Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993                   TAG: 9403100002
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PET PEEVES

On Aug. 19, Drew Yeager of Haymarket was bitten by his pet black forest cobra at his home. Zoos and snake collectors from as far away as Pittsburgh had to whip into action to round up and hurriedly ship to Virginia 35 vials of serum necessary to save Yeager's life.

Not long after that, William Blakeslee of Woodbridge was bitten by a cobra he kept in his home. Again, there was a frantic search for serum, which hospital officials eventually found and had delivered from the Bronx Zoo in New York.

Then there's the story of Madeline the Burmese python. In June, the 10-foot "pet" got loose from her owner's home in Spotsylvania County and was discovered, about five miles away, curled up in someone's trash can.

To the best of our knowledge, Madeline didn't bite anybody, or affectionately squeeze them to death. Apparently, neither did she cause any heart attacks - though the folks who found her must have had a few palpitations.

We won't go so far as to agree with Dale Marcellini, curator at the National Zoo's reptile house, who says, "These pinheads who keep doing this ought to be put away."

A couple of weeks ago, though, we endorsed a proposal that daredevil hikers be required to take out insurance or otherwise pay to cover costs if they need to be rescued by the National Park Service.

Perhaps owners of pet snakes - not just garden-variety snakes, mind you, but big, long, exotic and dangerous snakes - ought to pay a premium for the time and trouble and expense their daredevil hobby can cause for medical professionals and animal-control officers.