Snake vlogger faces new set of scales over animal cruelty

CASCADE, Md. — Ten snakes with the potential to deliver a fatal bite to humans were found at the home of a Maryland resident popularly known as “VenomMan20.”

The Maryland Natural Resources Police announced Monday 28-year-old Brandon Joseph Boyles had posted videos to YouTube under that moniker, attracting millions of views.

An investigator learned that Boyles took five venomous snakes, three alligators and a crocodile he owned when he left his job at the Catoctin Zoo and Wildlife Preserve last September. In November, he turned in a Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake, prompting a search warrant.

Officers found two dead cobras in a freezer and snakes housed in poor conditions in habitats that could allow easy escape.