Venomous snakes escape breeding farms in southern China during flooding

Local media in Hengzhou report king ratsnakes and cobras among hundreds in flood waters caused by typhoon Maysak Hundreds of snakes, including cobras, have escaped from flooded breeding farms in southern China as severe storms continue to batter parts of the country. State media reported that a snake farm in Hengzhou, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was hit by flood waters after days of heavy rainfall caused by typhoon Maysak, prompting warnings for nearby residents. A dramatic video shared by state media showing local people using dip nets to catch snakes and a cobra poking its head above a torrent of muddy water went viral. Local media reported that the types of the escaped snakes included water snakes, king ratsnakes and cobras. “Hundreds of snakes escaped all at once. I’ve seen five or six,” a snakebite victim in a local hospital told Beijing News. The villager said he was bitten by a cobra while clearing debris on the ground floor of his house at about 1pm on Tuesday. A local doctor who treats snakebite patients told the paper he had treated several villagers since the typhoon hit the region. The incident came amid severe flooding in Guangxi, where two reservoirs experien