FRONT-FANGED 
POISONOUS SNAKES 
KING COBRA 
The king cobra is the largest and probably the most dangerous of poison¬ 
ous snakes. Its fierceness and ample venom make it one of man’s most 
dreaded animal foes. In addition to killing men it frequently slays elephants 
by biting them in the tip of the trunk or just above the toenail. Inasmuch 
as a work elephant, trained for transporting teakwood, is valued at four 
thousand dollars, jungle trails are frequently closed when cobras are 
engaged in guarding their nests. 
Adult king cobras average about twelve feet in length, though a speci¬ 
men measuring eighteen feet, four inches has been recorded. These snakes, 
however, are so slender that, according to Boulenger, a fifteen-footer may 
weigh as little as sixteen pounds. Their color is yellow-brown or olive-green; 
there may be black bands around the body or a patch of reddish-orange at 
the throat. The young are so brilliantly banded that they are often mistaken 
for kraits and other species. 
When aroused, they rear to a height of four feet and remain perfectly 
still as they stare at their enemy out of their bright, bronze-colored eyes. 
They do not sway back and forth like the common cobras or distend their 
hoods as wide. 
The king cobra habitually eats non-poisonous snakes. In captivity it 
will devour a four- or five-foot snake every week, consuming some hundred 
and fifty feet of snakes in an eight-month period. Only in the mating season 
do they go out of their way to attack man. Otherwise they attack only when 
disturbed. If, however, a man accidentally collides with a cobra, the serpent 
will fight rather than glide away. 
Burmese natives catch cobras by working in teams of two. One man 
waves his hand in order to attract the snake’s attention while the other sneaks 
up behind, grabs the serpent by the tail. He lifts it and deftly deposits it 
in a basket. 
134 
