A "Snaky" Life

Florida is home to a number of snake experts, and one of the most famous is Bill Haast, who ran the Miami Serpentarium from 1947 to 1985. In addition to providing thrills for tourists, Haast has long pursued a serious scientific interest in snake venom. His pioneering techniques for collecting and marketing venom have provided a reliable source of supply for research laboratories around the world. His venom is also used to produce life-saving antivenin serums. Haast believes that snake venom (one of the most complex enzymes known to man) holds remarkable untapped potential for use in medicine. Haast, who is 82, has been bitten more than 150 times in his career and has been carried out on a stretcher 17 of those times. Haast has built up his immunity with regular injections of diluted venom (not to mention the unexpected injections he sometimes receives). But even for him, te bite of aa deadly snake is a painful and dangerous matter, an ongoing hazard of his chosen career. After describing the terrible effects of a recent cobra bite, Haast was asked if that was the last time he had been bitten by a snake. Haast replied, "That was the last time I was bitten by a cobra!"

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