LIVEBLOG: The Cobra Capture Press Conference

David Cho
The Awl
Published in
3 min readMar 31, 2011

The 20-inch-long Egyptian cobra who had been on the loose since Friday has now been caught! There is a press conference scheduled for 4pm (which will be streamed live on 7online.com) that will hopefully give more details. Before we liveblog, here’s what we know so far.

• “Officials described the outcome of the six day search as ‘positive.’” — ABC 7

• “The sassy snake, @BronxZoosCobra, has not commented on its reported capture.” — NBC New York

• “gotz to go drain da snake, or az i callz him my 20” long bronx cobra!” — @wrongronniemund

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3:50 — Watching NY1 hoping that there’s some pre-press conference coverage. Nothing yet. They are helping me start my weekend early though. Sounds like there’s a cool thing happening at the Kimmel Gallery about faces of Ethiopia. Cool stuff!

3:55 — Wow, everyone who won the lottery is getting $19 million each, that’s still probably $8 million after taxes. That’s crazy. More importantly though, I’m trying to find out if ABC will preempt Oprah to air the press conference. I called Oprah, no word back yet.

4:02 — Oprah is still on. Presser isn’t on NY1, but it’s still streaming online.

OH SHIT. Someone just knocked over the camera that ABC is using to stream here. Static everywhere.

4:03 — Okay, close one. It’s back now.

4:05 — This woman is wearing fleece. That makes me trust her and her knowledge of reptile matters.

4:06 — Too bad she’s passing it off to some guy named Jim.

4:07 — FOUND IN THE REPTILE HOUSE. “The key was patience… So that she would feel secure and come out… Resting comfortably… When they’re sure she’s in good condition, we will put her back out on exhibit.”

4:08 — They always knew the snake was in the place and just had to make her “comfortable” to come out. Seems like they had it all under control, much moreso than what my imagination and what I read on the fake Twitter had led me to believe.

4:09 — These guys are sneaky, used wood chips that SMELLED like mice and rats to lure her out. Jim seems like a chill dude though.

4:10 — Asked about the Twitter account, Jim was happy that it was lighthearted, took it as a sign that people believed in him and his team. Did not read it to avoid distraction. I would trust Jim with my life. He also has a mustache and a jacket that makes swish-y noises.

4:11 — “Snakes are shy, secretive creatures. Venom is used not as defense but only to hunt food.”

4:12 — Jim keeps calling the snake “the snake”, seems rude.

4:12 — I SPOKE TOO SOON, THE SNAKE HAS NO NAME. THERE MAY BE A SNAKE NAMING CONTEST SOON.

4:14 — The snake was captured at 9am. What have they been doing since then?

4:14 — Jim just described the size of the snake as, “that long” but the camera was not on him but on his team.

4:16 — These reporters are being sort of dicks to Jim. They’re questioning where she was being kept before she escaped out of her holding cage. It seems like they are trying to pin this on him, when it seems like it was a simple mistake anyone could have made, and the snake was just hiding out in some corner. Chill out reporters! Jim’s doing his best here!

4:17 — “Well it’s been getting more publicity than Charlie Sheen…” — NY1 anchor as they wrap up the press conference. Lol, topical.

4:18 — Welp, I guess this is over! Everyone back to complaining about the weather! (Apparently there’s supposed to be some sort of wintry mix tonight? It’s crazy!)

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David Cho
The Awl

I'm eating a drumstick and high at the same time, eating KFC on an airplane.