The Drimmelen municipality issued a general alert today after a highly-venomous Cape cobra disappeared from a terrarium of a local collector in the nearby hamlet of Made, near the southern city of Breda yesterday evening.
The reptile, which has a reputation for easily striking out when threatened, was last seen on Wednesday.
"The cobra has fangs and a single bite can be deadly to humans," the Drimmelen municipality warned on its website.
Two reptile experts were at the scene and conducting a snake-hunt, a town official told the NOS public broadcaster today.
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There are no deadly indigenous snakes in the Netherlands and only the rarely encountered common viper has a poisonous bite.
Cape cobras are found mainly in southwestern South Africa and has a potentially deadly neurotoxic venom that requires immediate treatment with an anti-venom.
The snake is considered nervous and aggressive and will rise up, spreading its hood before readily striking at anything it considers to be a threat.