The King of Snakes-The King Cobra

Image by permanently scatterbrained via Flickr

When someone mentions snakes people tend to panic, and in some cases they have a good reason to panic, as in the case of “The King Cobra”. Most of us live in areas where there may be the typical garden snake, but nothing like the dangerous King Cobra. The snake belongs to the reptiles and amphibians group, the venom of this snake is very poisonous. While these snakes are not common in North America, they are usually found in the southern hemisphere; as well as Southeast Asia, Thailand, China and the Philippines to names a few places.

With its ½ inch fangs and muscular structure that strike out, very rapidly, make him the King of snakes. His skin is brown-green and he blends into nature very easily, he is usually seen in grassy areas, and very seldom will he climb a tree to chase his prey, but when he does, he blends right into the tree bark. He has a forked tongue and uses it to figure out different scents around him, especially when he senses an intrusion to his “turf”.

The “King” is the largest poisonous snake in the world growing up to 17 feet, he hunts other snakes even the poisonous ones. He distracts them, darting in to bite them injecting their own venomous poison, the he will swallow his prey whole. The average cobra will weight between twelve and seventeen pounds and grow to the length of 13.5 feet. They are sexually mature around four years old; it is, that January they will seek out a mate for mating. The male cobra will check the air by flickering his tongue, when he picks up the scent of a female cobra, he will approach carefully. As he approaches he will slithering over her back rubbing his chin over her body, for the cobras this is foreplay, she is now ready to mate. When the time approaches she will seek out a safe area to make a home for her eggs, usually in a think, shallow area, away from harm. After about sixty days she will lay approximately forty-five eggs, which will take about seventy days to hatch; this is the incubation period. The mother will defend her eggs frantically, and the male may stick around just to make sure all is well. Once the eggs hatch they are left to defend themselves. They are about twelve inches long, but don’t be fooled by their size; even with just a small amount of venom, it is just as poisonous as their mothers. Snakes mate once every year, and live about twenty years if they survive attacks, and not killed by humans. Since human do kill the King Cobra when they have the opportunity. It is feared that in the future they will be place on the endangered list; especially in East Asia where their habitat is being destroyed by new construction and expansion of human civilization. Therefore there are more humans encountering these snakes and being killed by their poison.

Image via Wikipedia

The King Cobra is seen mostly in Asia, in bamboo thickets; and they are not afraid of venturing out beyond their forest. While in India they prefer the deep dark forest. It enjoys tracking other snakes, when he eyes his prey he will slip through the grass, and prepare for a very rapid attack. The snake whips his head around and with one smooth move, his sinks his fangs into his prey releasing his venom. Once his victim usually a python, is paralyzed the King Cobra manages to disconnect his jaw and consume his victim by walking over and just swallowing his prey whole.

Image via Wikipedia

The snake hunts during the day slithering through the grass, trying to be unnoticed; it attacks only when he is startled. Buy the time the person realizes that it is a snake and a King Cobra at that; if smart the intruder will slowly back down. When startled the King Cobra spreads his hood and hisses as he waves his head from side to side, if your stupid enough to attempt to catch this snake he will attack, very quickly; but he rather not. Remember he prefers snakes to humans so he really doesn’t want to attack; at this point it is self-defense.

If ever you plan to travel to the southern hemisphere it is a good idea to study the different King Cobras, since there are several other species that are just as deadly.