boy killed by crocodile at miami serpentarium

There were two fatal alligator attacks in Florida last year in the first reported deaths since 2007. ''I could become a poster boy for the benefits of venom,'' Haast jokes. bill was to capture this cobra and milk it for the crowd. I read the part of this article where Mr. Haas had to shoot an allegator because a boy fell into the pit and the alligator ate him (is'nt that what allegators do eat anything including yu?) In North Carolina, a chemist offered this salute: "Resssssssst in Peace Bill Haast.". ``I can't complain. I was 11 in 1972 when my folks agreed to stop at the Serpentarium when our family of seven drove down from Massachusetts to Key West for February school vacation. Their daughters, Nya and Shantee probably do not even remeber me (it was in the early seventies). As a young Canadian boy back in the 1960`s. It was intuitive. I always had one or more in my bedroom and it drove my mom nuts.. At the time I envisioned growing up and working for Bill, learning to snatch & milk snakes. great childhood memories spent there with my family , i remember getting goose bumps when we would see the cobra statue. But I must say he had a good sense of humor too. [9] In an August 2008 Florida Trend interview, he stated, "Aging is hard. His wife Nancy and I had been pleasantly talking an she was so fearful that she held my arm and squeezed hard, all the while telling me that a bite from that king cobra would likely kill Bill , because up to that point he had been bitten some 23 times , but never by a king cobra one drop of which can kill 5 men. "He's like an icon to people that know him," Cruz said. Voted for the photo and the biographical info. It was 1929. Mr. Hasst brought out a huge 16 foot long King Cobra and kept it controlled on the lawn in front of us. I have watched tv programs about him on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. "Since we don't know which cave it is, or which crocodile because there are several, it's very difficult to focus on a single point. He was a great neighborhhod Dad, and I will always remember the fun we had with he, his wife and his children. Haast caught his first snake at 7; his first serious bite was at 12. He landed a job with Miami-based Pan American Airways. Senseing this the king made an immediate move toward the door to challenge. Authorities estimate there are between 1.3 million and 2 million alligators across the state. I gave Dr. Hasst an iguana that got too large for me to keep and from then on he let me come in for free.. BILL TOLD THE CROWD NOT TO WORRY, "IT'S ONLY CALCIUM". We have tried to cover and visualize some, we have implemented a hook with a strip to see if it pulls something, but to no avail. Another interesting attraction there were the large Galopagas turtles he had. It had been bit my Cookie while trying to stop Cookie from getting out on US1.Also their pet lion jumped across the roof of the Shelby and the chain scratched the roof. The man who mesmerized generations of paying customers from 1947 to 1984 by extracting venom at his Miami Serpentarium as a spine-tingling South Florida attraction is dead. The man who mesmerized generations of paying customers from 1947 to 1984 by extracting venom at his Miami Serpentarium as a spine-tingling South Florida attraction is dead. I somehow got to this page from an old email I found and did the Google thing for " Bill "Miami Snakeman" Haast " and here I find myself with those shared memories. Now, he believes, the long-term benefits of the shots have spared him from many of the maladies of old age. ''I miss the excitement of the Serpentarium,'' Haast said. Two men came to our house, & they had a hook on the end of a pole, & a cloth bag, & they soon had the brightly colored but deadly snake in tow. Part scientist, part entertainer, Haast spent his early years in Miami as a mechanic for Pan Am, while he built the snake farm he called The Serpentarium along a portion of U.S. 1 that is today called Pinecrest. I'm surprised to hear the stories about the cobra being damaged enroute to SMSH. Source = Youtube. Haast finally sold the 5.2-acre lot, now in Pinecrest, for $3.2 million and headed to Utah for more snake research. MIAMI, Sept. 4 (UPI)A 12foot African crocodile that killed a 6yearold boy was killed today by the owner of the Miami Serpentarium, who pumped nine shots into it with a Luger pistol. The 35' cobra ended up on the roof (south side) of South Miami Senior High-my old high school-where it served proudly for many years. I read here about the boy who was killed after falling into the crocidile pit. Thinking back, that have been Cookie. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, population growth and increasing participation in water-related activities are resulting in more frequent alligator-human interactions. A crocodile mauled and killed an 8-year-old boy near his home in Malaysia. ( Because they wouldn't let me move here by myself.) The boy's father and another man, Nicolas Caulineau, jumped into the pit and straddled the crocodile. I grew up in Miami and loved the Serpentarium. I visited many times in the 60's - 70's. I believe that it was one of the great thrills of my life. Besides the mayor's key, they gave him a firefighter's helmet bearing the unit's name: Venom 1. More animals than anyone I ever knew, and of every variety. He was born in 1910 in Paterson, N.J., to German-American parents -- his father was a mechanic, his mom a housewife. But I still think he should not have shot that alligator. He was bitten for the first time at summer camp a year later, when he tried to capture a small timber rattlesnake. In his case, he claims the venom has helped him live a long and healthy life -- with the exception of his snakebitten hands. The parents diligently tried to get the child, Sheriff Demings said. The crane lifted the 35-foot stucco cobra Saturday. My first visit to the Serpentarium was in the summer of '56 when I visited family friends who lived on Key Biscayne. By 1965 the Serpentarium housed more than 500 snakes in 400 cages and three pits in the courtyard. My Grandfather was a construction worker and used to drop me off there every day over the summer, and weekends when he would work. I also remember hearing a story about him saving the lives of GI`s in Vietnam who had jumped from a helicopter into some poisonous snakes. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Dr. Ben Sheppard mentioned in the article helped me with my drug addiction in 1974. Not to mention, people do not operate properly during tragic events. Demings said there had been no other recent reports of similar alligator attacks on the lake. Thank you Diana, and all the other folks who have posted, for posting your personal memories of Bill Haast and your insights that the general public would never know about if you hadn't written in. On September 3, 1977, a 6-year-old boy sitting atop the wall surrounding the Serpentarium's alligator and crocodile pit fell into the pit, and a 12-foot crocodile lunged ten feet and grabbed the boy. Thank you for the bio of this incredible man. Just heard the mother grieving her baby. All he did was yell ouch and that concludes the show for today. My scary moment at the Serpentarium was to see the salt water crock in a deep pit jump up and snap a chicken before it hit the ground! We used to hunt non-poisonous snakes in the Glades, Homestead farmlands: king snakes, red ratsnakes, yellow ratsnakes, indigos, black racers, etc., and take them down to mr Haas and he had a yardstick on the table and would measure them by the foot, pay us maybe .25cents/foot for the ratsnake, .35/foot for the kingsnakes, etc. My friend Jim Danaaldson who procured and trained animals for the film industry had set up a Reptile Exposition at Devonshire downs and I was an exhibiter . The original cobra was a metal structure that was twisted into oblivion by a rare tornado in the late 50's or early 60's. His cane was an exotic mixture of ebony and ivory. As time went on, I read about Bill now and then, such as when he was bitten by the Gaboon viper in the 1970s, and a few other dangerous ones. Cookie broke free and took the boy underwater. Regarding Bill Haast's killing of Cookie the crocodile, bothe Bill Guest and jesse are wrong. Every year we took a field trip there, and every year I looked forward to it. When asked if Disney was aware of alligators on the property, Wahaler advised there were signs that said no swimming. Luckily though, I see from visiting one of the links that there is an attraction to view snake milking in St. Whenever we remember what happened, it is impossible not to shed tears.". boy killed by crocodile at miami serpentarium. the shows were fantastic , there was so much to explore everything was clean and the whole haast family were always charming.my family became amateur experts on exotic snakes and have read and watched everything we could over the years.but nothing ever compared to mr. haast. Im just here to say a prayer, he said. Quite a memory! "If I live to be 100, I'll really make the point. Five alligators have already been caught in the lagoon and euthanised for analysis. Staff at the resort were unwilling to comment on the incident. How lucky were we that we had this place? Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife and son. Haast jumped down into the pit. Haast went to the pit with a pistol the very next day and shot the croc. He said his last snakebite, Number 173 suffered in 2003 -- courtesy of a Malaysian pit viper -- was the final blow to his hands, already mangled from years of enduring the nerve- and tissue-destroying poison that snakes spew when biting. I wish you could have seen that crowd move as that snake reared itself and advanced toward Bill as it poured itself onto the concrete floor. The boy's father and another man, Nicolas Caulineau, jumped into the pit and straddled the crocodile. He purchased his first exotic snake, a diamondback rattler, from a catalog. I've outlived all my friends down there.'' There he met and eloped with his first wife, Ann. There was a croc that had lost its tail because it had bit at it after thinking it was another croc coming to steal its food. The cobra that Elliot Arkin made was the one inside the building across from the office. [The search] is still very active and [the] chopper keeps circling, he said. A small alligator, maybe 5 foot with tail had gotten loose and was wandering. BOY KILLED The attraction prospered until a tragedy in 1977. People were lining up for a show. Keep it up Mr. Haast. I'm 5'2 from s city in north Jersey myself, and the snake was about my size! I remember visiting the Serpentarium on a school field trip when I was in kindergarten, in 1971. "I could become a poster boy for the benefits of venom," Haast boasted. Well, my mother went on a vacation to the Miami area. Tonight at Walt Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel crews search Seven Seas Lagoon for possible alligator attack victim pic.twitter.com/lVSOxivh05. In 1954 Haast was bitten by a common, or blue, krait. The cheerleaders and marching band of South Miami High, home of the Cobras, screamed and pounded their feet. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. I well remember Bill Haast and his snake "milking" shows. AJ Jain, a guest at the hotel, told The Orlando Sentinel he and his family were playing at the beach just hours earlier. During this time Haast met and married his second wife, Clarita Matthews. There were eyewitnesses here who certainly saw the child taken under the water, Sheriff Demings said. I was inspired by him because as kids we used to go all through the Evergaldes looking for snakes to catch. Sheriff Demings confirmed there was a sign near the water warning people not to swim. He was rushed to see a doctor, but quickly recovered without further treatment. I saw so many people face their phobias of snakes and actually touch one for the first time. America is still arguing today about whether the Cincinnati Zoo should have shot and killed Harambe, a 17-year-old male, Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida i would love to read a biography on bill haast or should we say DR.HAAST? I've outlived all my friends down there.' Two-year-old Lane Thomas Graves had been playing in . 1, my mother carrying a large snake onboard an airplane, and no. It was buried on the grounds. The findings were very encouraging, Haast said. ''I know a lot of people in Miami still remember the Serpentarium and wonder what became of me, that's why I'm talking to you,'' said Haast, who would only be interviewed by telephone. In 1980 we took my late husband who had ALS (Lou Gerhig's Disease) to the Miama Clinic where. God bless Mr. Haas, and all the good he has done, on top of the lives he has saved through his bravery and research. After his wife became pregnant, Haast lost his job when the speakeasy he was working at was raided by IRS agents. Bill was like a super hero to me as a kid. He shot the 1800-pound crocodile nine times with a Luger pistol, yet it was still an hour before it died. Haast still grows somber when retelling the story: It was a Sunday. Bill Haast (December 30, 1910 June 15, 2011[1]) was the owner and operator, from 1947 until 1984, of the Miami Serpentarium, a tourist attraction south of Miami, Florida, where he extracted venom from snakes in front of paying customers. I feel sorry for the young generations that they will never get to see the true mastery of Bill Haast with his serpents. We considered him the Patron Saint of Junkies in those days. On that trip, I held the very long Indigo snake, and my friend, Ann, took a picture of me. The Serpentarium's landmark 35-foot-high, hooded, concrete-and-stucco cobra stuck out its forked tongue at motorists and arriving patrons on South Dixie Highway and Southwest 126th Street. I lived on Homestead AFB 1960-66 and as a kid visited the Serpentarium many times. The boy was dragged into the water by an alligator at 9pm Tuesday, local time, while wading in about a foot of water during a movie night at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. We visited the Serpentarium and it was an amazing experience that I remember vividly to this day. I still miss the animals. ''From the first day I walked into the Miami Serpentarium, I knew that was for me,'' he said. (and I have literally been attacked by a shark, which resulted in 30 days in the hospital, and losing half a lung) My point? Not sure she had quite the same fascination that I did but it's still very memorable. Police confirmed that human remains found in a saltwater crocodile caught nearby were those of the boy. As a result of the damage, Haast gave up handling venomous snakes, and no longer kept any at his facility. The animal was of no harm to anyone other than the fool who would allow his self to fall in. Tatiana Daz, regional director of the Limn Red Cross, has tried to explain the attack. I first heard of Bill Haast around 1955, when reading a "man's magazine" (as they were called back then, probably Argosy. He's truly an amazing man who has lived a life of exemplary devotion to his work. May he live far past the hundreds. I will think of my uncle as I visit. Now if I can find out more about The Colonel? I took care of Clarita Haast's original Continental Mark. I couldn't take the anti-venom so Dr. Haast instructed the hospital on how to treat me. Haast's hands suffered venom-caused tissue damage, culminating in the loss of a finger following a bite from a Malayan pit viper in 2003. His take on the matter was generally to the effect that the placement of this variant of the common black racer into a separate subspecies status seemed dubious. He respected him very much. His body will now be turned over to Orange County officers for an autopsy. People were always getting bitten, but they are so small that they rarely killed anyone. The Serpenlarium, widely known as a research fadlity as well as a zoo for snakes and reptiles, remained closed indefinitely while Mr. Haast and his Wife discussed what additional safety precautions to take. Nya used to take us after hours to the Serpentariumm to watch her Dad and his workers feed the animals. What amemorable time, nobody was dissapointed and we all calmed down and talked quietly afterwaeds. IE 11 is not . "He'd put on a show just to supplement the research for the while," she said. Bill's dedication to helping science, medicine, and snakebite victims was always unwavering. independent local journalism in Miami. The year was 1977 when a young boy tumbled into an enclosure at the Miami. I grew up in Hialeah,snake hunting was one of the cool things we did back in the day.We'd ride our stingrays out to milam elementary w 16 ave and catch decays ,ring necks ,yellow rats ,red rats,garter snakes,blue racers.We'd ride are bikes accross the palmetto expressway and go into the woods behind the church caught an indigo there once ,it was laying accross a tree stump that was lucky back 1971.I was 12.It was 6ft long I feed it eggs ,raw chicken breast,a big toad once .It had bright red under the chin.Mr haast told me how to get the lice off it at his snake show.I called the serpentarium every so often to ask various questions on snakes.The guy on the phone was cool and calm he'd answer your questions politely it had to be Bill to us kids he was like superman.Saw his show 5 times.Man !that indigo Mrs haast had was really pretty ,my mom was talking about that snake at big family get together in wis. last new years.We sure are lucky we grew up their! Like I said, we were always grabbing any snakes we came across, and one day finally got a Moccasin. "We're the only fire-based response team in the world." He introduced himself as Col. Spencer, I introduced myself as "I'm Mark and could my brother Dick come too?"