Bill Haast was the long time owner of the Miami Serpentarium, where he entertained paying guests by milking poisonous snakes for venom up to ten times a day, ranging from small snakes to King Cobras. He ran it from 1947 until 1984, closing it after a young boy fell into a crocodile pit and was killed. Haast injected himself with various snake venoms and built up immunity, selling venom extracted and also providing his blood for transfusions to snakebite victims.∼Bill Haast died Wednesday, he was 100. Haast remained director of Miami Serpentarium Laboratories near Punta Gorda until his death.
The original Miami Serpentarium, located south of Miami, was in operation from 1947 to 1984. Guests would pay admission to watch Haast extract venom from snakes. Haast, a pioneer in extracting large quantities of venom for research, began the practice when he was a boy.
Soon after opening the Serpentarium, Haast began injecting himself with different types of cobra venom in order to develop immunity.
William E. Haast was born on Dec. 30, 1910, in Paterson, N.J. He caught his first garter snake at 7 at a nearby canal. His first serious snake bite came at age 12, when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake at Boy Scout camp. The same year, a copperhead's bite put him in the hospital for a week. When young Bill brought his first poisonous snake home to the family apartment, his mother left home for three days, he said. She finally agreed to let him keep a snake or two in cages.
The original Miami Serpentarium, located south of Miami, was in operation from 1947 to 1984. Guests would pay admission to watch Haast extract venom from snakes. Haast, a pioneer in extracting large quantities of venom for research, began the practice when he was a boy.
Soon after opening the Serpentarium, Haast began injecting himself with different types of cobra venom in order to develop immunity.
William E. Haast was born on Dec. 30, 1910, in Paterson, N.J. He caught his first garter snake at 7 at a nearby canal. His first serious snake bite came at age 12, when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake at Boy Scout camp. The same year, a copperhead's bite put him in the hospital for a week. When young Bill brought his first poisonous snake home to the family apartment, his mother left home for three days, he said. She finally agreed to let him keep a snake or two in cages.
Bill Haast was the long time owner of the Miami Serpentarium, where he entertained paying guests by milking poisonous snakes for venom up to ten times a day, ranging from small snakes to King Cobras. He ran it from 1947 until 1984, closing it after a young boy fell into a crocodile pit and was killed. Haast injected himself with various snake venoms and built up immunity, selling venom extracted and also providing his blood for transfusions to snakebite victims.∼Bill Haast died Wednesday, he was 100. Haast remained director of Miami Serpentarium Laboratories near Punta Gorda until his death.
The original Miami Serpentarium, located south of Miami, was in operation from 1947 to 1984. Guests would pay admission to watch Haast extract venom from snakes. Haast, a pioneer in extracting large quantities of venom for research, began the practice when he was a boy.
Soon after opening the Serpentarium, Haast began injecting himself with different types of cobra venom in order to develop immunity.
William E. Haast was born on Dec. 30, 1910, in Paterson, N.J. He caught his first garter snake at 7 at a nearby canal. His first serious snake bite came at age 12, when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake at Boy Scout camp. The same year, a copperhead's bite put him in the hospital for a week. When young Bill brought his first poisonous snake home to the family apartment, his mother left home for three days, he said. She finally agreed to let him keep a snake or two in cages.
The original Miami Serpentarium, located south of Miami, was in operation from 1947 to 1984. Guests would pay admission to watch Haast extract venom from snakes. Haast, a pioneer in extracting large quantities of venom for research, began the practice when he was a boy.
Soon after opening the Serpentarium, Haast began injecting himself with different types of cobra venom in order to develop immunity.
William E. Haast was born on Dec. 30, 1910, in Paterson, N.J. He caught his first garter snake at 7 at a nearby canal. His first serious snake bite came at age 12, when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake at Boy Scout camp. The same year, a copperhead's bite put him in the hospital for a week. When young Bill brought his first poisonous snake home to the family apartment, his mother left home for three days, he said. She finally agreed to let him keep a snake or two in cages.
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