Post by apexpredator7 on Nov 29, 2011 13:00:45 GMT -5
King cobra Ophiophagus hannah
King cobras can grow up to 5.5m long making them the largest venomous snake in the world.
The Latin name for this snake means snake eater, and, it lives up to it by its main prey item being snakes, but King cobras will also eat lizards and small mammals. King cobras can detect their prey from up to 100m away using their keen eyesight. Although venomous, King cobras are sometimes known to constrict larger prey, but this is very uncommon.
As well as having scintillating senses, King cobras are one of the most intelligent snakes, in captivity recognising its keepers from strangers. In the wild they also show their intelligence, males ferociously guarding their territories from rivals, they also are the only snakes who guard their eggs, and guarding them almost mammalian like, the female being very attendant when tending to her eggs, will attack any animal that gets too close to the doting parent’s nest.
The venom of Ophiophagus hannah isn’t very potent compared to other venomous snakes, but the King cobra delivers a lot more of it injecting 7ml into its prey/aggressor, enough to kill Asian elephants, which sometimes are victims for trampling too near a King cobras nest. A king cobra is being threatened it will raise 1/3 of its body off the ground and open its hood in attempt to ward of an attacker, of course the King cobra is so large when raising its body it can look a full grown man in the eye. If this fails it will make a deep, loud hiss which is known to sound like a dog’s growl, and shows its fangs. If the attacker isn’t driven away by this intimidating display, the King cobra strikes with a highly likely lethal bite. Despite this, King cobras are usually shy of humans, and will try to stay away from us, but will be aggressive if cornered.
King cobras mainly inhabit India, but are also found in China, the Philippines, Indonesia and South-East Asia where they live in dense forests, preferably near a water source.
King cobras can grow up to 5.5m long making them the largest venomous snake in the world.
The Latin name for this snake means snake eater, and, it lives up to it by its main prey item being snakes, but King cobras will also eat lizards and small mammals. King cobras can detect their prey from up to 100m away using their keen eyesight. Although venomous, King cobras are sometimes known to constrict larger prey, but this is very uncommon.
As well as having scintillating senses, King cobras are one of the most intelligent snakes, in captivity recognising its keepers from strangers. In the wild they also show their intelligence, males ferociously guarding their territories from rivals, they also are the only snakes who guard their eggs, and guarding them almost mammalian like, the female being very attendant when tending to her eggs, will attack any animal that gets too close to the doting parent’s nest.
The venom of Ophiophagus hannah isn’t very potent compared to other venomous snakes, but the King cobra delivers a lot more of it injecting 7ml into its prey/aggressor, enough to kill Asian elephants, which sometimes are victims for trampling too near a King cobras nest. A king cobra is being threatened it will raise 1/3 of its body off the ground and open its hood in attempt to ward of an attacker, of course the King cobra is so large when raising its body it can look a full grown man in the eye. If this fails it will make a deep, loud hiss which is known to sound like a dog’s growl, and shows its fangs. If the attacker isn’t driven away by this intimidating display, the King cobra strikes with a highly likely lethal bite. Despite this, King cobras are usually shy of humans, and will try to stay away from us, but will be aggressive if cornered.
King cobras mainly inhabit India, but are also found in China, the Philippines, Indonesia and South-East Asia where they live in dense forests, preferably near a water source.