HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) - An inventory of about 60 reptiles taken from a western North Carolina mobile home lists dozens of venomous lizards and snakes including vipers and Gila monsters.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is holding the animals as Henderson County sheriff's investigators and prosecutors decide whether to press charges against the owner. Museum deputy operations director Alvin Braswell says it's one of the largest confiscations of poisonous reptiles in his experience.
The museum is holding 10 types of rattlesnakes, three species of cobras, five venomous Gila monster lizards and a Gaboon viper - the largest in the world with fangs can reach 2 inches long.
Fifty-one of the 60 live reptiles found were venomous. Another 100 dead and frozen reptiles were also collected from the home.
