VERY INTERESTING: KING COBRA

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Facts About King Cobras

One of the most feared and revered snakes on the planet, the king cobra is renowned for its imposing size and deadly bite. But it also has plenty of other unique qualities: a distinctive voice, remarkable nesting habits, and a name that obscures its true identity.

1. THE KING COBRA IS THE LONGEST VENOMOUS SNAKE IN THE WORLD.

This native of south and southeast Asia normally grows to be somewhere between 10 and 13 feet long, but the biggest ever recorded was an individual from modern-day Malaysia living at the London Zoo in the mid-20th century. From end to end, the animal measured 18 feet, 9 inches long.

2. TECHNICALLY, THEY AREN’T TRUE COBRAS.

Despite that common name, king cobras are not classified as true cobras, which belong to the genus Naja. The king cobra is the sole member the genus Ophiophagus; genetic evidence suggests that these big snakes are more closely related to the mambas of sub-Saharan Africa than to true cobras.

Physically, there are many things that set king cobras apart from true ones: Kings have proportionally narrower hoods than Naja species do; Ophiophagus’s head is larger relative to its body size; and at the base of the neck, king cobras have a pair of matching, elongated occipital scales, which are absent in Naja cobras.

3. THEY GROWL.

When threatened, king cobras spread their hoods to make themselves look bigger and raise their heads as high as 6 feet off the ground. But those aren't the only threatening tools in their arsenal: They also use sound to intimidate. Threatened kings take a deep breath and then rapidly exhale, forcing a burst of air through the tracheal diverticula in their respiratory tract which acts like a resonating chamber, resulting in a sound that one scientist compared to the growl of “an angry German shepherd.” It's much scarier than your standard issue hiss.

4. THEIR VENOM ATTACKS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Drop for drop, king cobra venom is less potent than that of some smaller snakes, such as Australia’s inland taipan. But when it comes to toxic chemicals, quantity can trump quality: With a single bite, a king cobra can inject as much as 7 milliliters of venom—almost enough to fill 1.5 teaspoons—into its victim.

Different venoms do different things to the human body. Many vipers, for example, have venom that targets the victim’s circulatory system, destroying red blood cells as it spreads. But the venom of a king cobra inhibits communication between nerve cells, which can cause extreme dizziness, blurred vision, and—often—paralysis. Unless the right antivenom is administered quickly, a human bite victim can die within 30 minutes. Their venom is powerful enough that a single bite can kill a 12,000-pound elephant in just three hours.

5. THEY MOSTLY EAT OTHER SNAKES.

Most true cobras have a varied diet that may include lizards, birds, rodents, and fish. But the king cobra almost exclusively dines on other serpents, a fact that’s reflected in its genus name: Ophiophagus means “snake-eater.” They're equal opportunity eaters, devouring harmless rat snakes as well as venomous kraits, various true cobras, and other kings. Not even pythons are safe (although king cobras apparently can’t swallow constrictors that exceed 10 feet in length). King cobras will also eat eggs and the occasional monitor lizard.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking