SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sioux Falls Animal Control responds to thousands of calls every year. So far in 2025, only one of those has involved a venomous snake bite.
It happened last Sunday, when animal control officers said they found two African Forest Cobras loose from their containers and a contained Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.
Allegedly, the cobras were inside plastic totes when they were knocked over. A Sioux Falls man was bitten by one of the three snakes, which he kept inside his apartment, and taken to the hospital.
“It’s very rare that we will have these sorts of animals around,” Sioux Falls Animal Control Officer Silhouette Smith said.
Officers said they have to be prepared for anything from on-the-go ostriches to last week’s call for the three snakes.
“We used a snake catcher to move the clothing that way we weren’t physically putting our hands in any danger or any harm’s way,” Smith said.
Animal Control said they receive some training from the Great Plains Zoo on how to handle snakes. Silhouette Smith is one of the officers who helped safely capture the reptiles last week.
“We found one snake and confined that one first, and then fifteen minutes later, we found the other one,” Smith said.
When venomous bites happen, hospitals have to be ready, too.
“Every emergency medicine board certified physician gets training in marine envenomizations, altitude sickness, deep-sea medicine, all those things, even though we may not see it regularly,” Sanford ER Physician Dr. Micah Luke said.
Antivenom is expensive and not always on hand. Doctors have to be ready to coordinate quickly with other facilities.
“Some venoms are neurotoxic that break down the neurons and they act on the central nervous system. Some are cytotoxic where they break down the cells themselves,” Dr. Luke said. “The treatment depends on what kind of snake it is.”
With any bite, venomous or not, doctors urge people to get medical help right away.
Sioux Falls Animal Control wants to remind people that owning a venomous snake as a pet is illegal in South Dakota.
“It’s also a danger to the community and to people who have to go in and remove these snakes,” Sioux Falls Animal Control Supervisor Patty Beckman said.
Animal Control tells KELOLAND News antivenom was flown in from Reptile Gardens last week, where the three snakes are now being kept.
