Slowly and calmly edge away from these 10 interesting, fun facts about the boss of all snakes, The King Cobra! Living in dense forests of South East Asia this royal reptile is the national animal of India and one of the worlds most deadly creatures. Are you ready for some deadly interesting fun facts? Then read on…

1. King Cobra venom is a type of neurotoxin!

This neurotoxin is a substance that can damage or destroy the functioning of your nervous system. In humans, the toxin eventually works to paralyse the workings of the heart and lungs very quickly after it’s deadly bite!

2. Did we mention King Cobra’s are deadly?

We did? Well, we’re mentioning it again becasue it’s quite important! A King Cobra bite can kill a human in 15 minutes! If you get bitten by a King Cobra first you experience severe pain followed by blurred vision, drowsiness and paralysis. Eventually your heart and lungs stop working and you die. To survive you need to get hold of an antivenom QUICKLY. The bad news: King Cobra antivenom is not widely produced and very hard to get hold of! The Good News: Humans are unlikely to get bitten. In India, the King Cobra’s natural habitat, there has only ever been 4 recorded deaths from King Cobra bites!

3. King Cobra’s can slide along at 12 mph!

More good news for us: This is not quite as fast as a human running as quickly as possible away from a snake! More bad news for other snakes: This is pretty fast compared to other smaller snakes like the unfortunate Rat Snake!

4. King Cobra’s only eat snakes!

Do your grown ups think you’re a fussy eater? Next time they’re moaning that you won’t eat your Brussel Sprouts, try reminding them they should be grateful that you’re not a King Cobra. Not only would it be much more dangerous giving you breakfast in the morning, you would insist on only eating snakes! It’s also another reason why King Cobra’s are known as the King of Snakes! In case one comes to tea, Rat Snakes are their preferred option from the menu!

5. King Cobra’s are also Cannibals!

Field researchers have witnessed King Cobra’s eating each other, sometimes even after mating! Cannibalism in venomous snakes is quite common and it is believed that some snakes can not tell themselves apart from similar looking snakes from other species. So maybe it’s accidental cannibalism? We’re not sure if that makes it better or not!

6. The King Cobra is the longest venomous snake!

One of the reason’s that this scary snake is know as the “King” is, whilst still being considerable shorter than many constricting snakes like Pythons and Anacondas, it is still longer than all other venomous snakes!

7. Female Cobras make nests!

Female Cobras are the only snakes that make nests! It uses dry leaf litter and usually builds them around the base of a tree. They can be up to half a metre in height! Not to be confused with Easter Bunny nests or a pile of leaves that you can play in!

8. King Cobra’s worst nightmare is the Mongoose!

Rudyard Kipling wrote about Cobra’s fighting Mongoose called Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in the Jungle Book (Although this part never made the Disney film). Indian Grey Mongooses are the most deadly predator of Cobra’s due to their incredibly fast reflexes and their sharp teeth that they use to bite the snakes neck!

9. The King Cobra’s 'Hoods' were once ribs!

Snakes are pretty awesome creatures and their skeletons are very flexible. When it feels threatened, the King Cobra can use the bones in it’s hood to make it’s head appear larger. These bones are believed to have evolved from the snake’s ribs! 

10. King Cobras growl!

King Cobra’s don’t have much interest in attacking humans as they are too big to eat. However, they will defend themselves! As well as their hood, their venom and their camouflage, they can also let out a hiss that apparently sounds like a dog growling!