A West Palm Beach man was visited by a wildlife officer on a tip that he was hoarding venomous snakes in his parents' house.
The man admitted he had snakes as pets, but denied any of them were venomous, even as the investigating officer continued to find venomous snake after venomous snake hidden away in different parts of the house.
According to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, an officer responded to the home on 544 Green Springs Place in Green Springs Place on a complaint of a man in illegal possession of snakes.
The man, 29-year-old Brian Buchkowski, told the officer the only snakes he had required no permit, and allowed the officer to enter the home to have a look around.
Buchkowski showed the officer to his room, where he kept non-venomous snakes.
But, as the officer took a closer look around, he opened a closet and found three Monocled Cobras hidden under sheets. Buchkowski conceded that those were indeed venomous snakes, but said that was all he had.
The officer then moved into the bathroom, where he discovered five copperheads and one white-lipped pit viper hidden under the sink.
The officer then spotted a snake under a rock in its enclosure. Buchkowski told the officer that it wasn't venomous. Turns out, it was a black and white spitting cobra, according to the FWC report.
In all, Buchkowski's claim that there were zero venomous snakes in his home turned out to be ten venomous snakes in all, most of them kept in pretty unsafe areas.
According to FWC, all of the venomous snakes were seized and turned over to a permitted holding facility.
Buchkowski was charged with possessing venomous snakes without a permit, and five other caging and safety violations, including unlocked and improperly labeled enclosures, and no paperwork concerning where he had obtained the snakes.
FWC by Chris Joseph
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