FLORENCE — One of the world's most venomous snakes bit a Florence man at his apartment this month, drawing criticism from snake experts and highlighting the risk of handling deadly reptiles. Jeffrey Leibowitz was bitten Sept. 5 by an inland taipan, a snake native to Australia that's considered to have “the most toxic venom of any snake in the world,” said Francis Marion University biology professor Jeffrey Camper.
“He shouldn't have been doing what he was doing,” Camper said. “Handling it with his bare hands, free handling it, I think that’s just extremely reckless and irresponsible, and he is now paying the price for that.” Horry County Schools working 'diligently' to craft new cellphone ban, officials say Leibowitz, who identifies himself as a digital creator on Facebook, often posts videos of him handling venomous snakes.
He's an administrator on the Venomous Snakes Classifieds page, which has 50,000 members. In his videos, he speaks to the snakes as though they're pets. He calls a rattlesnake "a cuddler.
" He sings "Rock-a-Bye, Baby" to a black forest cobra as it creeps up his arm. He becomes acquainted with a Gaboon viper and concludes "apparently we're cool." Just hours before he was bitten, Leibowitz posted a video of him holding the inland taipan and explaining how he could guide the snake's movements by gripping it in a specific way.
"You're in total control," he said. "There's no need to be so scared." Horry County Schools joins federal lawsuit against social media giants Meta and TikTok On the night Leibowitz was bitten, he waited several hours before calling EMS, which picked him up around 1:30 a.
m. Sept. 6, according to a Florence Police Department report.
Leibowitz told EMS the inland taipan had bitten him on the webbing of his hand between his index finger and thumb. He didn't provide police with additional details about the snake or the others in his home before he was taken to McLeod Regional Medical Center for treatment, according to the report. However, he did post on the Venomous Snakes Classifieds page, asking if anyone had antivenom for an inland taipan and leaving the number for the hospital.
As police began to piece together more information, they discovered the Leibowitz videos and became concerned about the safety risk of leaving deadly snakes unattended. Working with the S.C.
Department of Natural Resources , police obtained a search warrant for the apartment. They found 14 snakes, including various rattlesnakes, a green mamba, two Gaboon vipers a fer-de-lance, a death adder, two black forest cobras and the inland taipan. Two cats were also inside.
The snakes had been housed in plastic totes. The police report said the apartment was in “poor condition” and reeked of "ammonia, feces, and rotting meat.” Nearly 1 year after election, Atlantic Beach residents frustrated with undecided mayoral race Police spoke with Leibowitz's father who allowed the officers to take the snakes and cats, the report stated.
The cats were brought to an animal shelter, but the snakes presented a problem. After reaching out to multiple zoos and facilities that house exotic snakes, police could not find one that would take the reptiles and the agency euthanized them. Today's Top Headlines Story continues below School districts change plans after tropical storm warning announced, inclement weather expected After 27 years, execution nears for Greenville's notorious killer Freddie Owens Islander 71 employees rescue elderly couple from submerging car at Isle of Palms Marina Editorial: Did SC mean to ban Bible from schools? Of course not, but it apparently did.
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Stephen Starling said. "They were not safe and we just had no logical way to control (and) contain them." An escaped pet monkey died in Walterboro.
What does that say about SC’s exotic pet laws? Police said Leibowitz was able to receive antivenom and remains hospitalized. The inland taipan's strike can cause serious damage to a human, including nerve, muscle and brain damage. "They have a primarily neurotoxic venom,” said Coastal Carolina University's Scott Parker, who holds a Ph.
D. in biological science. “So it interferes with neural transmission in various ways.
The dominant effects are going to be things like paralysis, difficulty breathing. It’s like a weakness where the muscles become flaccid, that type of thing.” However, the inland taipan’s venom has another effect that is unique.
“In addition to having those neurological effects, (its venom) also has tissue damaging properties,” Parker said, adding that internal bleeding is a prominent side effect of a bite. "That’s one of the things that makes the venom of the inland taipan drop-for-drop extremely venomous. Because both of those components can act simultaneously.
” 'Losing a legacy': Myrtle Beach Pelicans fans urge city to upgrade stadium and keep team Both professors said the long-term effects of the bite are unknown because typically antivenom is to be administered as soon as possible after a bite. Otherwise, the bite would be fatal. “My personal opinion on it is that people handling deadly venomous snakes, as in a hobby setting, there’s just always a possibility that one gets out.
..(or) the possibility of getting bit,” Parker said.
“The more you are around handling these animals, you’re upping your chances of getting an accidental bite.” Parker said the dangers are especially high when you have an exotic venomous snake because it could be harder to get antivenom. Police made the same point in their report, noting that another inland taipan bite in recent months left that antivenom in short supply.
Despite this situation, Parker emphasized that keeping snakes as a hobby isn't a problem as long as those snakes aren't the kind Leibowitz had. A tech hub or 'wishful thinking'? Myrtle Beach wants to create its own version of Silicon Valley. "There are many beautiful, harmless species that you can enjoy that aren’t going to cause a problem for you," Parker said.
"There’s no reason for a person to be keeping an inland taipan or a king cobra or a black mamba as a pet. I don’t understand why you would need to do that.” Messages left for Leibowitz have not been returned.
However, his personal page has posted some updates since he was bitten. " #notdeadyet " appeared six days ago. Then came a short video on Sept.
13. In the video, Leibowitz appears to be in a hospital. "Hey, you know that guy who got bit by the most venomous snake in the world?" he said.
"There's something I didn't tell you, something no one knows. You might be interested in this. I got that .
.. on video.
".
