Cold-blooded critters left to freeze

NASSAU, N.Y., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A mobile hospital bus, ambulances and a helicopter, and 30 rescuers made a lightning raid and rescue to save 182 near-frozen reptiles on Long Island, N.Y.

All of the creatures rescued survived the ordeal and were scattered in foster homes Wednesday after the frantic scramble to remove them from an unheated museum in Nassau, Newsday reported.

Animal rescue workers responded to a tip saying the animals at the Long Island Reptile Museum were in danger of freezing to death. The museum's owner, Steven Kates had failed to pay his electric and gas bills, and the building was unheated. He was not available for comment.

"The temperature was down to 50 degrees when I got here," said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk SPCA. "These animals would have all died."

The helicopter hovered to track any fugitives, and the ambulance stood by in case of a venomous bite.

"There's two alligators 8- to 10-feet long, a 15-foot anaconda, 200-pound tortoises, rattlesnakes, king cobras, spitting cobras," Gross said.

The museum had been closed to the public last month for building code violations.