veterinarian

Cobra Captured in Thousand Oaks

A monocled cobra that attacked a dog in Thousand Oaks was captured Thursday and was being evaluated at the LA Zoo after it was spotted by a mom driving to pick up her seventh grader from school.

When Tanya Gray saw the snake crossing the road about 2 p.m., she slammed on the brakes, grabbed a picture and called authorities.

"It went right in front of me, went through that gravel, went down, up and over, into this driveway," she said.

Animal control officers, who were already in the neighborhood searching for the white snake, found the reptile in a woodshed after 3 p.m.

"He was just acting like a regular snake trying to get away," said Lt. Fred Agoopi, a Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control officer, who was shaken after capturing the snake. "It's a venomous snake. It's not something we're used to everyday."

The snake was taken to the Los Angeles Zoo for evaluation. Officials said they didn't know if it was venomous because they didn't know if it was defanged or had its venom sacks removed. A dog was attacked by the cobra on Monday, but the dog has recovered.

The snake's owner has not come forward. There are severe restrictions on possessing such exotic animals.

The Los Angeles Zoo is where the white monocled cobra that slithered into Southern California consciousness this week is on Thursday. It will be evaluated for any sickness or tumors.

And officials will look for clues into where it might have come from or who actually owns it.

It appears to have found food for itself these past four days and it's a different type of snake than everone initially thought.

LA Zoo reptile curator Ian Recchio said the snake will be evaluated and checked for any signs of an owner.

He says the snake isn't albino as was initially reported. It's leucistic, completely void of all color, with piercing blue eyes instead of red.

"It's got a scab on its nose, but other than that it seems to be in pretty good shape," Recchio said.

It's well fed, despite four days in the wild and just as dangerous as many people have speculated.

"It was probably fully loaded," with venom, Recchio said.

The LA Zoo does not have the anti-venon for this type of cobra so it can't stay there.

There are several zoos that do have the anti-venom, including the San Diego Zoo, which is where it will likely end up going.

The snake may eventually be assigned an inventory number, but it doesn't have a name yet, the curator said.

Andrew Lopez contributed to this report.

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