The way king cobra lives its life over the past decades has been a mystery. Scientists have succeeded in putting a tracking device on most of the venomous snakes on earth but never on the king cobra! I believe that this article will reveal to you most of the secrets about king cobra.Feeding.
King cobra feasts on its kind hence, the name, cannibal snake. The king cobra's favourite meal is the rat snake. It can kill a rat snake which is more than 2m long. The rat snakes live mostly in the human territory because that is where their prey dwells (rats). Humans attract rats and the rat snake attracts the king cobra! This is usually a bad omen to humans.
The king lives mostly in a dense forest. This has made tracking the creature a very difficult and deadly task. The rainforest where it lives is very dense and the king is very elusive.
Age.
A king can live up to 30 years of age with its kingdom decreasing each year.
Mating.
Mating between a male king and female queen can take up to one hour. A queen cobra can lay up to 30 - 40 eggs at once. She is the only snake on earth that builds a nest for her eggs. The nest is built with dry leaves on the forest floor and measures a up to a meter high.
A queen can stay up to 3 months without food protecting her eggs from an intruder. Even the rain doesn't seem to be a threat because evolution has taught this queen how to build her nest with a temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius which is good for the egg. The egg stays for 100 days and hatches. The queen being a snake eater gets away from her offspring during hatching, to avoid her feeding on them.
Secretion of Sex Glands.
A female queen that is ready for sex can secrets some glands which is recognized by an interested male. The male can easily track her in the forest through the scent for sex.
The venom of the king cobra.
The king cobra is the most venomous snake on earth. It has the most poisonous venom within the kingdom of snakes. It can control the amount of venom it injects into the body of their prey and in some cases it does not inject any venom at all.
The amount of venom it uses to kill a prey is much greater than when it strikes a human. Sometimes a king cobra strikes a human without venom being injected, after all, venom is valuable. This is the main reason why only 10% of human deaths in India are caused by the king cobra despite their encroachment into human territory.
The forged tongue of the king cobra
The forged tongue of the king cobra helps it a lot during hunting. When it moves, it uses its tongue to taste the molecules in the air and put it to two organs in its mouth which send it to the brain for interpretation. Only a single taste can tell whether the animal is a predator or a prey.
The Scales
The king like other snakes usually removes or scratches off her body scales. This usually happens 4 - 6 times every year. When the body is due for scratching its eye becomes clumsy and this tends to be the most anxious time for the snake.
Summary
- The female queen secrets glands which helps an interested male to track her for sex.
- The king's favourite meal is the rat snake.
- The king is the most venomous snake on earth and can control the amount of venom it injects into its prey unlike other snakes.
- The forged tongue helps it to catch prey
- A male king and a female queen can mate for as long as an hour.
- They usually get rid of their old skins 4- 6 times a year.
- A king can live as long as 30 years of age with its kingdom decreasing each year.
- A female queen can stay as long as 3 months protecting her young ones without food.
- A female queen cobra is the only snake in the world that builds nest for her eggs.
- An egg laid by a queen cobra can take up to 100 days before it hatches.
- A queen can lay up to 30 - 40 eggs but only one or two survives, and even with that, nothing is guaranteed.
- Putting a tracking device on a king has always proved impossible because the forest is dense and the snake very elusive.
- Catching a king cobra is a deadly business.
Hi read your blog and it was very usefull just noticed these king cobras kill even there female king cobra's but most of the time they are pregnant , is this cannabilism because that female is not laying his offsprings .
ReplyDeleteThe King 'sometimes' eats the queen after mating not 'most of the time'. In fact, male King Cobras don't usually eat female king cobras (or are they called queen cobras?. The only time they have been recorded of eating the female is after the mating and this can be attributed the snake being in heat and territorial anxiety.
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, King Cobras are cannibals (they don't just eat other snakes, they may eat other king cobras too). They are savage as fuck and best not be messed with.
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