This is one of the most poisonous and extremely dangerous reptiles on Earth. Her poison is very toxic. There are sixteen species of cobras, and all of them are extremely dangerous.
Habitat
Cobras mainly inhabit the Old World - Africa (almost the entire continent), South and Central Asia (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka). As already mentioned, this is a poisonous snake. A cobra is very thermophilic - it will not live where snow falls in winter and lies. The exception, perhaps, is only the Central Asian cobra. She lives in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan. The drier the places, the more preferable they are for these reptiles. Most often they choose bushes, jungles, deserts and semi-deserts. Sometimes they can be seen on the banks of rivers, but most often they avoid moist places. Cobra is also found in mountainous regions, but not higher than 2400 meters above sea level.
Breeding
These snakes breed once a year. Most often this happens in January-February or in the spring. The fertility of these reptiles is largely dependent on their species. One female can lay eight to seventy eggs.
Collared cobra is the only one of all species that gives birth to live cubs. She is able to give birth to up to sixty babies. Royal and Indian cobras are very aggressive during this period. They protect their offspring by driving animals and people away from the nest. This behavior is not typical for them and appears only during the period of breeding.
Who is afraid of the cobra
Despite the fact that this snake is extremely dangerous, it also has serious enemies. Larger reptiles can eat her cubs. Adults can be destroyed by meerkats and mongooses. These animals do not have immunity against the venom of cobras, nevertheless they are able to deftly divert the attention of the snake with their false attacks. They seize the right moment and inflict a fatal bite on her neck. When a cobra meets a meerkat or mongoose on its way, it has practically no chance of salvation.
Indian cobra
This variety is most commonly found in Africa and South Asia. Quite often it is called a “spectacular cobra”. She got this name because of the characteristic pattern on the back of the hood. It consists of two neat little rings with a bow. When this poisonous cobra defends itself, it raises the front of its body almost vertically, and a hood appears behind its head. The length of the snake is 1 meter eighty centimeters. It feeds mainly on amphibians - rodents and small lizards, and will not refuse bird eggs. This is a very prolific poisonous snake. Cobra Naja naja often lays up to 45 eggs! It is interesting that the male also monitors the safety of the masonry.
Spitting cobra
This is a special subspecies of the Indian cobra. It shoots poison at an enemy located at a distance of two meters, and is capable of hitting a target with a diameter of up to two centimeters. And, I must say, the snake is highly accurate. To kill the victim, getting poison on the body is not enough. The poison does not penetrate the skin, but it is very dangerous if it gets on the mucous membrane. Therefore, the main goal of these snakes is the eyes. With an exact hit, the victim can completely lose his sight. To avoid this, rinse your eyes immediately with plenty of water.
Egyptian cobra
Distributed on the Arabian Peninsula and in Africa. This is also a poisonous snake. The cobra Naja haje grows up to two meters in length. Her hood is much smaller than that of her Indian relative. Among the ancient Egyptians, it symbolized power, and its poisonous bite was used as a means of killing during public executions.
King cobra snake (hamadriad)
Many believe that this is the largest poisonous snake in the world. The length of adults is more than three meters, but cases of more impressive are recorded - 5.5 meters! This is an erroneous opinion. There is a larger reptile than a king cobra. Against the anaconda, it may seem just a little baby - after all, some individuals of this species reach a length of ten meters!
Hamadriads are common in India, south of the Himalayas, in southern China, in the Philippines, in the Great Sunda Islands to Bali, in Indochina. Most of the time the reptile is on the ground, but at the same time it can crawl through trees and swim perfectly. According to experts, this amazing creature is a royal cobra. How can a snake be so impressive? Many are surprised at this. Indeed, its size is simply awesome, although it does not look too heavy and massive, like, for example, a python.
Cobra color
It is highly variable due to its vast habitat. Most often - yellowish green with black rings. On the front of the body they are narrower and not very clear, towards the tail they become wider and brighter. The color of young individuals is more saturated.
Breeding
This is one of the few species of snakes whose males, encountering in one territory, arrange ritual battles, but do not bite each other. Naturally, the winner remains with the female. Mating is preceded by a courtship period, after which the male becomes clear that his “chosen one” is not dangerous for him. After about a month, the female lays eggs. Before this event occurs, the king cobra is engaged in the construction of the nest. How can a snake without limbs beak can cope with this task? It turns out that she rakes dry leaves and branches into a pile of rounded shape with the front of the body.
The number of eggs varies from twenty to forty. As a rule, the masonry is protected by the female, having previously closed it with leaves and placed on its top. But there have been cases when a male takes part in the protection. The incubation period lasts approximately one hundred days. Shortly before the offspring was born, the female leaves the nest to get food for herself. After birth, the cubs stay near the nest for about a day. From the moment of their appearance, they are completely independent, from birth have poison, but in very small quantities, which allows them to hunt small rodents, and sometimes even insects.
Deadly weapon
How does this dangerous snake strike its victim? Royal cobra doses its very strong poison. Its volume depends on the size and weight of the victim. Usually its amount is several times higher than the lethal dose. Interestingly, eating the poisoned prey, the snake itself does not suffer at all.
Usually, in order to scare away a person, the cobra bites, but does not let poison in, since it is necessary for it on the hunt. But in no case can not hope for it! Cobra venom can kill an elephant in a few hours. It paralyzes the muscular system and the victim dies of suffocation. When poison enters the body, a person dies after 15 minutes.
For scientists, this snake is of great interest. Cobra, whose poison is undeniably very toxic, can also be beneficial to humans. Than? In the course of research, it turned out that its poison in small doses can be used for the manufacture of valuable medications that positively affect the cardiovascular and nervous systems, normalize blood pressure. Scientists all over the world have been studying this poison for more than fifty years, and despite such a long period of research, they discover more and more new compounds in it that are useful for modern medicine.
Many people believe that cobras are very aggressive. This is not true. They are very calm, you can even call their behavior phlegmatic. If you study the habits of the aspids well, you can control them, which is often demonstrated by the skillful "charmers" of snakes. King cobra is a dangerous creature, but you should be aware that when meeting a person, she does not attack, but defends herself.