South Carolina Venomous Snake Bite Update

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Authorities in Florence, South Carolina provided an update this week on their investigation into a man bitten by one of the world’s most venomous snakes last Friday (September 6, 2024).

As we reported yesterday, South Florence high school teacher Jeff Liebowitz was bitten by an Inland Taipan in the early morning hours on Friday (September 6, 2024). Indigenous to Australia, the Inland Taipan – Oxyuranus microlepidotus – is fifty times more venomous than a King Cobra and 100 times more venomous than an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, according to scientists.

Liebowitz was bitten by the snake while “free handling” it – i.e. holding it with his bare hands. He is currently in the intensive care unit at McLeod hospital in Florence. According to Florence police captain Stephen Starling, Liebowitz remains in “serious” condition.

Police said the serpentine drama – which has attracted international attention – began when Liebowitz called emergency responders at around 2:00 a.m. EDT on Friday in regards to “a snake bite he received at his residence,” which is located on Marion street just west of downtown Florence.

***

RELATED | SNAKEHANDLER FIGHTS FOR HIS LIFE

***

“He did not immediately advise that this was a bite from a venomous snake,” Starling noted. “Later that morning around 9:00 a.m. (police) were contacted by EMS when it was discovered Liebowitz was bitten by a venomous snake and he possessed numerous more snakes at this residence and there may be a public safety concern. This information was gathered from the victim and from posts on his public Facebook account.”

At this point, according to Starling, a warrant was sought “to determine if more wild animals existed and if they were properly and safely contained.” Florence police contacted the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) “for assistance with how to handle any wild or venomous animals,” and the statewide agency “provided guidance on how to assess the conditions in which the snakes should be stored and properly cared for concerning the habitat as well as giving an assessment of the danger involved with the specific types of snakes that may be located at the residence.”

Following the issuance of the search warrant, police and SCDNR entered Leibowitz’s residence – where they located fourteen venomous snakes and two domestic cats.

• Green Mamba 
• Gaboon Vipers (2)  
• Fer-de-Lance
• Death Adder
• Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake 
• Black Forest Cobras 
• Unknown Rattlesnakes (2)
• Neotropical Rattlesnakes (2)
• Unknown small Rattlesnake
• Inland Taipan (1) 

Florence police contacted multiple local zoos and reptile habitats – including Riverbanks Zoo, Alligator Adventure, Reptile Lagoon and Edisto Island Serpentarium – in an effort to find ” temporary holdings for the snakes.”

“All facilities that were contacted advised that they could not accept the snakes due to unknown health and current environmental concerns,” Starling noted. “For example, if these snakes possessed any health issues or were contaminated from their current living conditions, they could introduce health problems to the environment of the facility and threaten the sterile conditions or harm current inventory of animals.”

Meanwhile, SCDNR advised the agency that “the current habitats for these snakes were unsuitable and unsafe.”

“This select group of animals including non-native species were especially dangerous for private ownership,” Starling noted. “Due to the serious nature of the injury and the victim’s condition, a family member was contacted regarding the animals. The family member took possession of the animals and then signed a voluntary surrender form, giving (police) possession and understanding that they would be humanely euthanized.”

***

Starling sent out a subsequent statement early Tuesday morning (September 10, 2024) clarifying his agency “attempted to have these animals collected by numerous professional facilities so that they WOULD NOT be euthanized, but instead could be studied or displayed in a professional environment (emphasis original).”

“Since these facilities would not do that, our only course of action was to have them euthanized,” he said.

As we reported yesterday, toxicology experts say being bitten by an Inland Taipan is “a worst-case scenario” due to its “unique predatory ecology” and its “incredibly toxic venom.”

“Taipan envenomations are incredibly dangerous and just about the worst thing to be bitten by,” wrote Bryan Fry, a toxicology professor who has been following the Liebowitz saga.

According to Fry, Liebowitz might survive the initial bite but still sustain permanent nerve damage – and brain damage – that is “irreversible by the antivenom.”

“Even after the toxins have been removed by the antivenom, the damage is done,” he wrote, adding that bite victims could “take weeks, months, or years to recover. If at all.”

Liebowitz posted a video of himself free handling an Inland Taipan just hours before he was bitten.

“I can control his turn,” Liebowitz said on the video. “There’s no need to be so scared of him.”

***

Venomous snake handlers have slammed Liebowitz for his failure to follow basic safety protocols – including keeping supplies of antivenom on hand.

Al Coritz – a.k.a. “Viperkeeper” – noted that Liebowitz’s preferred method of handling snakes was also inherently risky, a risk which was compounded by his “lack of preparedness.”

“Free-handling is like Russian Roulette, you never can tell when that chamber with the round is going to align with the hammer,” he wrote. “The round that ended up under the hammer (Friday) was the mother of all rounds, the Inland Taipan.”

“People on his page just have no idea of the potency of the venom this snake possesses,” Coritz added. “Taipan venom targets five major organ systems all at once.”

Coritz also correctly predicted the fate of Liebowitz’s animals.

“In the end, his snakes will pay the price,” he wrote.

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.