Well animal fans, I am not going to lie to you. I am kind of grumpy right now as I just finished writing the entire post about the Indian Cobra but WordPress decided to save a blank copy so I ended up losing all of my work. Just so you know it was probably the best post of the year! Well, let’s try this again, shall we? As I alluded to in my opening ramble, we are going to learn about a cute, little snake called the Indian Cobra.
Okay, so maybe they are not that little and I am sure some of you would argue that they are not that cute. In fact, the Indian Cobra averages a length somewhere around 1.9 m (6′) but have been known to grow as large as 2.4 m (8′), which is pretty impressive……..and scary. If their massive size doesn’t scare you then perhaps the fact that they are one of the “Big 4” snakes responsible for the most snakebites in India.
So would it hurt if the Indian Cobra decided to chow down on your leg? Well, considering they contain a venom that has a post-synaptic neurotoxin, I am going to say, yes, it would hurt a lot. Oh, you want to know what this neurotoxin does. It actually isn’t too bad. Generally, it will cause your muscles to become paralyzed with the potential of you going into cardiac arrest or perhaps have complete respiratory failure. That isn’t even the coolest thing about the Indian Cobra’s venom. It also contains an enzyme that actually causes your cells to break down and will increase the spread of the venom. Now that is pretty tricky! Just so you know, these symptoms can start to show about 15 minutes to 2 hours after the bite. Fatalities may also occur within an hour of being bitten. If you happen to get bit then I suggest you rush out and pick up some of the polyvalent serum which is available for treatment. How about that for an entrepreneurial initiative. Just think how much someone would be willing to pay for that serum. Of course, you would have to have absolutely no morals to carry out your business plan.
Indian Cobra Fast Fact – As dangerous as the Indian Cobra seems to be they are still the snake of choice for snake charmers. Not to ruin the snake charmers show but you do need to realize that the Indian Cobra is completely deaf to the flute music. The snake is responding to the movements of the swaying pipe and the vibrations caused by the either charmers tapping foot the sound waves hitting the ground. I hope I didn’t wreck the Nag Panchami festival for you!
It is kind of funny how different this second post turned out to be. Same animal but completely different Wild Fact compared to the first one I wrote tonight. Enjoy the rest of your day folks, and stay safe.
