Pretoria Hunt for Missing Snake Goes High-Tech

The Pretoria Zoo says it is turning to technology with infra-red cameras to search for a 6.5-foot-long black mamba snake that escaped from its enclosure a week ago. Zookeepers in South Africa's capital think the snake probably is in the roof of a service building behind its terrarium, preparing to hibernate. That hasn't stopped fearful callers to radio talk shows discussing the nearly always fatal results of a bite from one of the world's fastest and most venomous snakes. The missing snake, of course, now has a Twitter account. (More Pretoria stories.)