A snake escapes from zoo, appears on Twitter

Last Friday, as New Yorkers droned through their morning commute, employees of the Bronx Zoo discovered something rather disturbing: An adolescent Egyptian cobra had gone missing from an exhibit enclosure at the zoo.

Fugitive reptiles don't usually make it to the pages of the Bits Blog, but a series of Twitter streams that unfurled online after the snake's escape show just how creative the Internet can be.

My colleague Alexis Mainland at the City Room blog, chronicles the anonymous Twitter user who is impersonating the missing snake under the handle @BronxZoosCobra. The account, which is barely 24 hours old, has amassed tens of thousands of followers, and offers a hilarious "account" of the snake's travels through New York City. Some of the funnier Twitter messages include:

I want to thank those animals from the movie "Madagascar." They were a real inspiration.

Holding very still in the snake exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. This is gonna be hilarious!

Taking the Sex and the City Tour!!! I'm totally a SSSamantha.