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Fun in Fairfax: 17 exotic snakes found in hotel room
I hesitate to make snakes on a plane jokes because they're bad and overused, but in this case I'm going to have to do it once again. What just might be worse than snakes on a plane? Snakes in your hotel room. Fairfax City police said that they found a total of 17 exotic snakes in the room of the Hy-Way Motel last night near Fairfax Circle, VA. 12 of those snakes happened to be poisonous.The hotel management was alerted to the snake issue because of the report of a foul odor coming from said room; two of the snakes had died which led to the smell. The snakes are believed to belong to an Arlington County man who kept as many as 100 exotic snakes in his home until recently. I think the important question here is: why did the snakes need a getaway at a cheap roadside hotel?
This gives us just another reason as to why it's important to fully investigate your hotel room (which can harbor some nasty things) before committing to stay in it for the night.
Think that's weird? What strange things have been found on planes?
Click the image to read the bizarre story...
Filed under: North America, United States, Hotels and Accommodations, News
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Gary Jul 14th 2008 5:36PM
Please forward these snakes to Osama Bin Laden collect!!!!
unico123 Jul 14th 2008 6:44PM
Snakes are not poisonous, they are termed venomous. Frogs can be poisonous because they can secrete the poison from their skin. Snakes do not have mucous glands and therefore they can not secrete anything. They have venom stored in their fangs that inject it, so, they are "venomous."
kristie Jul 14th 2008 6:12PM
SHOCKED! What kind of hotel is this? If there were 2 dead snakes that smelled already...there is a problem. Does this place not get cleaned after a guest checks out? Who does that?!?!?!?! As much as I am TERRIFIED of snakes and if I had been the one to find them...I'd be locked in a padded room somewhere, who would leave them and why?
BarbB Jul 14th 2008 7:57PM
I went and read the Washington Post article. They said the snakes were stored in boxes inside of luggage. The man paid for a week in advance, and the hotel staff did not notice anything amiss. They did not open the luggage. So I don't know that the hotel staff were so horribly negligent. If someone is still paying for the room and the bed is undisturbed, perhaps they don't spend much time in the room.
blue Jul 14th 2008 8:11PM
That's what I got out of the article also. The owner knew he had to have the snakes out of the state, and his friend was supposed to help him. But his friend fell through and he had to have somewhere to store the snakes until he could get them out of the state, thus the hotel room. It's a shame that the two snakes that died had to pay for it though.
I don't believe the housekeeping staff is to blame either. They smelled a strange smell but didn't see anything wrong in the room, and when it worsened the hotel staff alerted the police. The article made it sound like they did what they could to investigate the smell without going through the guy's luggage.
mumbaikar Dec 29th 2008 10:22PM
Here is an article on poisonous snakes from Mumbai, India. Surprising to learn that such a huge mega city has its share of snakes. Thankfully, antivenin is available locally from Haffkine Institute.