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A mutant 160-foot squid from the waters outside the Fukushima nuclear plant did not wash up on a beach in California.

All newborn babies are not being microchipped in Europe.

And snakes are not slithering around the Sands Casino in Bethlehem.

All are urban myths, according to police and casino officials.

"At first, I was angry the way it has gone viral on Facebook, but now that we're in our second day of this, I have to laugh," Sands spokeswoman Julia Corwin said Tuesday. "If there was even one snake sighting in the casino, people would be freaking out, standing [on] the tables. Never happened."

Like many casinos, Sands is often the target of rumor, but this urban legend spread so fast and so wide the casino took the unusual step of preparing a written statement for the press calls casino officials knew would be coming.

"There have been no reported incidents of snakes on our property," the statement says. "We do not allow any animals on property with the exception of service animals."

Potentially poisonous reptiles slithering around a casino floor, after all, is lousy for business.

Corwin admitted that the casino would have preferred to just let the rumor die, but chose to prepare a response because it had spread so quickly.

The story, repeated over and over in Facebook and in emails to The Morning Call's tip line, is very consistent. A close family friend went to the casino, noticed a bite they thought came from an insect, only to be told by their doctor that it was a snake bite. Then the doctor says: "You're the 14^th patient I've had this week who got bit at the Sands."

The story goes on that the snakes are being brought in by gamblers who consider the less-than-lovable creatures lucky.

Jennifer Horn, a first-grade teacher from Moore Township, Tuesday gave some indication how this legend may have gotten started. Horn said she was at the Sands on Nov. 10 when she felt what she thought was an insect bite. She said the next day her doctor said it looked like a snake bite.

Horn said she had a dime-size section of tissue removed and the wound treated with antibiotics. Weeks later the Bethlehem Health Bureau heard about her case and contacted her, bureau Director Kristen Wenrich said Tuesday.

The bureau then contacted Sands, but it was too late for the casino to roll back its surveillance cameras. The bureau closed the case after learning from St. Luke's and Lehigh Valley hospitals that neither had treated a snake bite in 2013.

That didn't stop it from spreading across Facebook, until it became a full-blown legend this week.

"My father asked me about it," said Sgt. Robert Caprari, commander of the Pennsylvania State Police at the Sands. "We've had no such reports, not one. Believe me, if someone got bit by a snake in the casino, I'd know about it."

So there you have it. Casino and police officials say there are no snakes at the casino. And Mr. Rogers was probably never a Marine sniper.

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