Statistics indicate that people are more familiar with the cobra snake family than with any other snake group or subgroup in the venomous or non-venomous serpent categories. Tropical lands and desert areas make the favorite habitat for the cobra snake, which explains why this snake is regularly found in the arid lands of Asia and Africa. These serpents have got so very famous by the threatening body posture they get when danger is near: a cobra snake, which has a perfectly symmetrical head otherwise, will flatten the head and rear it up in a menacing way when seeing a possible attack coming. Another peculiarity the cobra snake owes its reputation to is the performance of cobra charming tricks by Indian snake masters.
A more special variety in this snake group is the spitting cobra that, besides biting, will spray venom into the eyes of aggressors or prey. The contact with the eyes can cause not just pain but blindness too, therefore, in case your eyes get exposed to cobra snake venom, washing with plenty of water could be the only way to stop permanent damage. The King cobra snake also stands apart in this large serpent family by its feeding specificity, since it eats almost only other snakes, with mice and small birds accidentally turning into a meal.
The incredible size is one other record the King cobra snake sets: it can get up to seventeen feet long, which makes it the largest venomous snake on the globe. A new species was discovered in our times, in 2003 to be more precise, when a specimen was identified at a London Zoo as part of an illegal shipment of exotic pets. DNA studies revealed that this new species is similar to the red spitting cobra snake but shows major differences in the genetic structure. It apparently originates from an area between Sudan and Egypt, and it was given the name of Nubian spitting cobra.
Although the risk of getting bitten is high in the presence of a venomous specimen, a cobra snake will keep away if you let it be. If compared to the strike of a rattlesnake, the cobra is pretty slow in attack, and many bites prove blank without envenomation. Research conducted on Malaysian cobra snake victims indicates that only 55% of the bites had venom release too. Yet, the same study indicates a 10% risk of death for people bitten by a cobra snake, since the toxins sent in the blood of the prey are devastating the nerves and inducing respiratory failure half an hour after being bitten.
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