Missing cobra gains followers, even on Twitter

NEW YORK — Like a true New Yorker, the escaped Bronx Zoo cobra appears to be angling for fame.

The missing serpent is likely younger than this one. The 20-inch female is an adolescent.

File photo by Salah Malkawi, Getty Images

The missing serpent is likely younger than this one. The 20-inch female is an adolescent.

Missing since Friday, the slippery serpent has supposedly begun posting updates on Twitter about its adventures, under the name @BronxZoosCobra.

"Enjoying a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery," the cobra allegedly tweeted Tuesday afternoon. "This is going straight to my hips. Oh wait, I don't have hips. Yesss!"

The cobra seems to have headed from the Bronx straight to Manhattan. "Leaving Wall Street," read a tweet late Monday. "These guys make my skin crawl."

Overnight, the pseudo-snake picked up more than 50,000 followers for the parody Twitter feed. That's many more than the 40,000-plus followers attracted by Dan Sinker, the Chicago journalism professor whose @MayorEmanuel Twitter posts — supposedly from Rahm Emanuel, newly elected mayor of Chicago — earned him a book deal last week.

In reality, the 20-inch, pencil-thin Egyptian cobra, which zoo officials say is female and weighs less than three ounces, is likely hiding somewhere in the zoo's Reptile House after escaping from its enclosure Friday.

The venomous cobra is an adolescent and will likely come out of hiding when she is hungry.

The runaway cobra has inspired a sketch on The Daily Show, which showed a fake snake riding cabs around New York and vomiting in Times Square, and a Top Ten list on The Late Show of "Bronx Zoo Excuses: "No 2. We sent the snake to take out Qaddafi. You'll thank us later!"

Zoo officials did not respond to a request for comment on the Twitter parody. The zoo's Reptile House remains closed until the snake re-emerges.

"Right now, it's the snake's game. At this point, it's just like fishing; you put the hook in the water and wait. Our best strategy is patience, allowing her time to come out of hiding," Bronx Zoo director Jim Breheny said in a statement. "She will likely remain in hiding and not move until she feels completely secure."

Dangerous creatures on the loose aren't unknown in New York. Coyotes have been spotted in Central Park, and in 2003 a tiger named Ming was discovered living in an apartment in Harlem, with an alligator for a roommate.

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Missing cobra gains followers, even on Twitter

NEW YORK — Like a true New Yorker, the escaped Bronx Zoo cobra appears to be angling for fame.

The missing serpent is likely younger than this one. The 20-inch female is an adolescent.

Missing since Friday, the slippery serpent has supposedly begun posting updates on Twitter about its adventures, under the name @BronxZoosCobra.

"Enjoying a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery," the cobra allegedly tweeted Tuesday afternoon. "This is going straight to my hips. Oh wait, I don't have hips. Yesss!"

The cobra seems to have headed from the Bronx straight to Manhattan. "Leaving Wall Street," read a tweet late Monday. "These guys make my skin crawl."

Overnight, the pseudo-snake picked up more than 50,000 followers for the parody Twitter feed. That's many more than the 40,000-plus followers attracted by Dan Sinker, the Chicago journalism professor whose @MayorEmanuel Twitter posts — supposedly from Rahm Emanuel, newly elected mayor of Chicago — earned him a book deal last week.

In reality, the 20-inch, pencil-thin Egyptian cobra, which zoo officials say is female and weighs less than three ounces, is likely hiding somewhere in the zoo's Reptile House after escaping from its enclosure Friday.

The venomous cobra is an adolescent and will likely come out of hiding when she is hungry.

The runaway cobra has inspired a sketch on The Daily Show, which showed a fake snake riding cabs around New York and vomiting in Times Square, and a Top Ten list on The Late Show of "Bronx Zoo Excuses: "No 2. We sent the snake to take out Qaddafi. You'll thank us later!"

Zoo officials did not respond to a request for comment on the Twitter parody. The zoo's Reptile House remains closed until the snake re-emerges.

"Right now, it's the snake's game. At this point, it's just like fishing; you put the hook in the water and wait. Our best strategy is patience, allowing her time to come out of hiding," Bronx Zoo director Jim Breheny said in a statement. "She will likely remain in hiding and not move until she feels completely secure."

Dangerous creatures on the loose aren't unknown in New York. Coyotes have been spotted in Central Park, and in 2003 a tiger named Ming was discovered living in an apartment in Harlem, with an alligator for a roommate.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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Bronx Zoo cobra that went missing is named Mia

The Bronx Zoo will announce the winning name for the Egyptian cobra on Thursday. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe snake was named Mia after vote sponsored by Bronx Zoo and newspaper, officials sayThe Egyptian cobra captured public imagination when it escaped last monthVisitors to Bronx Zoo can see Mia on Saturday, zoo says New York (CNN) -- An Egyptian cobra that turned into a media darling after its escape and subsequent capture at New York's Bronx Zoo was named Mia on Thursday after a public vote.

The name is a play on the days when the snake was missing in action, zoo officials said.

The Bronx Zoo and New York Daily News asked the public to vote on the best name for the mischievous cobra. After receiving more than 34,000 suggestions, officials whittled the list down to five nominations before Mia was chosen.

Mia received 15,972 votes, or 27 percent of the total vote, a zoo statement said.

The four runners-up were Subira, which means patient in Egypt, with 14,016 votes (24 percent); Amaunet, an ancient Egyptian goddess, meaning 'the female hidden one," with 11,672 votes (20 percent); Cleopatra, the last ruler of ancient Egypt who supposedly killed herself by means of an Egyptian cobra bite, with 10,730 votes (18 percent); and Agnes, Greek for pure or holy and also a reference to St. Agnes, with 6,777 votes (11 percent).

"Now that Mia has received her official name and has settled into her exhibit at the Bronx Zoo's Reptile House, the building will be re-opened to the public on Saturday, April 9 and visitors will be able to see her for the first time," the statement said.

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Missing Bronx Zoo cobra found -- in Reptile House

Update at 4:45 p.m. ET: The adolescent Egyptian cobra, which weighs about 3 ounces, was found in the Reptile House about 9 a.m. ET, Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny said at a news conference, ABC News reports. She was "coiled, sort of secluded in a dark corner" of a holding area, a couple of hundred feet from her enclosure.

In a statement, the zoo described her "secure hiding place" as "a non-public, off-exhibit area" that is "an extremely complex environment with pumps, motors and other mechanical systems."

A Reptile House employee used special tongs to nab the creature that had eluded capture for a week.

The snake will be observed and evaluated before being returned to exhibit. The Reptile House will remain closed until then.

By Doug Stanglin
USA TODAY

MyFox5 reports that Wildlife Conservation Society officials are expected to announce shortly that a poisonous Egyptian cobra that was missing at the Bronx Zoo Reptile House has been found.

Officials said earlier that the 20-inch- long snake likely found a safe place within the isolated area of the reptile house and would come out when he got hungry or thirsty.

In the meantime, the Reptile House has remained closed, although it is not at all clear that thousands had been clamoring to get in.

During the search, a cobra that goes by the handle BronxZoosCobra popped up on Twitter.

Its most recent entry:

If you see a bag of peanuts inexplicably moving along the ground at Yankee Stadium today. Just ignore it. It's probably nothing.

Tags:Bronx Zoo .div-wrapper

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Zoo director: Recaptured cobra doing well

Missing cobra slithers homeSTORY HIGHLIGHTSRecaptured cobra appears to be doing well, Bronx Zoo director saysShe will be watched for a week then returned to displayThe zoo plans a naming contest for the snake New York (CNN) -- The Egyptian cobra that turned media darling following its escape and subsequent capture at the Bronx Zoo is doing well and should return to display in a week or so, the zoo's director said Friday.

The 3-ounce, 20-inch reptile slithered out of her enclosure on Saturday and turned up Thursday after zoo officials scattered rodent-scented wood shavings in a bid to lure her out in hopes of a meal.

Zoo officials still don't know how the snake got out, director Jim Breheny said.

"Anyone who has ever dealt with snakes or kept snakes knows that they are notorious as escape artists," he said.

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