Bronx Zoo cobra on the loose takes Manhattan…and Twitter

On Friday, an adolescent Egyptian cobra escaped from New York’s Bronx Zoo.

The reptile house closed immediately after her escape, and zookeepers are saying she could take weeks to come out of hiding. While we can’t vouch for the authenticity of the snake taking Manhattan, you can follow her adventures on Twitter, where @bronxzooscobra has been chronicling the travels of the errant snake with over 25,000 followers and counting. So where does a young snakess on the town go?

She first mused over a Broadway show, then taunted followers with her location in front of “the original” Ray’s Pizza (good luck checking all 46 locations claiming to be the first). After taking in the other wildlife at American Museum of Natural His(s)tory, she went downtown for a workout at Equinox Gym and a slither atop the High Line park. The Bronx Zoo cobra then tweeted about getting tickets for Jimmy Fallon before spotting Tina Fey at Rockefeller Center and heading back downtown to Wall Street. Despite asking for a vegan restaurant near Union Square, she ended up way uptown at Tom’s Restaurant from Seinfeld, where she may have found a hiding spot for the night in an unsuspecting apartment. Where will she go today?

Any New York travel tips for the cobress? Have you spotted any snakes, tweeting or just taking in the sights? While she is just 20 inches long, she is venomous, so watch your ankles!

Use Twitter and Foursquare? Got a stalker?

Social media is a great way to keep in touch with your friends, but it’s also a great way for shady people to follow you. Marketplace Money has a great story on one particular encounter that happened between a blogger/Foursquare/tweeter and an apparent jokester or stalker (she still doesn’t know). Apparently after checking into a local restaurant, a fan of hers called the place, asked to speak with her and suggested they hang out at a later time. He knew how to direct the restaurant hostess to the blogger by descriptions from various profile pages.

How did this all happen? The blogger’s privacy settings were set such that anyone could see her location and updates. It’s the same setting that many social tools such as Foursquare default to.

The lesson in all of this privacy madness? If you’re willing to dish out your exact location, be prepared for strange people to track you down. If you’re not interested in that happening, restrict your account so that only family and friends can see your updates.

[flickr image via dpstyles