Search Exotic Incidents Database

Authorities found a woman living with hundreds of rats and four malnourished snakes in a home outside Rochester. The snakes confiscated included two malnourished boa constrictors, a corn snake, and a king snake. The house’s floor was covered in rat urine and feces. The woman referred to the rats as her friends.

A young male zebra discovered grazing along I-75 was captured and found to be badly injured. Authorities theorized he likely fell from a truck or trailer and was hit by another vehicle. Noah’s Ark accepted donations to cover medical expenses.

Police responding a call concerning a resident’s self-inflicted gunshot wound found a 6-1/2-ft-long alligator in the basement. The reptile was taken to the Carthage Humane Society until a suitable home could be found.

Prada, a 4-year-old monkey, escaped from his possessor’s Coconut Palms apartment. He was recaptured by Animal Control officials and turned over to Back to Nature Sanctuary, where he was held until given to Florida Fish and Wildlife.

Department of Fish and Wildlife officials seized seven rattlesnakes, a gabon viper, a king cobra, an iguana, two monitor lizards, two alligators, a boa constrictor, and a python. The Possessor was not at home as he was having two fingers amputated at a local hospital as the result of snakebite. He faced several charges in connection with the seized reptiles.

Judy Berens, owner of the Panther Ridge Conservation Center, was bit by 2 of her cheetahs while giving a presentation for a group of people. According to medical staff that treated her, she acquired over 40 puncture wounds.

An arrest warrant was issued for a Cutten man facing four felony counts of animal cruelty in connection with the more than a hundred animals found in and around his home in mid-January. Thirty-five dead animals including a dog, a ferret, chickens, large snakes, lizards, fish, and scorpions were found at his property.

Denver Animal Control officers confiscated six marmosets from a home of a former Florida resident, who claimed she didn’t know the primates were illegal in Colorado. Animal Control officials attempted to relocate the marmosets.

A Scott County chiropractor was given 60 days to place the exotic animals in his zoo before going to federal prison on fraud charges. Snowflake Farm was home to leopards, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, and wildebeests.

The owner of Horseshoe Creek Wildlife closed his operation and had until September 2008 to place the animals in other facilities. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission cited the owner more than 40 times since 1993. A recent inspection showed that the animals were living in unsafe conditions.