Not venomous? Experts distrust abandoned cobra

[June 03, 2010]  VIENNA (AP) -- Experts are taking no chances with an Asian cobra, not even one found in a box with the message, "I am no longer venomous."

The Austria Press Agency says a woman found the sealed cardboard box in a park on Tuesday. "I picked it up, shook it -- and something moved inside," the unidentified woman was quoted as saying.

The poison of the monocle cobra can kill within an hour, so experts at the snake's new home in a Vienna terrarium and aquarium are treating it as lethal, pending further examination.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.