Escaped Bronx Zoo Snake Is a Twitter Star

The still-tweeting Bronx Zoo Cobra got its coffee from Mud Truck this morning, but it had a message for any snake charmers or animal control technicians lingering nearby.

"Don't even talk to me until I've had my morning coffee. Seriously, don't. I'm venomous."   

As the hunt continues for the escaped snake, the Twitter account @BronxZoosCobra has spawned more than 140,000 followers since Monday as it documents the imagined travels and disgruntled ramblings of the missing Egyptian cobra.

"At the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Temple of Dendur really kicks some asp #snakeonthetown," BronxZooCobra tweeted Tuesday morning.

Later in the day: "Taking the Sex and the City Tour!!! I'm totally a SSSamantha #snakeonthetown"

The critter even took on pop culture and tweeted at embattled actor Charlie Sheen: "Dear @CharlieSheen, know what's better than tiger's blood? Cobra venom. #winning #snakeonthetown Also I'm 20 inches long. Just sayin'."

The Bronx Zoo Cobra is following only one account: the Bronx Zoo. The identity of the person behind the account remains unknown. The zoo said it has nothing to do with it.

"No, that's not us," said Max Pulsinelli, assistant director of communications for the Bronx Zoo, when asked if he or his colleagues had anything to do with the Twitter feeds. "The only statements we've been putting out are our official press releases."

On Monday, the Zoo closed its Reptile House.

A second account, BronxZooKeeper, also cropped up.

In a phone call to WNYC, the Keeper described "reaching out to her many times" and described his strategy going forward as centering on fireworks and butterfly nets: "I have a call with Wile E. Coyote later this afternoon," the Keeper said. "So I'll be getting some tips from him."

Emails to the snake's purported address have, appropriately enough, gone unanswered.