New Jersey authorities are trying to figure out how a man came to own a cobra whose bite left him in critical condition.
New Jersey Environmental Protection Department spokesman Larry Hajna told The Record the department is examining "illegal possession" of the reptiles. Hajna said the snakes are not legal to own in New Jersey.
Twenty-five-year-old Eric Bortz was in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y., after being bitten Tuesday by an albino Monocled cobra.
Authorities say the Fair Lawn man bought the cobra, a copperhead and a timber rattlesnake in Pennsylvania over the weekend. He believed their venomous glands had been removed.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
