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Posted by David Williams on June 10, 1999 at 20:56:53:
Here is the text of the latest story from Delaware Online. The message in all this is that it appears this guy was nothing more than your average 'hot' herper, who mad a simple miscalculation and paid for it dearly.
As an aside, the "king cobras" have apparently been identified as monocled cobras (Naja kaouthia) by the Philly Zoo.
It just goes to show that perhaps people on this forum should not be so quick to jump in and flame others (see some of the comments on other posts...), because this could happen to any one of you......
My sincere condolences to Mr Presenza's family on behalf of myself and other Forum members...
Safe herping,
David Williams
Story follows.......................
Love of snakes may have cost his life
Joe Presenza sometimes got careless around his cherished, deadly pets, acquaintance says
The News Journal/SUSAN L. GREGG
John E. Caldwell, Delaware SPCA official, holds a rattlesnake that was loose in Joseph L. Presenza's apartment. It is believed that this is the snake that bit Presenza. The man's other snakes were taken to the Philadelphia Zoo.
By IEVA AUGSTUMS and ESTEBAN PARRA
Staff reporters
6/10/99
His neighbors knew little about him, but Joseph L. Presenza was a regular at the Greenbank Aquarium pet shop, where he bought mice for his snakes and chatted with store employees about their care.
John Lamedica, who presents shows with snakes at area schools as "Jungle John," said the 45-year-old security guard was passionate about his pets, though Lamedica feared he sometimes got a little careless with them.
"We always called him 'Crazy Joe,' " Lamedica said. "We told him if he was going to own snakes, he needed to be sensible about it.
"He was really fascinated in keeping reptiles, studying them," Lamedica said.
A day after Presenza's badly decomposed body was found in the apartment he shared with 15 poisonous snakes, authorities Wednesday still were trying to piece together what led to his death.
Police suspect he was bitten by the one rattlesnake found loose in the apartment.
The state Medical Examiner's Office has not determined a cause of death, nor have they positively identified the body. Police, however, said they have no reason to believe the victim is someone other than Presenza, who had rented the Stanton apartment for two years.
A person bitten by a poisonous snake, such a rattlesnake, can die if medical help isn't sought immediately, said Carol Willms, a volunteer teacher at the Philadelphia Zoo.
A person could live for days after being bitten, but if bitten on a vein or artery, "a person has little chance of surviving," she said.
When Presenza's body was found, it had a snake bite on the arm, said Delaware Animal Rescue founder Vincent Mancinelli, who helped gather snakes from the apartment Tuesday evening. The Medical Examiner's Office said it could take up to four weeks to determine the cause of death.
Presenza's brother, Paul, said his family was unable to identify the body because it was too badly decomposed.
Haverford Place Apartments manager Annemarie DiPersio found the body Tuesday after neighbors complained an odor was coming from inside the unit, New Castle County police said.
Authorities were unsure how long Presenza had been dead. A neighbor saw him Sunday.
He was found on the floor, about 10 feet away from an open fish tank, with his body halfway in the bathroom. A dead rat and a 3-foot-long control stick used to hold down snakes were inside the tank, Mancinelli said.
Eight rattlesnakes, four snakes belonging to the viper family, two king cobras and one desert snake were removed from the apartment. Fourteen of the snakes were in cages. A 3-foot-long female diamondback rattlesnake was loose in a closet.
John E. Caldwell, Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals executive director, said he was amazed one man could own that many poisonous snakes.
"The state ought to pass a law making it illegal to own poisonous snakes," he said.
Though it is not illegal to have a poisonous snake in Delaware, the reptile must be registered with the state's Department of Agriculture, department spokeswoman Anne Fitzgerald said. The department, however, will not issue permits to individuals for poisonous snakes that are not native to Delaware.
As many as 450 Delawareans are registered to have exotic animals. About 90 percent of those registered animals are reptiles, most being pythons and boas, Fitzgerald said.
The buying and selling of exotic animals, including poisonous snakes, is relatively easy in the United States, Lamedica said.
Some can be purchased via the Internet, mail order or from private owners.
The nearest place he knew to buy a poisonous snake was in Hamburg, Pa., Lamedica said.
"As long as you are 18 and have the money, you can get them," he said. The snakes can be purchased for as little as $25.
All of the captured snakes, except for the rattlesnake believed to have bitten Presenza, were given to the Philadelphia Zoo Wednesday. The fate of that rattlesnake could not be determined Wednesday.
DiPersio said she was unaware Presenza had poisonous snakes in his apartment. Apartment residents, however, said they knew Presenza owned and kept the reptiles.
Neighbors living in Presenza's building said they have seen the snakes outside or near his apartment.
Residents said they saw a snake in a neighbor's kitchen six months ago. LeRoy Boddy said he saw a cobra last summer, outside Presenza's building.
Greenbank Aquarium owner Billy Williams said Presenza was pleasant and easy to talk to, though neighbors said he kept to himself. They would occasionally see him walking his dog or reading a book outside. "He was very, very elusive. He was not friendly," said Donald Birch, who lived next door to Presenza.
