One year ago, a highly venomous forest cobra escaped its enclosure in Grand Prairie, terrifying and captivating much of North Texas.
Some neighbors reported losing sleep. The cobra even spawned a Twitter profile, where it taunted would-be captors, hunted for an apartment and snacked on rabbits.
So what ever happened to the Grand Prairie cobra?
The gist: One year later, we still don’t know.
No sightings have been reported of the black and beige snake, but authorities say it could still be alive and kicking — or maybe slithering is more precise.
“There is absolutely no reason to think this snake is dead,” said Randall Kennedy, who owns Dallas Fort Worth Wildlife Control and contracted with the city to set about 20 traps last year. “He could just be curled up in someone’s attic or crawl space.”
The 6-foot long snake escaped Aug. 3, 2021 from an unsecured enclosure in the 1800 block of Cherry Street.
Native to West Africa, the cobra is aggressive and highly venomous. A single bite could be life-threatening.
The snake’s 23-year-old owner, Lawrence Matl, apologized at the time for causing panic.
Matl, who had a state permit to keep the cobra, was arrested in February for violating the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s release from captivity code, a misdemeanor. The code says a person cannot intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence release or allow the release of certain animals, such as a cobra.
Matl has since moved out of Grand Prairie, Kennedy said. For that matter, the snake could have relocated to a new city by now, as well, he said.
Or, like people who might hunker down when stressed, the snake could be doing the same, Kennedy said. Snakes can go months without food or water, he said, although the cobra would have no trouble finding rodents or smaller snakes to eat.
A West African cobra would fare well in the Texas summer, he added, but this prolonged heat is a little excessive, even for a snake.
Kennedy said he is fielding roughly 10 calls a day — more than three times the usual — from people who need snakes removed from inside their homes.
“When it gets this hot, even snakes want to be indoors,” he said. “They like to be comfortable, just like humans.”
So will we ever know the fate of the Grand Prairie cobra?
Perhaps time will tell.
After all, let’s not forget the flamingo that escaped a Kansas zoo and was spotted earlier this year on the Texas coast — 17 years later.
