I lived just across the road from Bill's place in 1959 thru 1961 and went. At the time of the TV airing Mr. Haast was 87 years old and quite handsome he looked no older that early 50s. But Haast no longer can handle the forked-tongued killers that made him famous. Born William E. Haast on Dec. 30, 1910 in Paterson, N.J., he was a South Florida celebrity for surviving successive venomous snakebites. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Horses had developed resistance to the poisons through the same process, and the blood of those horses was used to create life-saving antivenin. Small world. An eight-year-old boy in Costa Rica was brutally dragged underwater and mauled to death by a crocodile in front of his horrified parents. He was a local celebrity known for something really worthwhile (unlike so many celebrities nowadays). MIAMI, Sept. 3 (UPI)A 6yearold boy tumbled into a crocodile pit at the Miami Serpentarium today and a 14 foot, 1,800pound African crocodile snapped its jaws around the child's middle and dragged him to his death in a small lagoon. "Miami was in Bill's heart to the end," his widow said. He would free the snakes on a table in front of him, then catch the snakes bare-handed, and force them to eject their venom into glass vials with a rubber membrane stretched across the top. My Dad would take me there often, we lived in South Miami (as I do againlong story). "He's like an icon to people that know him," Cruz said. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Well, my mother went on a vacation to the Miami area. Haast and his teenage son, Bill Jr., began constructing snake pits, the beginning of the Serpentarium. Every so often the evening news would announce "Bill Haast had been bitten by a poisonous snake AGAIN." Supposedly, this Timacuan sub-species and the nearby Mexican Bush Master are the largest poisonous snakes in the world and Bill Hass had both of them in his World famous Serpentarium. At 19, he got a job with a roadside snake attraction. Their daughters, Nya and Shantee probably do not even remeber me (it was in the early seventies). I've outlived all my friends down there.' In the summer of 1972 I was bitten by a pygmy rattle snake in the middle of a subdivision in south Miami. [4] As of 2008 he continued to have his wife inject him with small amounts of snake venom. Palm vipers. I was 11 in 1972 when my folks agreed to stop at the Serpentarium when our family of seven drove down from Massachusetts to Key West for February school vacation. That was South Dade, Florida, relatively free of the most venomous snakes because Bill Hass and the Serpentarium. He received the key to the city.Those same hands that for decades eased venom from the world's most poisonous snakes held the key to the city of Miami on Thursday. In 1946 Haast decided he had enough money saved to start his snake farm. [2] After closing the Serpentarium, he opened the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories, a facility in Punta Gorda, Florida that produced snake venom for medical and research use. Of course he would buy the rare Indigo snakes, because they could rear up and spread their neck like a Cobra, but were not poisonous. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. I'm glad I got to experience that part of S. Florida/s history, visiting The Serpentarium, now part of mine. He had so much venom in him that we were told even a bee sting could kill him. Boy, 8, mauled to death by crocodile in front of horrified parents after being dragged underwater as he played. He's truly an amazing man who has lived a life of exemplary devotion to his work. I've tried to keep up with him from time to time. We took 3-4 water snakes there that closely resembled the deadly Water Moccasin, only to be turned away penniless. My Parents said we know Mr. Haast would you like to see his snake farm. Oh my gosh..I worked on Bill and Nancy's house in P.G 15-20 years agomold issueshumidity problems..put an air exchanger in their snake area to control odorbut had strict guidelines to maintain high humidity. He received his first cobra bite less than a year after he started his immunization program. other sizes: small original auto previous | next Unless otherwise noted under the right bottom of the photo, all images are copyrighted by Don Boyd comment | share Like for so many others, the Serpentarium was a place of wonder for me in my youth. I visited the Serpentarium November 22, 1965 while on my Honeymoon with my wife Lynne. 10 junio, 2022 the contact angle on a thigh and drive tackle is. Disney has now closed all resort beaches out of an abundance of caution until further notice, a Disney spokesperson said Wednesday morning. In the late 40's and early 50's I lived in Marathon on the Keys. The last snake I had was a 12' burmese python that I owned a few years ago. I remember Cookie on the lawn, too! Today, out of print, it's coveted by collectors and sells on eBay for more than $100, a testament to Haast's popularity. THAT WAS THE MOST MEMORIBLE PART OF THAT VACATION. Mr Graves desperately tried to rescue his son but was unsuccessful. He is truely an extraordinary man. I. Woww! He purchased his first exotic snake, a diamondback rattler, from a catalog. I thought that was pretty cool back then, and still do. I will forever carry fond memories of "Doc" and how he turned my life around. A 20.2-foot (6.17-metre) saltwater crocodile, believed to be the largest ever captured, was trapped in the southern Philippines after a spate of fatal attacks. Two-year-old Lane Thomas Graves had been playing in . BILL PUT ON HIS MILKING SHOW WHEN A SNAKE IN BILL'S HAND WIGGLED AROUND AND SPRAYED A WHITE LIQUID FROM THE REAR OF THE SNAKE INTO THE CROWD AND ACROSS THIS WOMEN'S LEGS IN FRONT OF US. I'm sorry I can never take my grandchildren there. The whole experience seemed to do the trick, as he never displayed such fear of snakes again after that. . The boy and his father, David Wasson, 42, were throwing grapes at the crocodile, hoping to see it move, when the boy slipped off a retaining wall on which he had been sitting and fell into the crocodile pit. Haast physically extracted venom from venomous snakes by holding them by the head and forcing them to bite a rubber membrane covering a vial. I think that this Dr., was loved by thousands of Miamians, because of him lives are save. Using nothing but a thin hooked metal rod. I followed his instructions and he was right. My Grandfather was a construction worker and used to drop me off there every day over the summer, and weekends when he would work. Funny thing is, he had different ideas about that. It was a close call, one that underscored the county's need for an antivenin bank, Cruz said. I think its horrible that he killed that animal. The guy that answered the phone was very calm, and told me to just leave it alone and that it would probably just be on it's way. He didn't do it out of anger because the crocodile was just doing what comes naturally to him, Clarita Haast said. ''I hit him over the head, trying to get him to let go.'' On two trips to Florida in the late 60s, my parents took me to The Serpentarium. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, shoot and kill the 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe, Explosive end to case thats rocked America. I remember in 3rd grade, back in 1960, one of my classmates dropped her purse into the crocodile pit. Early in Haast's career, he slogged the wilds of the Everglades collecting cottonmouths and rattlers. ''I could become a poster boy for the benefits of venom,'' Haast jokes. One day, a six-year-old boy fell into the crocodile pit at Miami Serpentarium and was killed by "Cookie", a 12-ft-long crocodile that had been living in the pit for 20 years without incident. I don't know. His unique contribution to medicine earned him widespread recognition. Most people working in the biological field take some pride in having a species or subspecies named for them, but Haast seemed to have none of that. Haast eventually returned home, where his mother had leased a concession stand at a lakeside resort. It was not that far from us and yet we were not fearful. In the area of the Serpentarium, pigmy rattlesnakes abounded. If snake venom holds the secret to a long life, then Bill Haast had the magic. I called Haast to see what he could tell me about it. THRIVING BUSINESS Despite the medical debacles, the Serpentarium continued to flourish. We gave Dr.Haast large Andaconda in 1965". Donated several snakes over the years also, mostly coral snakes from Opa Locka area. There, sitting at a desk was Bill Haast. Smocks. Two men came to our house, & they had a hook on the end of a pole, & a cloth bag, & they soon had the brightly colored but deadly snake in tow. Julio's distraught parents have urged authorities to find the crocodile and kill it. After leaving Miami for the Air Force and then marriage, my bride and I returned to the Central East Coast of Florida to live, and on a trip to the Keys, I just had to take my new bride to show her Bill Haast's work. I was inspired by him because as kids we used to go all through the Evergaldes looking for snakes to catch. As a kid, it was a thrill to see the man himself up close. independent local journalism in Miami. killed David Mark Wasson of West Palm Beach, Fla. Sheriff Demings said this type of thing had never happened before in Disneys 45 years of operations. VENOM `POSTER BOY' The medical establishment -- and the Food and Drug Administration -- never bought into Haast's enthusiasm for the lethal snake juice as treatment for multiple sclerosis, lupus, arthritis and Parkinson's disease. The boy was dragged into the water by an alligator at 9pm Tuesday, local time, while wading in about a foot of water during a movie night at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. During this time Haast met and married his second wife, Clarita Matthews. ''I know a lot of people in Miami still remember the Serpentarium and wonder what became of me, that's why I'm talking to you,'' said Haast, who would only be interviewed by telephone. But I remember leaning over the small wall to look closer at that croc when my feet slipped and I pitched forward towards the pit. From Dadeland areafor you have info, on this still. He was able to identify the type of snake that bit me by the bite marks. RIP kind soul. Hearing Bill got bit again, was not uncommon local news.The community always hoping on Bills incredible resilience to even the deadliest of snake bites. A massive crocodile attacked and ate an 8-year-old girl while she was bathing in the river with friends. In 1965, Cobras in his Garden, a book about Haast's exploits, was published. His contribution to antivenin science is unparalleled and earned him recognition throughout his life. Authorities said the boy, who fell about three metres, was expected to recover after being picked up and dragged by Harambe for about 10 minutes. Besides the mayor's key, they gave him a firefighter's helmet bearing the unit's name: Venom 1.