April Fools! Bronx Zoo Cobra 'Hacks' Ryan Seacrest
Missing cobra has taken over the 'American Idol' host's web page
April 1, 2011 -- April Foolssssss!
The hissing, deadly cobra that vanished from the Bronx Zoo last weekend may have been caught Thursday, but that's not stopping her from keeping a very high profile.
Since Monday, fans have been following the slippery snake by the thousands on Twitter at @BronxZoosCobra. The stream's mystery author (who remains a mystery) tweeted the imaginary escapades of the escaped female cobra as it took on Manhattan.
Now, she's "hacked" into Ryan Seacrest's Twitter feed and home page.
On Friday morning, the @BronxZoosCobra tweeted, "Even while incarcerated my reach extends beyond my 20 inches. I have hijacked Ryan Seacrest's Twitter. See for yourself @RyanSeacrest."
And, sure enough, over at the "American Idol" host's account, there was this message, posted almost simultaneously: "Seacrest out! @BronxZoosCobra in! I'm hijacking Ryan's Twitter & fixed his website. It didn't kick enough s. http://bit.ly/Sssseacrest."
Seacrest's homepage had been entirely overrun with snake-related content, like "Britney Spears' Python: Where Is He Now," a roundup of "Best Snake Tattoos" and breaking news that Ryan Seacrest himself had been "Captured & Returned to Pygmy Marmoset Exhibit at L.A. Zoo."
In real life, the elusive snake was found "coiled, sort of secluded in a dark corner" about 9 a.m. Thursday -- with nary a smartphone in sight -- a couple of hundred feet away from the enclosure from which she had slithered, said Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny.
It was recovered by a Reptile House employee using "special tongs to grip the animal," Breheny said.
Fiction Stranger Than Truth
The poisonous cobra disappeared from the zoo last Saturday and immediately became New York's hottest (and skinniest) celebrity. The teenage cobra built up a huge following on Twitter with more than 200,000 followers while she was on the lam.
Her tweets delighted New Yorkers by lampooning the city's foibles and its famous. "Donald Trump is thinking about running for president?! Don't worry, I'll handle this. Where is Trump Tower exactly?"
The tweeter, who preferred to remain anonymous, told ABC "she" was enjoying the attention. When asked to reveal his or her real name, @BronxZoosCobra wrote, "Interest in revealing myself? I'm totally naked all the time. I don't think I can get more revealing."