27 interesting and fun facts about cobras
Cobras are one of the most dangerous and poisonous snakes in the world. They are found in many countries, and invariably instill fear in local residents. Who does not recognize this silhouette with an open hood? However, one can find an approach to cobras if one knows how. Snake catchers have repeatedly proved this.
The males of these snakes possess two penises.
In the tropical country of the Philippines, a spitting cobra is found, the second most toxic among the entire family.
Another species of spitting cobras, common in Africa, is able to spit poison with an atom up to thirty to forty times in a row.
King cobras are able to control the dose of poison injected with a bite. Moreover, they often bite without any poison, if the victim is not suitable for them in food. Therefore, the bite of this snake is not always fatal.
Among the variety of cobras, three of their species are spitting.
Mating cobras can stretch for several days.
Competing with each other, the royal cobras always take a fighting stance when they meet. The individual who is higher always wins.
King cobras grow throughout life, and they sometimes live up to thirty years. Particularly large specimens can exceed four meters in length.
These snakes never eat yet live prey. Having bitten her, they wait for the death of the victim, and only then swallow her.
Most cobras of various species are found in Africa and Southeast Asia.
King cobra is unique in that, unlike other snakes, it often eats, in fact, snakes of other species. Sometimes even poisonous relatives become its victims.
Newborn cobras are already poisonous, but they have little poison, so they prey on insects or other small prey.
All cobras lay their eggs. Everything except the collar – it gives birth to live serpentines, sometimes more than fifty at a time.
These snakes are distributed at altitudes up to 2500 meters above sea level.
They are very thermophilic. Only the Central Asian cobra lives in an area where snow falls in winter.
In some countries, cobras are considered a delicacy. A dish from this snake will cost a couple of hundred dollars in some restaurant.
Some drugs are made based on their poison.
The bite of an ordinary cobra is fatal even for an adult elephant, but the skin of these giants on almost their entire body is too rough and thick for the snake to bite through.
At a time, cobras lay 8-10 to 70-80 eggs. They breed only once a year.
The smallest of them is the Angolan cobra. These snakes never grow more than one and a half meters in length.
On occasion, cobras eagerly feed on mice and rats, and therefore they often settle closer to humans.
They can swim, and easily cross the water obstacles.
An adult runs faster than a cobra crawls, and if necessary can escape from it.
King cobras are extremely aggressive, so it’s difficult to keep them in zoos and terrariums.
These snakes usually do not attack ambush people. On the contrary, they do not want to mess with a potentially dangerous adversary, who is also too big to eat. Therefore, they usually let themselves be detected, after which they take a fighting stance to frighten the opponent and force him to retreat.
In captivity, cobras usually practically do not breed.
There are sixteen species of cobras in the world. All of them are poisonous and deadly.