Cops: Escaped zebra cobra caught and removed

By WTVD Staff

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    RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) — Raleigh’s escaped-cobra saga is finally over.

Raleigh police said Wednesday night that the highly venomous zebra cobra has been “located and safely removed.”

The snake was found in the same neighborhood it escaped from. Law enforcement and animal control officers cornered the snake Wednesday and eventually captured it in a red bucket.

“I’m really really happy, and I feel much safer, and I feel like I can now go outside and go on my deck and walk,” neighbor Joan Nelson said.

The man who owns the escaped zebra cobra that got loose in northwest Raleigh was hospitalized by a snake bite in April, according to our newsgathering partners at the News & Observer.

Christopher Gifford posted on Facebook in April describing himself as having been bitten by his own West African Green Mamba. Antivenom from Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in South Carolina had to be rushed to the local hospital in order to save Gifford’s life.

“In all honesty, I shouldn’t have lived and I thank God that I’m here today,” he wrote in the Facebook post.

Gifford has a large social media presence, particularly on TikTok, where he often handles exotic reptiles, promotes their beauty and advocates for their protection.

According to the News & Observer, Gifford lives with his parents of Chamonix Place, which is just several hundred feet away from where the zebra cobra was spotted on Wednesday. Raleigh police and animal control responded to the scene to try to capture the snake. It was loose for hours as authorities pondered the best way to secure the reptile.

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