In captivity king cobras exhibit an intelligence unusual in snakes. 
They learn not to attack people through the glass of the cage. They recognize 
their keepers and notice which way a door opens; when they grow hungry, 
they linger near their feeding door and watch for their keeper. 
King cobras when caught can stand a six-weeks journey without food 
or other care. The only ill effect is a skin cap left over their eyes after shed¬ 
ding. To remove this cap without being bitten takes considerable ingenuity 
and dexterity. 
INDIAN COBRA 
Cobras are accorded a respect amounting to reverence in the superstition 
and folklore of India. It is believed by some orientals that if a man is 
wronged during his lifetime he will be reincarnated as a cobra and will 
avenge himself upon the wrongdoer. When an animal is attacked by a cobra, 
the snake is really settling old scores with a human being in animal form 
who once harmed him. Sometimes the snake dies with his vendetta uncom¬ 
pleted and is reborn as human, the better to find his enemy. On the other 
hand, the cobra is supposed to be loyal to the memory of a dead human 
who has once befriended him. In Madras the killing of a cobra is regarded 
as a sin. Its body is cremated and milk poured over the ashes. For three 
days, the “murderer” is considered polluted. 
The six-foot Indian or common cobra ranges throughout southern Asia 
and is found up to an altitude of three thousand feet in the Himalayas. Its 
usual coloring is yellowish to dark brown with a black-and-white, spectacled¬ 
shaped marking on the hood. Unlike the king cobra, it does not feed on 
snakes, but on frogs and rodents. In killing these it shows great agility, 
darting at them with unerring precision. Once it secures a hold, it bites 
tenaciously, the muscles of its jaws bulging as it exudes its venom. When 
angry, it raises its body, distends its hood and sways rhythmically from side 
to side. As it strikes, it emits a sharp, sneeze-like hiss. 
Indian cobras often live in empty termites’ nests, piles of wood or 
stone. Sometimes they enter houses in search of rats. They commonly travel 
in pairs, a male and a female together, hunting in the late afternoon and 
evening to avoid the sun’s greatest heat. 
136 
