Cobra

Genus Naja

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about cobras. Cobras tend to be iconic snakes, but you might be surprised to learn that perhaps the most iconic of the cobras, the king cobra, isn’t technically a “true” cobra. “True” cobras, the kinds we’ll be discussing in this episode anyway, belong to a specific genus, but there are other snakes from other genera also commonly referred to as cobras - the king cobra being one of them. Heck, the eastern coral snake, who doesn’t even have the quintessential cobra hood, is sometimes referred to as the “American cobra”. For now, we’re just going to stick to the “true” cobras, and we’ll leave the others to discuss in future episodes.

True cobras are found throughout Asia and Africa. Depending on the species, of which there are currently around thirty - though this could change with new information - cobras may live in forest habitats, in semi-deserts and grasslands, along waterways, and even in agricultural or urban areas. This can be an issue when cobras come in contact with humans. Cobras like to snooze in hollow logs, brush piles, rock piles, and other unassuming places where they may accidentally encounter a person. When they feel threatened, cobra’s open their hoods as a defensive posture.

Cobras make that iconic hood due to a difference in their skeletal anatomy. Some of their ribs are more flattened, and when extended, fan out to form the hood shape. While at rest, the hood is pressed down and almost imperceptible. And some species don’t have as pronounced a hood as others. Generally, cobras would rather run away from a fight, but they’ll defend themselves if they feel the need. Some cobras are even able to spit sprays of venom from their specially designed fangs.

A cobras fangs are actually shorter than your average viper or rattlesnake. This is because cobra fangs don’t fold back into their mouths the way a rattlesnake’s do. Cobra fangs are permanently erect and ready to strike. In order to avoid injuring themselves on their fangs, these teeth are thus much shorter. In spitting cobras, the fangs are more rounded, as they’re not used for giving a needle-like injection of toxin, and the openings from which the venom emerges is positioned a bit higher on the fangs, closer to the roots of the teeth. Either way, cobra venom is not to be trifled with. A cobra’s bite packs enough venom to kill a human. Their venom can cause drowsiness, low blood pressure, fever, paralysis, blindness (in the case of spitting cobras) and death due to respiratory failure if untreated - though antivenoms do exist. Of course, a cobra’s prey likely isn’t going to get away after a venom filled bite.

Cobras eat other reptiles, amphibians such as frogs, fish, small mammals like rats, and bird eggs. They have excellent eyesight, and while some can nearly reach a formidable ten feet (3 meters) in length, others may max out at just half that. And even will all that venom to back them up, cobras are still taken by their own predators. Predators to cobras include secretary birds, eagles, mongooses, and even other snakes such as banded kraits. If they aren’t taken for a meal, cobras can live to be twenty years old in the wild. They begin life as eggs, typically guarded by their mother. It takes about two months for the cobra eggs to hatch at which point the female leaves her babies and they’re on their own. The young cobras remain solitary most of their lives, but get together to mate after they’ve reached about two years of age.

In closing, we’ll leave you this to ponder: many people know of cobras through the charming “shows” they perform. As we’ve previously mentioned, cobras only show their hoods when they feel threatened; also, snakes are incapable of hearing music. So we’ll let you think about how snake charming actually works.

For more facts on cobras, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Sonic Popsicle for today’s request. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.