Nearly three months after a man in Charles County, Maryland, was found dead in a house with over a hundred snakes — some of which were venomous — authorities have confirmed that he died of a snake bite.
A spokesman for the state medical examiner’s officer tells WTOP the death was accidental and the official cause of death was “snake envenomation.”
The still-unidentified victim was found Jan. 19 inside his home in the 5500 block of Raphael Drive in Pomfret. Authorities were called there for a wellness check after a neighbor could see him on the floor through a window.
When officers got into the house, they found 124 snakes, including venomous rattlesnakes, cobras and black mambas.
It is illegal to own venomous snakes in Maryland.
A county spokeswoman told NBC Washington that fortunately, all the snakes had been “very properly secured” and appeared to have been well cared for.
It took hours to get them all out of the house, and they have since been taken to handlers in Virginia and North Carolina.
The snakes were not considered to be a risk to the public: If one of the coldblooded beasts were to get loose, it would probably not survive the winter chill.