhere.
To this day, I can not attribute my decision to go back outside, and my dog's not getting bit to anything other than Divine intervention.
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