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To: Flycatcher

Oh yea?

The one in the video or the picture above.

I ask because I found the picture of the cobra for this thread.

So I could be wrong but the video could still be right.

Which are you talking about, and how can you tell the difference?


10 posted on 11/10/2010 9:32:31 AM PST by Amos McCoy (I am, The Real McCoy!)
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To: Amos McCoy
The mistake is in the captioning of the video. The heading is "king cobra" but the snake is (properly) identified as a specatcled cobra in the video itself.

As for the difference between the two snakes, it's almost like comparing a bobcat to a Siberian tiger. The spectacled cobra - probably a sub-species of the Indian cobra (Naja naja) - is only about 5 or 6 feet long as an adult. The king cobra, however, is the longest venomous snake in the world, with a maximum recorded length of OVER 18 FEET! It's a gigantic monster and extremely fast (with possibly only mambas being faster). It is also the most intelligent snake in the world, and "somewhat" defends its nest. Zookeepers also say it is the fastest snake to learn not to strike a glass window, again revealing its intelligence. And to top that off, it's been known to rear up to five feet from the ground!

Interestingly, because of its huge size, intelligence, and quickness, it almost strictly eats other snakes -- hence its unique genus: Ophiofagus. Fortunately for us, this snake is extremely rare in the wild.

Now if this video really showed a mongoose attacking a king cobra, I would have loved to have seen it.

R.I.P. mongoose...

13 posted on 11/10/2010 9:49:36 AM PST by Flycatcher (God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)
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