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More than 110 snakes found on German farm

June 27, 2022

A snakebite to the farm owner led to German police finding more than 110 snakes. The woman who was poisoned is in critical condition in hospital.

https://p.dw.com/p/4DHbP
A rattlesnake in terrarium
A rattlesnake bite made German police discover the farm with more than 110 snakesImage: Roland Weihrauch/dpa/picture alliance

Police in Germany said on Sunday they had discovered more than 110 snakes, some of them dangerous, in a farm in Lower Saxony after a woman who lived there sought medical treatment for a poisonous bite.

The 35-year-old woman drove to a hospital in Salzgitter, near Hannover, early Sunday and told doctors that one of her rattlesnakes had bit her finger.

However, her condition deteriorated and she was transferred to the Hannover Medical School. An antidote from the Tropical Institute in Hamburg was delivered there.

A visit to the snake's nest

While the woman's condition deteriorated, police visited her farm in Sehlde, Wolfenbüttel district, and found dozens of snakes.

In a statement, police said specialists determined the snake collection included both constrictors and poisonous varieties, which weren't housed in appropriate terrariums.

The reptiles have all been impounded.

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dh/js (AP, dpa)