Escapades of missing cobra posted on Twitter

Hiss...

 The Twitter account BronxZoosCobra, purportedly posted by the female adolescent Egyptian cobra that went missing from the zoo’s Reptile House on Saturday, had 30,000 followers by midday on Tuesday.

“Holding very still in the snake exhibit at the Museum of Natural History,” read one message from BronxZoosCobra. “This is gonna be hilarious!”

Roaming around

Sticking to Twitter’s limit of 140 characters per blast, the cultured reptile has announced plans to take in a Broadway musical, listen to some jazz and attend the taping of a late-night talk show.

After growing up in the Bronx, the snake seems familiar with New York in-jokes and, at one point, she unhelpfully writes that she can be found “right in front of the original Ray’s Pizza”, perhaps the most meaningless address in a city filled with “original Ray’s”.

Another post from a trendy Manhattan hot spot reads, “Enjoying a cupcake @magnoliabakery. This is going straight to my hips. Oh, wait. I don’t have hips. Yesss!”
One of the more ominous Tweets reads, “Donald Trump is thinking about running for president?! Don’t worry, I’ll handle this. Where is Trump Tower exactly?” Despite the breathless dashing around Manhattan relayed in the Twitter feed, the Bronx Zoo says it is confident the snake is still somewhere within the bowels of the Reptile House, which remains closed to the public for now.

“Right now, it is the snake’s game,” Jim Breheny, the director of the zoo, said in a statement on Monday, adding that it may take weeks to find her.

“At this point, it is just like fishing; you put the hook in the water and wait. Our best strategy is patience, allowing her time to come out of hiding.” The person behind the Twitter account responded to an e-mail from Reuters but was reluctant to let the gag drop.

“Why does everyone find it so implausible that a simple snake from the Bronx couldn’t simply be travelling the city, tweeting on its iPhone,” the e-mail said. “How cynical have we gotten?”