{"id":518433,"date":"2026-03-12T04:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T04:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518433\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T04:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T04:47:08","slug":"rare-siamese-spitting-cobra-discovered-in-wichita-falls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518433\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare Siamese spitting cobra discovered in Wichita Falls"},"content":{"rendered":"

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX\/KJTL<\/a>) \u2014 The Wichita Falls Animal Services Center is investigating after a cobra was found inside Wichita Falls city limits.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Wichita Falls Police Department encountered the snake while conducting a welfare check at a home in the 2000 block of Jolene Street.<\/p>\n

According to officials, officers responding to the check on March 4 discovered multiple plastic totes inside the home where venomous snakes were being kept. One of the snakes was identified as a Siamese spitting cobra \u2014 a species native to Southeast Asia and considered one of Thailand\u2019s deadliest snakes.<\/p>\n

\"<em>Courtesy<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Getty Images<\/p>\n

Police contacted animal control for assistance, and the cobra was seized and removed from the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the animal control officer got there, there was a cobra in the home. So they got the cobra and brought it back here to the shelter. And then we found somewhere safe for that animal to go,\u201d said Diann Bowman, animal care and adoption supervisor.<\/p>\n

According to the city ordinance, possessing venomous reptiles within Wichita Falls city limits is prohibited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Wichita Falls city limits, our city ordinance states that you are not allowed to have venomous reptiles. It\u2019s a safety concern, you know, for the animals and of course, for the public,\u201d Bowman said.<\/p>\n

Animal Services officials say that while venomous snakes are not uncommon in North Texas, they are typically native species such as rattlesnakes.<\/p>\n

Snake wrangler Jaden Klein, based in California, said spitting cobras have venom that can cause serious damage if a person is bitten or exposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpitting cobras in general have somewhat of a diverse venom type, but in general, they\u2019re kind of core would be cytotoxic. So you\u2019re looking at there can be necrosis, swelling, blisters in the bite mark,\u201d said Klein. \u201cThey have a decently accurate spitting range of their venom, and that would look a little different. If that gets in your eye, you\u2019re looking at burning, redness, maybe temporary blindness. You\u2019re going to want to wash that out really quickly, or else if you leave it in there longer, it could damage your cornea, and then a little more extensive eye damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Animal Services, this is the first cobra the department has encountered in Wichita Falls. Officials say the snake has since been removed and placed in a secure location.<\/p>\n

The situation remains under investigation, and officials have not said how the cobra ended up in Wichita Falls.<\/p>\n

Anyone who encounters a potentially dangerous snake is urged to keep a safe distance and contact animal services.<\/p>\n

You can now stream KFDX and Texoma\u2019s FOX live 24\/7 on your smart TV\u00a0with\u00a0KFDX+<\/a>,\u00a0our brand-new app! No antenna, cable, or satellite needed\u2014watch for free, anytime.\u00a0Just download it on your Roku, Apple TV, or Fire TV and start streaming.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WICHITA FALLS (KFDX\/KJTL) \u2014 The Wichita Falls Animal Services Center is investigating after a cobra was found inside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[156681,234268,234267,79,234266,234269,74360,201],"class_list":["post-518433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-city-limits","tag-city-ordinance","tag-deadliest-snakes","tag-science","tag-spitting-cobra","tag-venomous-reptiles","tag-wichita-falls","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}