NC man loses $49K collection of poison snakes

[February 27, 2012]  HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- A North Carolina man is losing his exotic reptile collection worth $49,000 after police found dozens of venomous lizards and snakes in his home.

Fifty-one-year-old Walter Kidd of Hendersonville pleaded guilty Friday to 30 misdemeanor charges of possessing endangered animals and failing to properly label containers of poisonous snakes.

Police seized the reptiles in August after Kidd was bitten by an exotic venomous snake and rushed to a hospital. Officers said his mobile home was packed with snakes in plastic containers.

Kidd's attorney says the reptiles were not a danger because they were kept inside his home.

The creatures were taken to the state natural sciences museum in Raleigh.

[Associated Press]

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