Snake With Ears Found by Berks County Man

An 11 foot long snake with ears?  According to this story, which appeared in the October 1, 1875 edition of the Reading Eagle, a farmer killed such a snake and had it stuffed.  Could the hood of a cobra have been mistaken for "ears"?  The average length of a king cobra is around 12 feet, so that may be a possibility, although it begs the question:  Just how the heck did a cobra get loose in rural Pennsylvania?


A large snake, supposed to be of the swamp species, was killed on Saturday afternoon last, about one mile and a half from Beckersville, this county, by Elhannon Hauser.  Mr. Hauser was out on a hill cutting wood when a boy named Garman told him that in the road just below, a large snake was lying.  Mr. Hauser left his work and went to the place and the snake did not move, when he struck it with a stick and killed it.  It measured 11 feet 4 inches.  The most surprising thing is that it had two well developed ears on its head, two and a half inches long.  It was skinned and will be stuffed.  Mr. Hauser thinks he will take it to the Centennial.


(view the 1875 newspaper article here)