Posted on 08/23/2014 7:44:16 AM PDT by Scoutmaster
Peng Fan was preparing the rare Asian delicacy from the Indochinese spitting cobra when the snake's severed head bit him with venom as he was throwing it into the bin, The Mirror reported.
Peng died before he could be treated in hospital with life-saving anti-venom, police said.
"It is a highly unusual case, but it appears to be just an accident," a police spokesman said. "He prepared the snake himself and was just unlucky.
"There was nothing that could be done to save the man. Only the anti-venom could have helped, but this was not given in time. It was just a tragic accident."
Diners who were eating in the restaurant at the time of the incident described screams coming from the kitchen.
Lin Sun, 44, who was dining with his wife Su said: "We were in the restaurant having a meal for my wife's birthday when suddenly there was a lot of commotion.
"We did not know what was happening but could hear screams coming from the kitchen. There were calls for a doctor in the restaurant but unfortunately by the time medical assistance arrived, the man had already died. After we heard that we did not continue with our meal."
According to snake expert Yang Hong-Chang, all reptiles can function for up to an hour after losing their body parts.
"It is perfectly possible that the head remained alive and bit Peng's hand," he said. "By the time a snake has lost its head, it's effectively dead, as basic body functions have ceased, but there is still some reflexive action.
"It means snakes have the capability of biting and injecting venom even after the head has been severed."
Aren’t you supposed to smash the head immediately to avoid this?
Wouldn’t anyone who has ever lived where snakes are know this?
Did he pick it up with his bare hands?
Tongs.
When I was a kid, I used to hunt snakes with a pellet pistol. If you draw a line between the snake’s two eyes, and then aim just behind the middle of that line, that’s where you place your shot for an instant kill. If you miss, the snake will focus all its attention on striking you and move directly at you, with its head raised off the ground. Your second shot better be on the mark.
From HowStuffWorks.com:
Both King Charles I and Queen Anne Boleyn are reported to both have showed signs of trying to speak following their beheadings (by executioners’ swords, rather than by guillotine). German researcher S.T. Sommering cited reports of decapitated heads that have ground their teeth and that the face of one decapitated person “grimaced horribly” when a physician inspecting the head poked the spinal canal with his finger.
Perhaps most famously was the study conducted by a Dr. Beaurieux in 1905 of the head of executed criminal Henri Languille. Over the course of 25 to 30 seconds of observation, the physician recorded managing to get Languille to open his eyes and “undeniably” focus them on the doctor’s twice by calling the executed man’s name.
It so happens the snake is only mostly dead! And mostly dead is slightly alive!
(With apologies to Billy Crystal and William Goldman.)
Secret of making cobra soup — first pull fangs:
http://www.travelchannel.com/video/making-king-cobra-soup-12031#
Other than that, how was the soup?
Just WOW.
I hate it when that happens.
I never can figure out how much to tip.
If you don’t leave a tip, they’ll think you are arrogant.
If you leave a typical tip, they’ll think you didn’t care.
If you leave a larger tip, they’ll think you hated the cook.
When I was a kid, my friend and I caught big snapping turtles in the canal and river. Biggest was 63 pounds! We’d butcher them and sell the meat to a Deli in Cleveland. When we cut off the heads, we’d throw them in the fire, cuz they’d snap at anything that got close! Up to 18 hours.
Good one! You made me laugh out loud.
The “Soup Cobra”?
You kill Indochinese spitting cobra, it will kill you right back!
Should have hired a radical muslim or at least have a little Ghengis Khan in your snake cooking chefs just to make sure the beheads are to be deads.
Wonder if he had a COBRA.
Horrible...
Shotgun...snake head....no problem!!!
Sum Fang Wong?
!
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