Date of publication: Apr 14, 2022 • 3 hours ago • 1 minute reading • 23 comments Black mamba was among the types of venomous snakes found in a house in Maryland where a man died of poisoning. Photo by Getty Images / iStockphoto
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The cause of death of a 49-year-old man who was found at his home in Maryland along with more than 100 domestic snakes was “poisoning”, according to the office of the state medical examiner. The death of David Riston was considered an accident, NBC News reported. In January he was mortally bitten by one of his snakes. His body was found after his health was checked by the authorities. “He does have a collection of venomous snakes that are illegal to keep in the state of Maryland,” county spokeswoman Charles Jennifer Harris told NBC on Jan. 20. ». Snakes in clean bins were transported from home in trucks to the property.
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Along with the non-venomous snakes, for which Riston had licenses, animal control officers also found rattlesnakes, cobras and black mamba, Harris said. The largest of the snakes was a 14-foot Burmese python, NBC reported. (Pythons are non-venomous. They consume their prey by squeezing it and swallowing it whole, according to the San Diego Zoo). The snakes in Riston’s home were kept in good condition and he was “very meticulous” about how he cared for and handled them, he said. “He did not keep a lot of furniture in the house, so there was no place – if a snake, for example, was to escape – he could hide or hurt anyone. “He seems to be almost obsessed with cleanliness and caring for animals,” he said. One authorized pilot was expected to transport the non-venomous snakes to Virginia, while another would take the venomous ones to North Carolina. North Carolina does not prohibit the private ownership of venomous snakes. It is not known which snake bit Riston.
