Photos of the King Cobra
My week long attempt to capture the King Cobra nesting behavior has been unsuccessful.
Waiting for action
This place is just outside a small town named Thirthahalli, inside a forest plant nursery. The den itself is right next to the Tunga river, inside a bamboo clump. We had a small open area in the front, where we could pitch out tent, keep all our cameras ready etc. The experience was really tough. Since snakes are sensitive to movements, we had to sit still all day and the place was infested with all bity ants.
Male Cobra checking us out
For the first four days, the male was guarding the den. He would come out in the morning, sit and bask in the sun around the den most of the day and would go back in at the end of the day. He would try to instigate the female once in a while, but she remained mostly inside. Only once did the female come out, where the male did something which looked like mating, but it was not as the female was already pregnant. On the forth day, the male went down to the river and never came back. Usually the males mate and leave the female to take care of herself. This one however, stayed on for few weeks with the female, which is a new record of this behavior.
The Moulting female
After the male left, we hoped the female would get into the business of nest making. However, she started moulting around that time i.e she started shedding her external skin. This process usually takes few days and the eyes of the snake become fully white in this period. The female used to come out and bask the whole day outside. I don’t know if she could see much with the white covering, but she was still aware about the things around her.
We gave it few days, and I got back to Bangalore. As of this morning, the female is still in this state and might shed her skin anytime now. I hope to go back in time to get the nesting sequence though.
WOW beatiful behind the scene and on the field narration. But….
You told that after mating the male abandons the female to proceed further with the nesting activity – then why did he continue to be in that place without doing anything when the female was already pregnant ?? strange isnt it !!
Also are you not shooting the moulting seq … that will be good too.
You are very brave!
And how interesting!
This is the first time someone is studying them in the wild. All the research so far has been from captive ones… so you learn something new everyday 🙂
The moulting sequence has been done before and its something that can be easily done. The nesting one is the key sequence.
kalyan – always a pleasure to read your blog. As it happens, my in laws are from Thirthahalli. the place is amazing – one of those spots untouched by the tourist crowd. just a great place to chill out
Coincidentally, the scientific name for the cobra is “Naja naja”, which rhymes with lj name :>
Enjoyed the description as much as the photographs…you are ready to start making documentaries, Kallu. Your writing style is evolving and is beginning to match the excellence of the photographs.
A film already exists
As far as I can remember, there was a film shown in AP on mating of cobras as well as the nesting of the female and later she abandones them just before their birth. Not sure, who the author was.
interesting stuff dude. keep it coming! 🙂
No wonder your are not seen online *these* days. Back in city when ?
When the snakes eyes are covered in the white layer I am guessing the eyesight gets compromised. Will she then be an easy prey to predatory animals/birds? Can you shed some light?
Re: A film already exists
Thats ‘King Cobra’ made by Rom Whitaker. He got an Emmy for it.
Re: A film already exists
There have been 2 films made on the King Cobra. What most people do not know is that, both of them were almost fully shot in Madras croc bank. None of the behaviour sequences were from the wild.
They say, King cobra is at the top of the food chain. Usually during these times, they are in the borrow are in thick bamboo. However, a big bird of prey could take it if its out in the open.
Re: A film already exists
There was in Hollywood horror movie that I saw named Ssssnake. In that a evil scientist makes a his assistant into a (cough) King Cobra. (sigh) A blue eyed King Cobra since the kid was blonde and blue eyed. Also named SSSSSSS.
Kalyan- The Royal Guard!
Do you realize that y’all might be protecting her highness the QUEEN, in her period of vulnerability by keeping the preys away with your ever present presence.
The cobra’s dont see with their eyes!
Ramesh Viswanadha: Kalyan, I thought that snakes ‘see’ with their skin, i.e, they sense their surroundings by vibrations felt due to movement of anything in the surroundings – actually, it is said that for most snakes, their eyes show very poor vision except the intensity of ambient light, though I am not sure how much this is for the cobras.
Anyways, going by what little I acquired on wildlife, I think it is the vibes that tell the snakes their surroundings – the eyes are predominantly non-functional.
Can someone validate this?
Re: The cobra’s dont see with their eyes!
Hmmm.. If anybody of you watched Osheo’s big adventure to India on AP, we’d start doubting that the eyes are predominantly non functional.
This is what happens in that, which neither Osheo nor anyone who watched that will forget…
He catches a king in wild while its feeding on a rat snake, then its taken and kept in an enclosure which has an opening to look into, with a speaker inside the enclosure to test whether kings respond to sounds of other king cobras. But something unexpected happens… it doesn’t respond to the sound from the speaker…
After sometime it moves towards the opening through which Mr. Osheo is peeping.. comes near him rises up and up… almost eye level.. and stares into his eyes for around 5 mins then turns and goes back.
What say?? Did the King recognise the person who caught it??
Are snakes partially blind???
Can someone validate this???
wow..what a wonderful chance to see this snake so close. The king is king 🙂
Am sure you will get lucky with the nesting behaviour someday..
Re: Kalyan- The Royal Guard!
I doubt it.. it takes people a while for people themselves to realise that the king is in the clump 🙂
Re: The cobra’s dont see with their eyes!
Snakes do not hear. They can feel things a little.. so they can make out a sub-woofer.. but not a regular speaker. Their main sense is smell and sight and even in sight.. they are very sensitive to movement. If you stand still, the snake things you are a branch and go right on you. That explains all that you saw.
Re: The cobra’s dont see with their eyes!
Ramesh: Hi anonymous, I must admit that I haven’t seen that series, but sure have read quite a bit about it. (and just for the record, its Mark O’Shea, not Osheo!)
Meanwhile, did I mention that cobras actually hear? I don’t remember! The cobras are deaf – in every sense of the word. They sense the presence & movements of surrounding by vibrations! (http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/king-cobra.html )
Also, a cobra’s constant flicking of its tongue is only to sense the surrounding air.
In general, nature’s way has it been that if any species has one of the senses very sensitive, one/more of the others are compromised. All animals are color-blind and in turn, they have at least one of the senses much more developed over humans. Anyways, I still can’t say anything for sure about the cobras’ vision, but thank you for having provoked my thoughts.
Someone, pls. help me! Kalyan, what you think?
Re: The cobra’s dont see with their eyes!
Ramesh: I stand corrected. Thanks a lot Kalyan!
Re: Kalyan- The Royal Guard!
I couldn’t resist sliding in the neat title I gave you 🙂
Good luck with the 2nd half of your filming.
Re: The cobra’s dont see with their eyes!
From what I know.. Kings are not great with color vision. But then again no one really knows to be honest as not enough research has been done into it. What they can see easily is motion and the slightest motion is detected by them. Without motion, their vision is prob slightly worse then us.
I did see this king cobra look at some birds flying some 100m away though.
Hey Kallu, tough luck on the shoot man!
Today I saw this video on youtube of a baby bein repeatedly attacked by a captured cobra but the baby couldnt be bothered.
So when they make these snakes safe (like the local snake charmer) do they milk the venom off or remove the fangs? I mean does its “bite” now not even cause a scratch?
Using your pictures
Kalyan
I would like to know if I could use your pictures with due credits for printing books for children to educate them about wildlife. Target audience is school children ( Government schools in rural area ).
I belong to an organization called AID – Association for India’s Development. We are already in the process of getting such material for the kids. Please let me know if you need more information. My email id is mailrevathi@yahoo.com. You can also visit http://aidindia.org/main/ about what we do. Thanks for your time and I loveeee your pictures and your passion !
did u dlt the new post ??
Kalyan..
dint u posted a new one yesterday ! I mean a new post !!
I remember reading something about kabini and….something regarding forest department permission…
If not UGHHH…I did not yet realize that I’m getting dreams like this– something wrong with me ughhhrrr
Re: A film already exists
I beg to differ. A lot of what we shot was in the wild and I would prefer it if anyone writing on the subject checks with us before airing their views to the world. Janaki Lenin
Wow, this picture of captured of the might King is awesome. I have a certain love for snakes.
I like this name and I like the pics of the mighty cobra. It does rhyme 🙂
Re: A film already exists
Chennai, Madras? I did not know that cobra’s were from that region.
Re: The cobra’s dont see with their eyes!
Hmm. That’s the thinking here in the mountains of the US. Most snakes do not see. They sense with vibrations and light receptors. I’ve been handling snakes since I was about 5 years old. (Not for religious reasons, mostly out of pure adrenaline. I am speaking about tember rattlers and copperheads. I would someday very much like to charm a cobra.
Hello look at sites
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Love!
Make peace, not war!
hey
that’s cool howd u do it
wow
Wow this is so totally not cool you need more pics
You were very brave to try it. . . Abby xxxooo June 1, AM Parker said. . . JB, you were a very brave kitty.
Posted by Robin Varghese at PM | Permalink | Comments Is There Anything People Won’t Do With World of Warcraft.
Squeaking out rhymes like “Home alone dotting your i’s/Peanut-butter-pudding surprise. ” in helium falsetto over boogie-rock guitar outbursts, drill-sergeant backing vocals and clipped drum spasms, it’s better suited to an I Love the s.
Some additional info with theoritical background and practical experience-
The scientific name of name king cobra is Naja hanna and not Naja naja.
Snakes do see well with their eyes, but it is not as acute as that of mammals or birds. They can sense a moving object very easily and perceive them as threat,but a stationery object including a man is not seen as a thrat and mostly ignored by it unless it’s other acute sense, that of smell, tells it otherwise. That is why if you come across a snake and see it before it sees you and stand very still, it will pass very close by without even looking at you. But I have noticed that some times even if you are standing very still, it is alerted by it’s acute sense of smell of your presence,raise it’s hood and look in different directions but can not locate you because you are standing very still and it cannot pinpoint your location precisely, visually.
About it’s condition during moulting, yes it certainly is vulnerable, but most animals prefer to keep a safe distance from a cobra (common or king) and whether moulting or not.
Regarding playing sounds to snakes in cages through speakers, high frequency sounds are useful for humanbeings to locate the source of sound because they are highly directional unlike the low frequency bass sounds. However the low frequency sounds are carried better through solid media like soil/earth and are more useful to snakes as they can feel them better.
The pictures are good. Please do be careful as the King can be very aggresive and attack without provocation, especially when you go near it’s nest.