ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Parents lined up to pick up their children at Clarcona Elementary School in Orange County Wednesday tell News 6 the line of cars has grown longer in the week since a king cobra went missing just yards away.
[MORE: Cobra creates buzz | MAP: Find venomous snakes near you | VIDEO: Search ongoing | AUDIO: School alerts parents | PICS: Traps set]
"It would be nice if they found the snake, so that my son could go out and play every day during PE," said Heather Lee.
Lee's second-grade son is like all of the students at Clarcona -- they are not allowed to play outside out of fear of the missing cobra.
She said her son is afraid.
"He said, 'Mommy, but the snake is loose. I can't walk in.' I said, 'it's OK, Dylan, they're looking for it, and I'm sure it's not near your school.'"
Other students face bigger obstacles.
"He's off the walls," said Stacy Hamlin-Conner, whose third-grade son attends Clarcona. "He's autistic to begin with, and not being able to get out. He's uncontrollable sometimes."
Mike Kennedy, the cobra's owner, was fined by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for not alerting them to his missing cobra for more than 24 hours after he found out.
News 6 found out he has a lot more than just snakes living on his five acres of land in West Orange County.
FWC tells News 6 Kennedy also has a spotted leopard, four crocodiles, an alligator and four pythons.
He also owns several other venomous snakes, including a diamondback rattlesnake, a Florida cottonmouth, a Gaboon viper and two other cobras.
All of the creatures must pass a twice-a-year FWC inspection.
"I'm concerned because this was so close to this neighborhood," said Hamlin-Conner. "That should've never happened. He got in trouble before. That should've never happened."