Safety workers on Thursday found an escaped monocled cobra following a three-week search that sent the fire department scrambling in the German city of Mühlheim an der Ruhr. The poisonous three-month-old snake, which measured 30 centimeters (1 foot) in length and whose venom can often be deadly to humans, escaped from its terrarium  on March 18, shortly after it was brought home by its 19-year-old owner. Although ownership of deadly snakes is perfectly legal in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the snake's young owner could reportedly face a bill from rescue workers totalling as high as €100,000. The cost of deploying the fire department is €850 per hour, and safety officials were forced to evacuate the residents of his apartment house and strip it bare. Firefighters, including experts from the "reptile group" at the nearby Düsseldorf fire department, had laid double-sided tape purchased at a home-improvement store throughout the apartment as well as flour so that they could track any movements made by the snake. The snake eventually got trapped and died.