The serpentarium was more than just another roadside attraction. Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com. The concrete & stucco cobra was the second icon of the Serpentarium. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. I first heard of Bill Haast around 1955, when reading a "man's magazine" (as they were called back then, probably Argosy. However, we kept them because they made good pets. Does anybody on this herpetology board know either the author or title of a novel, published roughly 20 years ago. It was intuitive. ''I know a lot of people in Miami still remember the Serpentarium and wonder what became of me, that's why I'm talking to you,'' said Haast, who would only be interviewed by telephone. Cookie broke free and took the boy underwater. Regarding Bill Haast's killing of Cookie the crocodile, bothe Bill Guest and jesse are wrong. Operating from 1946 to 1984, the Serpentarium drew as many as 50,000 annual visitors. One of the girls fainted right in my dad's arms! It was not that far from us and yet we were not fearful. ''I always meant for the attraction to support the venom research, but it just kept growing and growing. Besides his wife, the former Nancy Harrell, he is survived by two daughters, three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Cloud. ''From the first day I walked into the Miami Serpentarium, I knew that was for me,'' he said. I always had one or more in my bedroom and it drove my mom nuts.. I feel sorry for the young generations that they will never get to see the true mastery of Bill Haast with his serpents. By then Cookie, the 12-foot, 2,000-pound crocodile, had the boy in its mouth. Besides his wife, he left two daughters, Naia Hanna and Shantih, living in California. Palm vipers. Copyright 2023 Local10.com is published by WPLG INC., a Berkshire Hathaway company. Great stories were told on our nightly walks, stories of Africa in the "War" , Safaries, snakes hey we like snakes , Dick gets in troule all the time with his snakes. Miami Serpentarium-Founded by Bill Haast - Waymarking BILL PUT ON HIS MILKING SHOW WHEN A SNAKE IN BILL'S HAND WIGGLED AROUND AND SPRAYED A WHITE LIQUID FROM THE REAR OF THE SNAKE INTO THE CROWD AND ACROSS THIS WOMEN'S LEGS IN FRONT OF US. I'm very glad I did. Haast routinely injected himself with venom to build up resistance to the ill effects of the inevitable bites. We lived in Southern California. THAT WAS THE MOST MEMORIBLE PART OF THAT VACATION. I also remember hearing a story about him saving the lives of GI`s in Vietnam who had jumped from a helicopter into some poisonous snakes. Mr. Haasts dream of a first-class snake farm came true when he opened his Miami serpentarium in 1947. On that trip, I held the very long Indigo snake, and my friend, Ann, took a picture of me. While on my honeymmon in Orlando we rode down to Miami to the Serpentarium and watched Bill milk some snakes. I knocked and went in. The cheerleaders and marching band of South Miami High, home of the Cobras, screamed and pounded their feet. Senseing this the king made an immediate move toward the door to challenge. In an enclosure) his parents should have supervised him much better. Look at how big the transplanted Pythons get and that they thrive and fight the alligators in the Everglades. I have Ophidiophobia (not herpetophobia the fear of reptiles) a true fear of snakes. We would eat the snakes, along with all the fish and snapping turtles we could catch from the Lakeland area lakes. A rare survivor, he declared himself doing "very well, anxious to get back to work.". He was a great neighborhhod Dad, and I will always remember the fun we had with he, his wife and his children. boy killed by crocodile at miami serpentarium. Haast has already been etched into history, it has been said upon learning of his passing on June 15, 2011, that "there are some people who should never die.". Tragically, a 6-year-old boy fell in and died in 1977. I asked him one evening if I could walk with him he said yes in the baritone of gentle command. ( Because they wouldn't let me move here by myself.) "I just have a curious nature," he said. VENOM `POSTER BOY' The medical establishment -- and the Food and Drug Administration -- never bought into Haast's enthusiasm for the lethal snake juice as treatment for multiple sclerosis, lupus, arthritis and Parkinson's disease. But I must say he had a good sense of humor too. You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, hes gone, he told Outside magazine in 1997. His concept of establishing a unique, scientifically based production facility where systems and methods to house, feed, and collect venoms were created . I grew up in Miami and loved the Serpentarium. Back in the 1980's, I lived in the Pepperwood S/D (about one block south of Kendell Drive, just west of Palmetto Expy). ''I know some people have said that about Bill, but he is one of the hardest-working, most diligent, focused individuals you'll ever meet,'' said Van Horn, 62, who worked at the Serpentarium as a young man. / CBS Miami. As my mother was paying our admission, a worker rushed over to tell us that we were going to miss the King cobra show. MIAMI - The name of the 15-year-old who was shot and killed in northwest Miami-Dade on Wednesday has been released. There's a picture of me and an indigo snake, probably nearly as long as I was tall. When my family came to Miami in1961, they left me in Lakeland, Florida with my aunt and uncle, who happened to be an avid hunter/fisherman. Then years later I lived in Punta Gorda on Washington Loop, when Bill Haast moved there. I remember him as a very genuine, nice man. But Haast had detractors. Before moving to South Florida, she began her career in South Bend, Indiana and spent six years in Jacksonville as a reporter and weekend anchor. boy killed by crocodile at miami serpentarium. This subspecies, restricted to the Florida Keys, obviously was named for Bill Haast. Mr. Haast was bitten at least 173 times by poisonous snakes, about 20 times almost fatally. Thanks for putting it up! He was bitten for the first time at summer camp a year later, when he tried to capture a small timber rattlesnake. The couple moved back to New Jersey, where Haast studied aviation mechanics, and was certified after four years. "If I live to be 100, I'll really make the point.''. Green mambas. My uncle made a point to tell me to look up this site. Good memories of a time long ago. For more information, call (407) 892-6905 or visit www . Police in northwest Miami-Dade County investigate after a teenager was shot and killed. "Miami was in Bill's heart to the end," his widow said. Miami Serpentarium Historical Marker Of course he would buy the rare Indigo snakes, because they could rear up and spread their neck like a Cobra, but were not poisonous. sailing lessons beaufort, nc . On one trip, Dr. Haast was there, but not in his office or outside on the lawn as usual. At the same time his work saved dozens of lives. He was 100. My interest of reptiles was clearly fromed by Dr. Hasst and I have passed on some of it to my kids who now have a Bearded Dragon Dr. Hasst is a true legend.. In the late 40's and early 50's I lived in Marathon on the Keys. That might have occurred, since some recent field guides I have examined do not include haasti. Inside the bag was a cardboard box with holes in it. But Jonas Salk produced a polio vaccine in April 1955, ending Haast's first effort to turn venom into a miracle drug. Outside was a 35-foot-high concrete statue of a giant cobra, forked tongue flicking menacingly. Haast caught his first snake at 7; his first serious bite was at 12. A doctor at the hospital where the boy, was taken said the child was practically dead on arrival from drowning in association with multiple traumatic injuries., See the article in its original context from. Bill Jr. eventually left, having lost interest in snakes, but not before he had been bitten four times by venomous snakes. I then got a "thank you". Police are searching for the shooter and the murder weapon used. "Bill Haast, a Man Charmed by Snakes, Dies at 100", "Owner destroys crocodile that killed boy, may close serpentarium", "Icon: Bill Haast Snake handler, venom researcher, age 97", "100 years and kicking: Happy Birthday, Bill Haast", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Haast&oldid=1079333500, Pages with login required references or sources, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 March 2022, at 06:33. Bill Haast figured he had handled more than three million poisonous snakes over the years, and he had the hands to prove it. Smocks. The substance is an essential ingredient in making a serum to treat snakebite victims. I, and many other people, really enjoy reading the comments that are left under the photos. Haast is still trying to prove a point: He'll go to his grave believing venom can heal. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He placed a live, non-venomous snake into one of the supposedly empty boxes to be cleaned. Thanks for the update on Bill Haast! When walking down a hallway, I passed an open door. I am wondering if that was the same pit the young boy had fallen into. I was a good friend with Bill Haast's grandson Willie, He and I would catch snakes and bring them to the Surpentarium, I also would go camping in the everglades with Willie and his sister pinkie and their mom and dad, we would swim in the water around gaters and catch snakes. Noticing that it had come from Florida, he knew then, he said, that Florida was his destiny. When he reached in to get it with his hook, he realized he had been had, then chose to play along and scare the audience who had already watched him take out a few deadly snakes from other boxes. Worst time of my life!!! it stirred interest faster than the key lime pie and local jelly signs. 'There is no reason to visit Miami. BOY KILLED The attraction prospered until a tragedy in 1977. Bill Haast, a Man Charmed by Snakes, Dies at 100 - New York Times So long Mr. Haast, you were a great man. Marker is on South Dixie Highway (U.S. 1) 0.1 miles north of Southwest 128th Street, on the right when traveling north. Quite a memory! In 1980 we took my late husband who had ALS (Lou Gerhig's Disease) to the Miama Clinic where. Unfortunately, in 1977 a six-year-old boy fell into the crocodile pit at Miami Serpentarium and was killed by "Cookie", a 12-ft-long crocodile. One day I noticed his handshis fingersthey were deformend, mangled, sort of like a something from an old horror moviea result--one of many, of having been bitten by so many venomous snakesI think his own blood was an anti-venom, as a result of being bitten so much, I think he used to distribute this "antivenom (his blood)worldwide to snakebite vicims. I'll never forget this experience. He was back at it next week when we came again to fill the popcorn machines. On a September day in 1977, a small boy visiting the Serpentarium fell into one of the reptile pits and was grabbed by a 12-foot African crocodile. Another interesting attraction there were the large Galopagas turtles he had. He was rushed to see a doctor, but quickly recovered without further treatment. ``I feel like a man in his 60s.'' When we said goodby, I knew this was a moment I would remember for the rest of my life. Haast eventually sold his family home to buy the land on South Dixie Highway where the Serpentarium would rise. 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. . Cloud, a venom business where the public can pay to watch workers extract venom from snakes. He had so much venom in him that we were told even a bee sting could kill him. MIAMI (CBS4)- The man who mesmerized generations of paying customers from 1947 to 1984 by extracting venom at his Miami Serpentarium as a spine-tingling South Florida attraction is dead. "[7], Haast turned 100 in December 2010[10] and died on June 15, 2011.[1]. My scary moment at the Serpentarium was to see the salt water crock in a deep pit jump up and snap a chicken before it hit the ground! He introduced himself as Col. Spencer, I introduced myself as "I'm Mark and could my brother Dick come too?" When they got there, they learned a boy had been shot and was being driven to a hospital. And we often talked of many things when she came in to South Dixie Amoco to have the well-maintained car serviced. Today, a McDonald's and a shopping center sit where the Serpentarium once thrilled. Haast's hands suffered venom-caused tissue damage, culminating in the loss of a finger following a bite from a Malayan pit viper in 2003. According to Wikipedia, Haast first developed an interest in snakes as an 11-year- old Boy Scout while at a Boy Scout summer camp. Pinterest. Soon after opening the Serpentarium, Haast began experimenting with building up an acquired immunity to the venom of King, Indian and Cape cobras by injecting himself with gradually increasing quantities of venom he had extracted from his snakes, a practice called mithridatism. Sometimes a snake would upstage Haast, biting him in front of spectators. If you need help with the Public File, call (954) 364-2526. But thanks to Bill, there were not many poisonous snakes left in South Dade in the 60s-70s when I had an youngsters craving for catching reptiles. On September 3, 1977, a 6-year-old boy sitting atop the wall surrounding the Serpentarium's alligator and crocodile pit fell into the pit, and a 12-foot crocodile lunged ten feet and grabbed the boy. David Mark Wasson was apparently sitting on top of the wall around the pit, dangling his feet during an inter mission between shows when he lost his balance, the authorities said. Oxford American | Love and Death in the Cape Fear Serpentarium We had an African Ball Python that had stopped eating, and I remember bringing it with my father to have it fed. The latest local, regional and national news events of the morning are presented by the Local 10 News Team along with updated sports, weather and traffic. I recently saw Mr. Hasst on wild kingdon with Jack Hanna (aired 1997 maybe). Miami Serpentarium Laboratories