Indian Cobra

[Kartik Bhat]

Canon 550D
Sigma 150-500mm
Exif: F 6.3 @ 1/125 ISO 100
Durga Forest

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice front view of Naja Naja. ID is clear.The front flat head, large nostrils, black eyes, black band on the underpart (out of focus), colour and intense look testify to the same. Its venom is more toxic than the Indian Monocled Cobra or King Cobra.
Thanks for sharing.
SaktiWild

[Mrudul Godbole]

The low angle gives a nice perspective. Slight less space at the top would be good. It seems you sighted it while crossing the road. How long was the sighting? Look forward to more in the series. Thanks for sharing,

[Kartik Bhat]

Mrudul,
I was able to click this snake in every possible angle. I do not know the reason why this snake came on road and was there on the road for some 30 mins.Since it was a highway where we spotted this, we somehow made it go off the road.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

A very important question. The vibration on pucca road may not be felt from a long distance by human beings. I have seen cobras slowly crossing the pucca road running through scrub jungle, after rains in the evening, in particular. Could the cobra feel the vibration on metalled road from a long distance. I do not know.
When I used to stay near Bagnan railway station, close to the river Damodar and Rupnarayana (the entire area was known for its cobras), I have seen on occasions in the morning the cobras lying smashed on the railway track by trains in the night. Talking to many village elders and railway gangmen, I was told and I believe it now, the cobras may like virbations felt by the underpart of the body and while crossing the railway track they stay still on it as they feel the vibration of an incoming train say at 1 or 2 km away, waiting only for the inevitable fate.

Believe me or not, during Puja Holidays, October 1998/1999, standing on the bank of the Rupnarayana, I was trying to identify a snake swimming in the river at a distance. A fisherman came and offered to sell both fish and 5 or 6 baby monocled cobras about five or six inches long spreading its one rupee coin-sized hood at Rs.5 per snake. Caught in the net alongwith the fishes!

It is so nice to raise query.
SaktiWild

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Nice image of the crawling spectacled cobra. How far were you from the snake and how did you manage to shoo it away?

Its quite sad to hear the fate of cobras in rural parts of the country. Selling cobras at Rs.5 shows how desperate they are to earn a buck here. Thanks for enlightening us of the plight Saktida. So much needs to be done....

[Sabyasachi Patra]

My limited understanding of snakes is from a murderer's perspective - I have killed many during my childhood days. I have seen that snakes like to bask in the sunshine. During my childhood days while returning home in the night, with non-existent streetlights, we used to literrally stumble upon snakes on the road who lie there to get the warmth of the road.

I have seen them after rains, and also in winter when they prefer to lie on the puckka roads. I have seen that in the jungle roads as well. Especially in BR Hills, in one trip we found many on the road and the jungle lodges vehicle even ran over one cobra.

Snakes being poikilothermal (cold blooded) need to warm themselves.

As far as Shaktipada dada's experience of snakes lying in railway lines, it can also be that the metal track heats up and gives them the warmth.