09/11/2026
BITTEN MORE THAN 170 TIMESāHE LIVED TO BE 100 š
This is a true story.
Bill Haast opened the Miami Serpentarium south of Miami, Florida, in 1947. There, he extracted venom from rattlesnakes, cobras, mambas and other venomous snakes for medical researchāoften while visitors watched.
Haast also spent decades injecting himself with carefully measured amounts of venom in an attempt to develop antibodies. Despite being bitten by venomous snakes at least 172 times during his career, he survived and lived to be 100 years old.
His antibody-rich blood was even donated to snakebite patients when the proper antivenom wasnāt available. Reports credit those emergency transfusions with helping save more than 20 people.
Haast never claimed the venom was the reason for his long lifeābut his incredible story remains one of the strangest chapters in American snake-handling history.
š Miami, Florida
š
Miami Serpentarium operated from 1947ā1984
Sources: PBS Natureā ļæ¼, Science History Instituteā ļæ¼ and University of Kansasā ļæ¼
