Trust me, I’m a snake: Vienna experts wary of abandoned cobra’s venom-free label

Not venomous? Experts distrust abandoned cobra

VIENNA — 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.