ORLANDO, Fla. — As Florida Fish and Wildlife officials continue their search for a deadly king cobra that escaped from an Orlando man's home Wednesday night, some experts said there's not a lot to worry about because a king cobra will do whatever it can to avoid humans.
The non-native, venomous snake escaped Wednesday night from a home on the 4800 block of North Apopka Vineland Road, which is used as a rescue facility for exotic animals.
Experts who talked with Channel 9 sake king cobras feels vibrations in the ground and can hear people walking toward it long before it can be seen.
Its reaction is to retreat, not attack, experts said, but if cornered, it will attack and deliver a considerable amount of venom.
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George Van Horn and wife Rosa come face to face with deadly snakes every day, extracting venom that allows doctors to make anti-venom.
It takes two people to handle a rattlesnake, but milking a cobra is a three-person job, Van Horn said.
It’s that same venom that helped save Van Horn's life twice.
"The king cobra came out and in a feeding response and got my left arm," he said.
Despite the scars, Van Horn still works with the snake, as does herpetologist James Peters.
"King cobras are the longest species of venomous snakes in the world," said Peters. "They do have potent venom."
However, should a bite occur, medical facilities are well prepared since Florida is home to dozens of other venomous snakes.
"You don't hear people dying from snake bites every day in Florida due to prompt medical response and the reluctance of snakes in general to bite a human," he said.
Peters said as a non-native species, the king cobra will not be able to reproduce unless it can find another king cobra of the opposite sex.
WFTV
