The king cobra : Longest venomous snake in the world

The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft). This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to Indonesia and the Philippines. Despite the word "cobra" in its name, this snake is not a member of Naja ("true cobras") but belongs to its own genus. The king cobra is considered to be a dangerous snake. It has cultural significance as well.
The king cobra averages at 3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13 ft) in length and typically weighs about 6 kg. The longest known specimen was kept captive at the London Zoo, and grew to around 18.5 to 18.8 ft (5.6 to 5.7 m) before being euthanized upon the outbreak of World War II. The heaviest wild specimen was caught at Royal Island Club in Singapore in 1951, which weighed 12 kilograms and measured 4.8 m (16 ft), though an even heavier captive specimen was kept at New York Zoological Park and was measured as 12.7 kilograms at 4.4 m (14 ft) long in 1972. The length and mass of the snakes highly depend on their localities and some other factors. Despite their large sizes, typical king cobras are fast and agile.
The skin of this snake is either olive-green, tan, or black, and it has faint, pale yellow cross bands down the length of the body. The belly is cream or pale yellow, and the scales are smooth. Juveniles are shiny black with narrow yellow bands  (can be mistaken for a banded krait, but readily identified with its expandable hood). The head of a mature snake can be quite massive and bulky in appearance, though like all snakes, they can expand their jaws to swallow large prey items. It has proteroglyph dentition, meaning it has two short, fixed fangs in the front of the mouth which channel venom into the prey like hypodermic needles. The male is larger and thicker than the female. The average lifespan of a wild king cobra is about 20 years.

King Cobra : Cultural significance

In Burma, king cobras are often used by female snake charmers. The charmer is usually tattooed with three pictograms, using an ink mixed with snake venom; superstition holds that it protects the charmer from the snake. The charmer kisses the snake on the top of its head at the end of the show.
In India, the king cobra is believed to possess exceptional memory. According to a myth, the picture of the killer of a king cobra stays in the eyes of the snake, which is later picked up by the partner and is used to hunt down the killer for revenge. To prove this theory, a king cobra was captured and left free in an enclosure which had small openings. Numerous people stood in front of the openings but the snake rose to its full height and locked eyes only with the captor. Due to this myth, whenever a cobra is killed, especially in India, the head is either crushed or burned to damage the eyes completely.

King Cobra : Venom

The venom of the king cobra consists primarily of neurotoxins, but it also contains cardiotoxic and some other compounds. Similar to other venomous creatures, toxic constituents inside the venom are mainly proteins and polypeptides.
This species is capable of delivering a fatal bite and a large quantity of venom can be injected with a dose anywhere from 200–500 mg on average, and up to 7 ml. Engelmann and Obst (1981) list the average venom yield at 420 mg (dry weight). A large quantity of antivenom may be needed to reverse the progression of symptoms developed if bitten by a king cobra.
During a bite, venom is forced through the snake's 1.25 to 1.5 cm (0.49 to 0.59 in) fangs into the wound, and the toxins begin to attack the victim's central nervous system. Symptoms may include severe pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis. Envenomation progresses to cardiovascular collapse, and the victim falls into a coma. Death soon follows due to respiratory failure. Moreover, envenomation from king cobras is clinically known to cause renal failure as observed from some snakebite precedents of this species.
The mortality rate and death time resulting from a bite can vary sharply with many factors including the quantity of venom delivered, the site of bite and the health state of the victim. Data provided by different sources which may come from different regions could also have a significant difference: while a report mentions that many bites from king cobras involve non-fatal amounts of venom, another report of clinical statistics released by the South Indian Hospital reveals that two-thirds of the bitten patients had received severe bites from this species. According to the University of Adelaide Department of Toxicology, an untreated bite has a mortality rate of 50-60%. Bites from a king cobra may result in a rapid fatality which can be as early as 30 minutes after envenomation, depending upon the nature and severity of the bites.
There are two types of antivenom made specifically to treat king cobra envenomations. The Red Cross in Thailand manufactures one, and the Central Research Institute in India manufactures the other; however, both are made in small quantities and are not widely available. Ohanin, a protein component of the venom, causes hypolocomotion and hyperalgesia in mammals. Other components have cardiotoxic, cytotoxic and neurotoxic effects. In Thailand, a concoction of alcohol and the ground root of turmeric is ingested, which has been clinically shown to create a strong resilience against the venom of the king cobra, and other snakes with neurotoxic venom.
Diet
The king cobra's generic name, Ophiophagus is a Greek-derived word which means "snake-eater", and its diet consists primarily of other snakes, including rat snakes, small pythons and even other venomous snakes such as various members of the true cobras (of the genus Naja), and even the much more venomous members of the krait family. When food is scarce, they may also feed on other small vertebrates, such as lizards, birds, and rodents. In some cases, the cobra may "constrict" its prey, such as birds and larger rodents, using its muscular body, though this is uncommon. After a large meal, the snake may live for many months without another one because of its slow metabolic rate. The king cobra's most common meal is the rat snake; pursuit of this species often brings king cobras close to human settlements.
As I told in “Cultural significance”  there are many myths about these snakes than others. Also they are dangerous like as black mambas!

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Green Anaconda : most massive snake in the world

Green Anaconda is a giant snake which is also called  Anaconda, Common Anaconda and Water Boa. Local names in South America include the Spanish term mata-toro, meaning "bull killer", and the Native American terms sucuri (Tupi) and yaqumama in the Peruvian Amazon, which means "mother of the water" in the Quechua language of the jungle people Yaqurunas or "water people". According to the above names I think you might have some idea about these predators!

Anacondas live in swamps, marshes, and slow-moving streams, mainly in the tropical rain forests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. They are cumbersome on land, but stealthy and sleek in the water. Their eyes and nasal openings are on top of their heads, allowing them to lie in wait for prey while remaining nearly completely submerged.

Why these snakes are called “water boa”

The primarily nocturnal anaconda species tend to spend most of its life in or around water. Anacondas are also sometimes known as the "Water Boa"; they spend more time in water than any of the boas. Because of their large size, they seem rather slow and sluggish when traveling on land. Completely the opposite in water, however, anacondas are known to have the potential to reach high speeds in all depths of water. They tend to float atop the surface of the water with the snout barely poking out above the surface. When prey passes by or stops to drink, a hungry anaconda will snatch it with its jaws (without eating or swallowing it) and coil around it with its body. The snake will then constrict until it has successfully suffocated the prey. So anacondas are not venomous snakes.

Longest and heaviest snake

The Green Anaconda is one of the world's longest snakes, reaching more than 6.6 m (22 ft) long. Reports of anacondas 35–40 feet or even longer also exist, but such claims need to be regarded with caution as no specimens of such lengths have ever been deposited in a museum and hard evidence is lacking. There is a $50,000 cash reward for anyone that can catch an anaconda 30 ft (9.1 m) or longer, but the prize has not been claimed yet. Although the reticulated python is longer, the anaconda is the heaviest snake. The longest (and heaviest) scientifically recorded specimen was a female measuring 521 cm (17 ft 1 in) long and weighing 97.5 kilograms (215 lb).

Geographic range

They are found in South America east of the Andes, in countries including Colombia, Venezuela, the Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, the island of Trinidad and as far south as northern Paraguay. The type locality given is "America". A small sub-population has been recorded in the Florida Everglades and this population is considered invasive.

Unfortunately these predators are not found in our country (in forests)! But we have few of them in our zoo. OK guys this is the end of the “Green Anaconda” I will be here with “python snakes” soon! Please leave a comment!

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Black mamba : The most venomous land snake in the world

As I promised in my first article about “rattle snakes”, today we discuss about Black mamba : “The most venomous land snake in the world”.  Black mamba is the longest venomous snake in Africa (2.5m – 3.2 m); some times grows up to 4 m. They also called common black mamba. They are also fastest snake (16 km/h to 20km/h) in the world. They are highly venomous and   aggressive.
The name of “black mamba” is not for their black color skin it’s for coloration of their inside of the mouth! Younger snakes lighter than their adults. Their eyes are dark brown or black.


The adult black mamba have no enemies or predators! Their prays are mice, rats, little birds, bats and mammals. When they travel for hunting the head is raised above the ground. They frees before attack to the pray. Then give several bites swiftly.
The females lay 15 to 25 eggs at a period. They guide their eggs very aggressively till hatching. The black mambas are totally independent after their birth. They feed themselves. The Juvenile are as venomous as their adults, but they did not inject venom as much as adults.
I told you the black mamba is the most venomous land snake in the world. I can give a grate example for it! An elephant named “Eleanor” lived in Samburu National Reserve was bitten and killed by black mamba in 2006. This is the only one (verified) elephant dying after snake bite! 

Venomous snake bite is a main problem in African countries. They use anti venom to prevent this. But in  Swaziland rate of mortality very close to 100% because of lack of the anti-venom. Often humans die less than 20 minutes after black mambas attack but some times take 3 hours. 10mg – 15mg of venom can be caused to death to a adult. But the problem is the average of the venom which is injected in one bite is 100mg-150mg (some times 400mg). That is the reason why people called black mamba’s bite as “kiss of the death”.
I think now you can understand why I called it “the most venomous land snake in the world”. They are strong, powerful, fastest & highly venomous rather than others! That’s the last thing I have to tell you “beware of black mambas”!
Coming up next “King cobra”

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Rattle snakes

Hi guys,
This is the beginning of the most interesting lecture series about snakes in all over the world! First of all I should tell you why I writing about snakes.. Snakes are my favorite animals because I like their dreadful look! So I have read lot of books & articles about them and also I myself research about them , take their photos and many other things were done as a beginner to collect some knowledge! I must tell you I am not a professional or I am not a scientist but I have some knowledge and now I am going to share it with you! OK! Lets do it!
Today we discuss about Rattle snakes. They are a venomous snakes, can be identified by the end of their tail called rattle.  There are thirty two species of rattle snakes in the world. All of them are predators and have set of fangs to inject their hemotoxic venom to preys.  The preys are mice, rats, little birds and other small animals. Hawks, weasels and king snakes are their predators.
Rattle snakes are native to the America and large number of species (about sixteen) in USA live in Arizona.  Some of other areas are Mexico, Argentina & South America. Usually rattle snakes are live near the open, rocky areas because then they can survive from predators & most of their preys live in those areas. They prefer between 26^oC  to 32^oC but can survive bellow 0^oC. Some rattle snakes hibernate in winter season, gathering together large amount of snakes (some times over 1000) in “rattle snakes dens”.
Generally rattle snakes avoid humans so they rarely bite if we are not provoked them. Most victims are males, young or drunk! You must be careful when negotiate with fallen logs,  boulders & other similar things because it may be cause to rattle snakes attack! Most of rattle snakes have hemotoxic venom & some of them (Mojave rattlesnake) have neurotoxic. Juvenile rattle snakes are dangerous than adults because they can not control the amount of venom injected. 7000 to 8000 people are under attacked per year in America but 5 or 6 people die. If we can take anti-venom treatment within one or two hour of the attack, we have 99% probability of recovery!
FIRST AID

1. Remove rings, shoes, ties and other restrictive items from the victim.
2. Keep the wound bellow the heart level.
3. Put the victim rest and calm.
4. Take the victim immediately to the hospital.

Ok! I think you may have some knowledge about rattle snakes. Please leave a comment about this article because it’s make me happy! My next article about “The black mamba” fastest snake in the world!

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