Robinson Mitchell, age 13, of Montgomery, Ala., for his question:
WHAT IS A KING COBRA?
A cobra is any of a group of poisonous hooded snakes. Cobras are nervous and, when excited, they flatten their necks by moving their ribs. This movement gives the appearance of a hood. One cobra variety that can reach a length of 18 feet is called the king cobra.
In most snakes, the neck ribs are shorter than those farther back. In the cobra, however, the neck ribs are the longest. These ribs are almost straight instead of curved like those of the body.
Cobras can be found in Africa, South Asia and the East Indies, including the Philippine Islands. The king cobra of southeastern Asia is by far the largest of the group. It is also the longest poisonous snake known.
The king cobra has a narrow hood. Most king cobras retreat from people and will attack only when they are surprised while guarding their eggs.
The king cobra is olive or brown in color and has bronze colored eyes.
An Indian cobra grows to be about six feet long and is usually about six inches around. On the back of this snake's hood is a mark that appears to be a pair of eyeglasses. Because of the unusual marking, this creature is sometimes called the spectacled cobra.
Cobras use their deadly poison in two ways: some bite their victims with the poison fangs in the front of their upper jaw while others squirt the poison directly at the eyes of the victims.
Venom squirted by a cobra will not harm a human unless it gets into his eyes. It can cause severe irritation and even blindness if not washed out immediately. A cobra bite, however, is very dangerous and can cause death within a few hours.
Cobras are not as dangerous as generally believed because of the way they attack. They prepare for battle by lifting up the front of the body without curving it like the letter S. An opponent can well judge how far a forward jab will reach.
The cobra moves slowly compared with most snakes. A person can easily knock down a rearing cobra by swinging a level stick.
A cobra's fangs do not deliver the poison nearly so well as the viper's. The cobra's are shorter and cannot be folded back. But cobras often chew an object after they have seized it and this helps inject the poison.
Snake charmers and jugglers of India often use the cobra as part of their acts. They select the cobra because of its most unusual hood and its very nervous disposition.
The snake charmers of India actually pretend to charm their snakes with music. But snakes are deaf and when they are being "charmed," they are only holding themselves on guard. The cobras would do this same thing without music.
A cobra's venom has an enzyme called lecithinase that can dissolve the cell walls and membranes of viruses. For this reason, it has been used for years in medical research.