Stolen snakes (property of Jeremy Stacy)

Approximately thirty animals stolen from the home of Jeremy Stacy on 06 April 2007. If you see these snakes for sale, or if you purchased these snakes in good faith, please contact their rightful owner Jeremy Stacy at (276) 498-7219 or Officer M. Street at the Buchanan County (VA) Sheriff’s Department.

Here is a list of most of the stolen snakes:

1.1 yearling Bitis gabonica (male has slight indentation on side of head)

1.0 B. gabonica, 3’

0.1 Vipera ammodytes, 14”, Lake Prespa

1.0 B. arietans, 14”, (bright yellow “Cape” puff)

0.1 B. arietans, 3’, anerythristic & axanthic, west Africa

1.1 Crotalus oreganus helleri, 30”, CBB, black & silver Los Angeles locale

0.1 B. nasicornis (east African), large adult female, dam of the stolen youngsters; two distinctive yellow spots above the eyes

1.8 B. nasicornis, CBB 07 January 2007; distinctive reduced or absent “arrowhead” mark on heads (see photo)

1.0 east African (?)Gabino male (see photo)

2.0 west African Gabinos, apparently from the gravid female Gaboon imported in 2006 and typical of offspring from that snake

This document contains photos of the following snakes, along with two pages of the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department report on the incident:

• 1. Anerythristic and axanthic west African Puff (Bitis arietans) This snake is a young adult female. Her coloration (black, white, and shades of gray) and pattern (relatively short and narrow dorsal chevrons, pattern on side nearly perpendicular to body) make her immediately recognizable and distinguishable from similarly colored Cape puffs (with relatively long, wide chevrons that almost always have at least some yellow in them; side markings oblique to body).

• 2. Vipera ammodytes (Lake Prespa) This snake is also a young adult female. Her unusually wide dorsal “zig-zag” and her orange color set her apart from typical V. ammodytes.

• 3. Gabino This snake is a young adult male, purportedly from east Africa. The snake’s perfect subocular stripe and the uncommon purity of the colors within each geometric element of its pattern make it unusual among Gabinos. Moreover, there just aren’t that many young adult Gabinos available for sale. Any young adult Gabino is worth a close look.

• 4. “Ituri” Bitis nasicornis (newborn) 1.8 of these snakes and their mother are among the stolen animals. Note the reduced “arrowhead” design on the head of the specimen in the photo. This unusual reduced “arrowhead” is typical of all the stolen newborns.

• 5. Atheris squamiger * This is a typical blue/green Atheris squamiger with subtle banding.