- Joined
- Aug 8, 2005
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- 11,497
The got an injured young king cobra rescuee at the snake 'center'. It's got a 1 inch laceration along it's tail and they are forbidding photographs right now. (They are trying to come on as a rescue center and maybe grab some government or NGO $$$).
But this little chap is taking attitude beyond stratospheric levels. It's about 6 feet long. Since they got it a week ago it has spent almost every minute exploring it's cage. Over and over, every last inch. Even almost standing on the end of it's tail to inspect the roof. I watched it for almost 3 hours today. It spent some extra time searching the side of the cage I was nearest, obviously aware of my presence.
One of the handlers came over, grinned and said something I didn't catch. He went away and came back with a rat. Live, dangling by the tail. Rat? He unlocked the door, undid the safety latches, then very quickly opened the door a few inches and tossed the rat in. The snake was watching the door when he first started to unlock it.
UNREAL. The handler slammed the door shut and grinned at me. My mouth was hanging open. F****** H***!!! A reptilian guided missile! The snake launched itself across the cage, literally it's entire body went airborne, and caught the rat in mid air. It munched maybe ten times, doing the venom injection thing, then spat the rat out. Then back to it's patrolling.
When I left they were cutting an access hole in the roof of the cage so they could remotely clean and feed with poles without ever entering.
Now wouldn't that be the perfect snake for those people who state you will never get bit if you take the proper precautions? I wonder what aerial acrobatics it could cook up when it becomes a full sized adult. Think about it. A snake so unpredictable a hook would be useless. A catch bag, something it could leap out of. I recall a herpetologist telling me about an Egyptian cobra he encountered that was so keyed up it launched itself through the air several times so this isn't entirely unheard of.
But this little chap is taking attitude beyond stratospheric levels. It's about 6 feet long. Since they got it a week ago it has spent almost every minute exploring it's cage. Over and over, every last inch. Even almost standing on the end of it's tail to inspect the roof. I watched it for almost 3 hours today. It spent some extra time searching the side of the cage I was nearest, obviously aware of my presence.
One of the handlers came over, grinned and said something I didn't catch. He went away and came back with a rat. Live, dangling by the tail. Rat? He unlocked the door, undid the safety latches, then very quickly opened the door a few inches and tossed the rat in. The snake was watching the door when he first started to unlock it.
UNREAL. The handler slammed the door shut and grinned at me. My mouth was hanging open. F****** H***!!! A reptilian guided missile! The snake launched itself across the cage, literally it's entire body went airborne, and caught the rat in mid air. It munched maybe ten times, doing the venom injection thing, then spat the rat out. Then back to it's patrolling.
When I left they were cutting an access hole in the roof of the cage so they could remotely clean and feed with poles without ever entering.
Now wouldn't that be the perfect snake for those people who state you will never get bit if you take the proper precautions? I wonder what aerial acrobatics it could cook up when it becomes a full sized adult. Think about it. A snake so unpredictable a hook would be useless. A catch bag, something it could leap out of. I recall a herpetologist telling me about an Egyptian cobra he encountered that was so keyed up it launched itself through the air several times so this isn't entirely unheard of.
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