|
Equatorial Spitting Cobra, Reptile That Loves To Spit Poison |
Equatorial Spitting Cobra, Reptile That Loves To Spit Poison. Everyone knows cobras. Yes, that is the name for a type of snake that is famous for being able to kill it and its head which has a hood shaped like a spoon.
There are many types of cobra known to man, but this time my article will focus on discussing the equatorial spitting cobra, a type of cobra from the tropics that can spit its venom over a considerable distance.
Equatorial Spitting Cobra, Reptile That Loves To Spit Poison
Want to know? Let's continue reading my interesting writing. The equatorial spitting cobra or in scientific language Naja sumatrana is a species of cobra that has the ability to spit.
|
Equatorial Spitting Cobra, Reptile That Loves To Spit Poison |
This snake is also known by another name, namely the Sumatran spitting cobra, but actually this snake is not only found in Sumatra. The original habitat of this snake is the tropical forest area of Southeast Asia.
Let's Get To Know This Cobra
Physically, the spitting cobra is no different from cobras in general. Its body is long and its neck is a kind of tassels or a wide flat hood.
The main function of the flat hood is to make its body bigger when it feels threatened so that it is hoped that the cobra enemy will feel afraid and then retreat.
The flat veil itself is actually bone covered with skin through which the bone can be lifted and folded as needed.
Equatorial Spitting Cobra Videos
Hood is also the origin of the name of the type of snake concerned where the word cobra comes from the Portuguese cobra capo which means hooded snake.
The most interesting physical feature of the
equatorial spitting cobra is that snakes that occupy different habitats are known to have two different colored scales. The first color is yellow where snakes with this color are found in many places in Thailand.
|
Equatorial Spitting Cobra, Reptile That Loves To Spit Poison (source) |
The second color is black with white patches on the front of the neck where the snake with this coloring can be found on the Malay Peninsula, Singapore and Indonesia.
The maximum length of the equatorial spitting cobra is 1.6 meters, but most are usually only about 1 meter long. The spitting cobra is a carnivorous animal that usually goes hunting both during the day and at night.
To find its prey, this snake relies on its ability to sniff out odors by sticking out a two-pronged tongue to trap odor particles and then transfer these odor particles to the olfactory organs located on the roof of its mouth.
Cobra snakes can also detect the movements of their prey by relying on their bodies which are very sensitive to vibrations. Cobra prey includes small animals such as rodents, frogs, lizards, and even other snakes.
Poison Spit
Now let's talk about this snake's unique ability to regurgitate poison. Cobras usually spit or rather spit out their venom to repel their enemies, where the target of the cobra is its eyes. There are several species of cobra known to regurgitate their venom which all belong to the genus Naja.
It is interesting to see how the equatorial spitting cobra gives off its venom. The spitting cobra has a pair of fighters on the front of its muzzle through which its fangs are connected to a poison gland at the top of its mouth by a kind of duct.
If want to vomit poison, the muscles in the duct can contract so that the poison from the glands will flow into the poison ducts in the fangs and then spray out.
|
Equatorial Spitting Cobra, Reptile That Loves To Spit Poison |
The stronger the muscles contract, the stronger the pressure on the venom ducts and the farther out toxins are. Although experts already know the mechanism for releasing venom, experts are still not sure how this snake can regurgitate its venom accurately.
The only clue the experts knew was that every time the potential target moved backwards from the snake's position, the snake would slowly tilt its head upwards.
That way, the snake can ensure that the poison it vomits will always hit its potential target, especially its eyes. The poison released by the spitting cobra itself is said to have reached a maximum distance of 1.9 meters.
A Dangerous But Useful Snake
The venom from the spitting cobra has harmful effects on humans. If exposed to the eyes, these toxins will cause very painful effects such as burning in the eyes and even permanent blindness.
Victims whose eyes have been exposed to cobra venom spray should immediately wash their eyes with a flowing liquid, such as milk or water. Victims are also advised to roll their eyes during the eye wash process.
The next thing to do is to immediately take the victim to the nearest hospital or clinic for further assistance.
Cobra venom can also enter blood vessels through bites. The effect of the bite poison can be more fatal because it can cause the victim to die.
If anyone has been bitten by a throwing cobra, then the victim must be immediately taken to the nearest clinic or hospital so that they can get help as soon as possible before the poison reacts further.
The thing to note is that the victim must be kept from moving too much while on the way to the hospital because the movement in the body will accelerate the flow of blood and make the poison spread more quickly.
Contrary to popular belief, it is actually not advisable to tie the bite wound with a bandage and absorb the venom of the bite with your mouth.
Although dangerous, the spitting cobra actually has benefits for humans because it likes to eat pests in the form of rodents.
In addition, this snake is actually a shy animal that prefers to run or hide when encountering other, larger creatures.
This snake usually only bites or spits when it feels cornered and cannot escape. The bite of the spitting cobra is also not always deadly because sometimes it is only limited to biting, but it does not inject its venom when biting.
These non-toxic bites are known as dry bites. Recently, these snakes have also begun to be used as pets by reptile lovers.
By: Ochie
0 comments