"He was a really nice man with a big heart," said his grand-niece Michelle Haast of Miami. I didn't know what to do with it, so I call the Miami Serpentarium. When she reached into the box and found movement inside she shrieked so loudly we could hear her from far across the large garden, and we chuckled "I guess she found it" Someone said. I am now 42 years with a very youthful appearance and in excellent health! killed David Mark Wasson of West Palm Beach, Fla. "I am not going to stay here, because just as they protect those animals, they are capable of leaving the river to attack more people and the truth is that it is scary that something like this will happen again. Thank you for the bio of this incredible man. "If I live to be 100, I'll really make the point. This is greatl so good to know that Doc is still alive and doing at least some of what he loves best. He's truly an amazing man who has lived a life of exemplary devotion to his work. I witnessed one such snake in 1985 on a dirt road in northeast Florida. I think its horrible that he killed that animal. On March 15, 2009, 11-year-old Briony Goodsell was killed by a crocodile when swimming with friends at Lambell's Lagoon near Humpty Doo in Northern Territory. The boy and his father, David Wasson, 42, were throwing grapes at the crocodile, hoping to see it move, when the boy slipped off a retaining wall on which he had been sitting and fell into the crocodile pit. Sheppard gave injections to patients with MS. His clinic became famous and was featured on CBS's 60 Minutes. carpet warehouse became the new home for several large ( 2 to 4 foot ) lizards, which I guess, were living in the trees and were never captured. An eight-year-old boy was dragged underwater and mauled to death by a crocodile in front of his horrified parents while paddling in shallow water in a river near his home in Costa Rica. He was known as the "go-to guy" for snakebites. She was quite a Mom. On that trip, I held the very long Indigo snake, and my friend, Ann, took a picture of me. I gathered from what he said that it would not bother him in the least were this variety of snake removed from its separate classification and returned to the larger taxon from which someone had extracted it. Supposedly, this Timacuan sub-species and the nearby Mexican Bush Master are the largest poisonous snakes in the world and Bill Hass had both of them in his World famous Serpentarium. The attraction had a gift shop, 400-pound turtles, a 20-foot-long python. A 911 call was received at 9.16pm local time. As soon as it was handed back to an embarassed little girl, one of the boys said, "Now you have to look and see if it punched your bus ticket!" I believe that it was one of the great thrills of my life. The honor, bestowed by Miami's mayor, was delivered to Haast at his home east of Punta Gorda by members of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit. bill was to capture this cobra and milk it for the crowd. Thank you, Dr. Haast, for all your good works and trailblazing in this still to be fully recognized work.and for the fascinating memories. ", By his 95th birthday, he was a bit of a recluse. He said the body was found completely intact near the attack site, leading authorities to believe the alligator drowned the toddler. But his wife said that the crocodile, named Cookie, was killed and buried in the same pit where it. By 1965 the Serpentarium housed more than 500 snakes in 400 cages and three pits in the courtyard. At the time I envisioned growing up and working for Bill, learning to snatch & milk snakes. REMAINS of a fourteen-year-old boy have been pulled from inside a crocodile's belly after he was eaten alive. Anyone can read what you share. A crocodile mauled and killed an 8-year-old boy near his home in Malaysia. Set in the American South in the 20th century. Thank you for reminding me about this incredible man. Inside, the snake shows were pure drama with no frills, no fanfare, no drum roll, no silence please, no ladies and gentleman. Suddenly, he heard screaming and ran toward the commotion. Keepers were forced to shoot and kill the 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe. I was Bill's neighbor on the Serpentariums north side from about 1970 until the Village of Pinecrest purchased my land & building in 2000 ( The Carpet Mart ). He has written a book called 'The World of Snakes. ' I can't imagine more suitable place than South Florida for Bill Haas's Serpentarium. If you are the site owner (or you manage this site), please whitelist your IP or if you think this block is an error please open a support ticket and make sure to include the block details (displayed in the box below), so we can assist you in troubleshooting the issue. LIVES SAVED But if a life was lost at the Serpentarium, Haast wants it known that transfusions from his immunized blood to snake victims helped save 21 lives. Two-year-old Lane Thomas Graves had been playing in . My oldest brother had met a girl who, I believe, had worked at the Miami Serpentarium. I grew up near the Serpentarium , and played baseball @ Suniland Park..Many times during games , an iguana that had escaped from the serpentarium , would run across the field..As kids , we too ,sold snakes to the facility , and we managed to see the show several times a yearwe would ride our bikes to Parrot Jungle and the Serpentarium and see all kinds of rare wild animals and snakes , and birds , then fish salt or fresh water within a few miles of homegreat place to grow up in the 60's. In the late 1940s, it occurred to Haast that the symptoms of polio mirrored the nerve and muscle disruption caused by a cobra bite. That was South Dade, Florida, relatively free of the most venomous snakes because Bill Hass and the Serpentarium. . He would free the snakes on a table in front of him, then catch the snakes bare-handed, and force them to eject their venom into glass vials with a rubber membrane stretched across the top. ``I feel like a man in his 60s.'' 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. Shaman Killed by Crocodile Horror Stories 812K subscribers Subscribe 27K Save 741K views 3 years ago Notice Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines) Almost yours: 2 weeks, on us. I recall the incident where the child died -- it was very tragic and Mr. Haast clearly felt terrible about it. Crowds cheered as he collected venom from the snakes in dramatic displays. As my mother was paying our admission, a worker rushed over to tell us that we were going to miss the King cobra show. This subspecies, restricted to the Florida Keys, obviously was named for Bill Haast. I also remember Mrs. Haast coming to the schools, all the way into my sophomore year at Gables High, to talk about their work - and the high point of her talks was when she would take an indigo snake out of her purse and invite everyone to feel it. 2, my first Indigo. Some questions, like the one a decade ago from Cruz, the venom unit founder, mean the difference between life and death. All this may be imaginative conjecture of a teenage boy.. .Once thing sure, though, Him and his wife sure looked scary, to we boys, in those white Drs. Thanks for jogging my memory. Senseing this the king made an immediate move toward the door to challenge. I was fascinated watching them put Mr Haast's feeding tube down and feed the snake. "Our unit wouldn't be around if it wasn't for him; he's the inspiration," said Al Cruz, the unit's founder, standing beneath the tall branches of a live oak that Haast had allowed to grow through his screened pool patio. I've tried to keep up with him from time to time. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 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. How did he get them through Customs? I graduated from there in 1979. Their daughters, Nya and Shantee probably do not even remeber me (it was in the early seventies). Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife and son. National television shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas and Johnny Carson invited him or featured him during visits to Miami. I have Ophidiophobia (not herpetophobia the fear of reptiles) a true fear of snakes. Snake handler, venom researcher. After leaving Miami for the Air Force and then marriage, my bride and I returned to the Central East Coast of Florida to live, and on a trip to the Keys, I just had to take my new bride to show her Bill Haast's work. Haast was also bitten by a green mamba. The night of the accident, he took his Luger, walked out to the pit and shot Cookie in the head. The boy's family never sued, accepting only the maximum insurance payment, Haast said. American Model Killed By Crocodile In Australia - YouTube 0:00 / 1:46 American Model Killed By Crocodile In Australia Strange Deranged Unexplained 1.08K subscribers 743 80K views 11. Florida is considered one of the most vulnerable states in America when it comes to rising sea levels, causing the ocean to start seeping into the Everglades swampland, where alligators live. ''I hit him over the head, trying to get him to let go.'' a woman in Florida died after she fell into a pond and was attacked by two alligators, the remains of a 14-year-old boy were cut from a crocodile's stomach, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Haast killed the croc the next day. Eventually, his collection became one of the most diverse venomous snakes on the planet. When I was in high school I worked at the Serpentarium and even helped out with the King Cobra Shows on the weekend. He said at that time if he lived to be 100 it would possibly prove that snake venom is anti aging. We finally found them on the bottom of my feet. My first visit to the Serpentarium was in the summer of '56 when I visited family friends who lived on Key Biscayne. Its been one tough week in Orlando.. There were two fatal alligator attacks in Florida last year in the first reported deaths since 2007. ``If I live to be 100 I'll really make the point.'' Photo: Orange County Sheriff's Office. He inspired a life long love of reptiles for me and now my two children.. 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?) And in July, a woman in Florida died after she fell into a pond and was attacked by two alligators. Smocks. The 2-year-old boy grabbed by alligator at Disney hotel has been found dead, a source says https://t.co/SyWdOq9L87 https://t.co/xLMVr0orfE. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. In his trademark white lab coat, he would approach a venomous reptile, lure it with one hand and grab its head with the other. I thought that was pretty cool back then, and still do. Now 39, he is a member of the rescue department's anti-venin unit that rushes to inject those bitten by a poisonous snake. The couple raised the alarm with lifeguards but by that time the alligator had disappeared with the child. Consequently, the snakes grew to tremendous lengths, by not being hunted by the indians, and were probably fed leftover game to achieve the fantastic length. CAKEGATE 2023: Bad Bunny's Restaurant Accused of Gobbling Birthday Girl's Cake, Death Train: A Timeline of Brightline Fatalities in South Florida UPDATED, Neighborhood Nazi Jon Minadeo Peddles Hate by the Minute, Sen. Rubio's Permanent Daylight Savings Bill Sees Light of Day Once More, NFL Legend Ray Lewis Joins World Jai-Alai League Board of Directors, Affordable New "Micro-Units" Slated for Little River, Edgewater. Flores said it has been very difficult for the family, adding: 'It is impossible to continue living in Matina because in every corner of the house we find something that reminds us of Julito, that causes us a lot of pain. THE body of the two-year-old boy, Lane Graves, snatched by an alligator at a Disney resort has now been recovered. "We know that there are crocodiles and burrows, but we don't have a notion or a pattern to work on.". I always told people I'd live past 100, and I still feel I will. Even though the Serpentarium was there, some people still got bitten, and died from the poisonous snakes. The animal was of no harm to anyone other than the fool who would allow his self to fall in. They considered him a glorified snake-handler, a showman, a medicine man. The victim, identified as Stambuli Bamusi, along with his friends, had gone . I visited the Serpentarium in1969 as an 18-year-old on spring break with a buddy. Television, a book, big crowds, all helped to build up Haast's image and popularity. Not sure she had quite the same fascination that I did but it's still very memorable. Watching Bill milk then tube feed special formula into those angry hooded cobras he'd take out of the boxes is something I will never forget. He shot the 1800-pound crocodile nine times with a Luger pistol, yet it was still an hour before it died. My mother took my brother and I to the serpentarium in 1977. Friday, his wife Nancy put his lifetime tally at 172. Haast physically extracted venom from venomous snakes by holding them by the head and forcing them to bite a rubber membrane covering a vial. My hands served me well.'' I don't remember which one was the infamous "Cookie". I wish I could have taken my girls there! But he still wakes up each morning to turn snake venom from across the globe into freeze-dried powder for medical laboratories. 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. Thanks again Bill.. So long Mr. Haast, you were a great man. After Bill sold the Serpentarium, our 12,000 sq.ft. Luckily I caught myself in time to stop myself from falling in. I saw so many people face their phobias of snakes and actually touch one for the first time.