Posted on 05/19/2008 10:32:58 PM PDT by george76
Vernon Byrd was on an all-terrain vehicle in a field off Johnson Road last Tuesday when he said an 8-foot-long snake reared up beside him – and the serpent's head was about shoulder high to him.
"I caught something out of my eye, and this snake comes up beside me and looked at me," Byrd said. "I've seen every kind of snake in this part of the country, but I've never seen a snake like this."
He called Freddie Mims, a licensed wildlife rescue agent, who said the description of the snake sounded like a king cobra, the world's largest poisonous snake.
"Somebody (probably) had one illegally and sold it illegally. The person that bought it (likely) accidentally let it escape,"
Residents said pit bull puppies and chickens have disappeared in recent days.
Byrd said he doesn't walk in the field anymore without a gun, and he won't go into the woods where he last saw the snake.
"(Wildlife agents) tried to get me to go with them, but I wouldn't. I told them they hadn't seen what I'd seen."
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
This was first news to me, thank a million for posting. I travel and stay at time in North Carolina.
Hey! I resemble that remark! ;>
Actually a mongoose would flee from a King Cobra. The Hamadryad (KC) is the world's longest venomous snake, with the longest individuals reaching just under 18 feet. Adults are over 11-12 feet on average, and pack enough venom to kill an Elephant. They are also very territorial.
The mongoose is quite good at killing snakes (as well as eating eggs, snacking on insects, etc ....although eating termites is not as sexy as killing a venomous snake). Most pictures one sees of a mongoose involve it fighting an Indian cobra (the Naja Naja is a much smaller species of cobra), and that does occur every now and then (and based on what I have read there is some arms race going on between snakes and mongooses ....whereby the mongoose has some level of immunity to some snake venoms, and snake venoms progressively become more effective against mongooses, leading to a situation whereby one has an upper hand depending on the time).
Anyways, the fact is that a mongoose will never face off against an adult King Cobra (or for that matter even a juvenile). The cobra species that the mongoose would face (in India) is the Indian cobra, although even that is rare. There are far smaller snakes that are not venomous available, as well as a host of insects and earthworms and the like.
The mongoose would always lose against a hamadryad.
IIRC King Cobras are snake eaters.
Unlikely to get a puppy.
Did see an episode of Cops the other night, somewhere in the SouthWest.
The cops caught a Burmese or Retic Python. The neighbors said it was the 3rd one caught in the neighborhood !
Whoever's little precious pet it was I hope some locals find the rightful owner {Idiot} and dish the dirtbag out some good old fashioned Appalachian justice. The so called snake lovers need to start being held criminally responsible for their so called accidental releases.
if it really is a King Cobra then the pit bull puppies and chickens that disappeared have nothing to do with it. A king cobra is exclusively a snake eater and will only strike other animals if it feels threatened.
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