In 1946 Haast decided he had enough money saved to start his snake farm. I have returned to see his show at thye Serpentarium and have watched him with his wife on the Merv Griffith show & others ( I think also the Jonny Carson Show) many years later. Furthermore, you shouldn't speak about how a parent should have kept a better eye on their dead son. And we often talked of many things when she came in to South Dixie Amoco to have the well-maintained car serviced. Well he is alive and well at the age of 97or 98 and still apparently working with snakes; he said he felt there would come a time when he would not be able work with them but I guest he still is. Miami is a hotbed for venomous snake bites because it is the entry point for almost any exotic snake, whether it is bound for a collector or a zoo in another state. June 18, 2011 Bill Haast, who turned his childhood fascination with snakes into an exceptionally long career as a roadside showman, a supplier of venom and a man seemingly immune to the bites of. 'There is no reason to visit Miami. This is greatl so good to know that Doc is still alive and doing at least some of what he loves best. We got a motel room across the road from the Serpentarium. It was buried on the grounds. I worked at the Serpentarium for roughly a year, about two years before it closed. I'd rather go back in the ocean than back to the Serpentarium! Of course he would buy the rare Indigo snakes, because they could rear up and spread their neck like a Cobra, but were not poisonous. bill was to capture this cobra and milk it for the crowd. Bill Haast and the Miami Serpentarium - recent news articles Mr. Haast's passing reminded South Floridians of a bygone era when entrepreneurs could set up quirky roadside attractions along Dixie Highway, U.S. 1, to thrill both local school kids and wintering vacationers who fled the cold. At the time of the TV airing Mr. Haast was 87 years old and quite handsome he looked no older that early 50s. A pair of 911 calls brought both Miami police and Miami-Dade police to 8050 NW Miami Ct. around 4:35 p.m. After the fight ended, the victim walked away, at which time Cox pulled out a gun and shot at the victim, striking him in the head, authorities said. But thanks to Bill, there were not many poisonous snakes left in South Dade in the 60s-70s when I had an youngsters craving for catching reptiles. Thanks for putting it up! All he did was yell ouch and that concludes the show for today. Voted for the photo and the biographical info. But I remember leaning over the small wall to look closer at that croc when my feet slipped and I pitched forward towards the pit. There was a croc that had lost its tail because it had bit at it after thinking it was another croc coming to steal its food. Haast still grows somber when retelling the story: It was a Sunday. Twitter. He was shot in the upper torso, said Miami-Dade police Detective Angel Rodriguez. She took over, and the show went on without a hitch. Funny thing is, he had different ideas about that. Mr. Haast, who was director of the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories, a snake-venom producer near Punta Gorda, Fla., died of natural causes on Wednesday at his home in southwest Florida, his wife, Nancy, said.