Snake Fancier Is Found Dead; Viper Suspected

A woman who kept a menagerie of poisonous snakes, piranhas and other exotic animals in her Van Nuys trailer was found dead after apparently being bitten by a rare African viper, authorities said Thursday.

Anita Finch, 33, was discovered Wednesday night in her living room in a fetal position with two puncture wounds on the back of her hand, said Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the coroner. She was clutching a note that read “Northridge hospital ask for ICU,” he said.

Carrier said the bite marks suggest that the attack may have come from a rare, foot-long Gaboon viper owned by Finch.

The beige snake, which also can take on a purplish or pink hue, has the longest fangs of any venomous snake, Los Angeles Zoo officials said. The fangs enable it to pump venom deep into the veins of its prey.

Family members said Finch, who lived alone, had long tried to get a job at the L.A. Zoo.

“She was really an expert in snake handling,” said her mother, Tania Johnston of Camarillo.

“She thought she was immune to the venom at this point in her life,” said Finch’s sister, Karin Taylor.

Steve Schatt of the Southwestern Herpetologist Society in L.A. said Finch had been bitten at least six times by her rattlesnakes. Two months ago she brought a Gaboon viper from Texas, he said. “The minute I found out about it, I told her to get rid of it. I told her many times [that] it’s deadly.”