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Springfield, Missouri - Home of the real life God Darn Cobra Kang Scare (1953)
Posted on 8/12/15 at 8:57 am
Posted on 8/12/15 at 8:57 am
National Geographic - Springfield, MO Cobra Scare
Today, Springfield, MO remembers the 1953 Cobra Scare with an annual celebration. Cobra Scare t-shirts are sold throughout the city.
And children walking to school are still warned to watch for the GDCK.
quote:
In Missouri, a garden hoe is the best tool for killing cobras. In the summer of 1953, Roland Parrish was working in his front yard, when a long black snake raised its head and spread its hood. One swift swipe with the hoe and the snake was dead. A week later, Roland’s neighbor Wesley saw his bulldog attack a snake in the bushes, so he rushed out pulled the animals apart, then grabbed his own garden hoe and bashed the snake. Wesley called the Springfield police, who were baffled by the strange reptile. In the end it was Herbert, the eighth grade science teacher, who identified the snake as Naja naja—a deadly Indian cobra. With that lead, the police paid a visit to the Mowrer Animal Company on Route 66, but the pet shop owner denied that any of his animals were missing.
quote:
A week later, when another cobra was killed with a hoe in someone’s front yard, the city of Springfield went into panic. Suddenly, the townspeople were on the offensive. One man spotted a snake on the road, and smashed it with a car jack before running it over repeatedly. And when her own daughter told her that a snake had just gone into the garage, Mrs. McCoy brandished a hoe, bravely entered and killed the snake. Throughout early September, the snakes kept popping up (literally). When Mr. Stockton saw one slithering in his yard, he threw a rock at it, chasing it into his crawlspace. The police first tried trapping the cobra, then exploded a canister of tear gas under the house. When the snake finally crawled out, the policeman fired off every bullet in his barrel—and missed—before Mr. Stockton stepped in with a hoe and dispatched the snake.
quote:
A month after the first exotic snake was killed, LIFE magazine published a story on “The Big Ozark Cobra Hunt”, while the local hospital ordered enough cobra anti-venom to treat the police force and any unlucky citizens who happened to get bit. Luckily, nobody did—not even when one police unit ran over a cobra but failed to kill it. The snake struck the car with his fangs repeatedly, but in the end, met his end with a rock. Fearful that hundreds of deadly cobras still remained lurking about town, the City Health Director hired a snake charmer from Florida who broadcast flute music from the back of a truck as it drove through town. Coincidentally (?), two cobras emerged from beneath the Springfield Pickle Works, and were killed—with a hoe. All in all, eleven cobras were discovered and dispatched
Today, Springfield, MO remembers the 1953 Cobra Scare with an annual celebration. Cobra Scare t-shirts are sold throughout the city.
And children walking to school are still warned to watch for the GDCK.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:00 am to mizzoukills
That's one hell of a practical joke.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:00 am to mizzoukills
1. Cobra ain't got nuffin on a cottonmouth
2. Only girly men are scared of snakes.
2. Only girly men are scared of snakes.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:08 am to WeeWee
quote:
2. Only girly men are scared of snakes.
yeah, if I was walking down the sidewalk and a real life cobra raised its head and spread its hood...I'd shite my pants.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:09 am to mizzoukills
1950's law enforcement/investigation was legit.
And they never went back to talk to him again?
After...
quote:
With that lead, the police paid a visit to the Mowrer Animal Company on Route 66, but the pet shop owner denied that any of his animals were missing.
And they never went back to talk to him again?
After...
quote:
All in all, eleven cobras were discovered and dispatched
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:15 am to Clyde Tipton
The culprit ended up being a kid who felt he was gypped on some tropical fish that he purchased from the Mowrer Animal Company. He stole the cobras and let them loose, not knowing they were cobras. It's fortunate they didn't attack him when he was setting them loose.
In 1988 (as a grown man) he finally admitted he was the culprit of the Cobra Scare.
In 1988 (as a grown man) he finally admitted he was the culprit of the Cobra Scare.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:19 am to mizzoukills
quote:
The culprit ended up being a kid who felt he was gypped on some tropical fish that he purchased from the Mowrer Animal Company. He stole the cobras and let them loose, not knowing they were cobras. It's fortunate they didn't attack him when he was setting them loose.
wow.
quote:
In 1988 (as a grown man) he finally admitted he was the culprit of the Cobra Scare.
any articles on this?
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:21 am to mizzoukills
I had an idea for a movie once. Get a bunch of cobras and release them in the sewers of NYC. They breed and mutate and create a super cobra that can survive the cold and come out of the toilets at night to murder ppl. A good ole boy from Louisiana comes in and saves the day.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:41 am to WeeWee
Should be retitled to "The Ho(e) that saved Springfield"
Posted on 8/12/15 at 9:47 am to WeeWee
quote:fify
A good ole baw from Louisiana comes in and saves the day.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 11:27 am to Duckie
quote:
any articles on this?
In OP link. National Geographic
Posted on 8/12/15 at 11:28 am to Helo
quote:
Legit shirt.
I own one because it is cool. they're sold online and in Springfield's downtown entertainment district.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 11:44 am to Duckie
quote:
In 1988 (as a grown man) he finally admitted he was the culprit of the Cobra Scare.
Well that would make for a great grandpa story.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 12:22 pm to mizzoukills
quote:
One man spotted a snake on the road, and smashed it with a car jack before running it over repeatedly.
Posted on 8/12/15 at 12:28 pm to northLAgoomba
It's actually a pretty interesting story. Imagine a little old lady in bum frick Missouri actually chasing a fricking cobra into a garage to attempt to kill it armed only with a hoe!
And she actually killed it!
That's a badass women right der!
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