They are the longest venomous snakes in the world. It’s a shy creature until provoked. They are the national reptile of India and is native to forests from India through Southeast Asia. King cobras prey on snakes and lizards.
Some facts about snakes:
- Identification of poisonous snakes– A snake can be identified as poisonous by noticing certain features such as nature of the tail, nature of ventral scales, nature of head scales, type of teeth, . bite mark, body color and shape of the head.
- Poison Apparatus– The venomous snakes have a poison apparatus in their head which consists of a set of venom glands or ducts and a set of fangs.
- Biting Mechanism– The skull and jaw bones in poisonous snakes are loosely hinged which allows the snakes to swallow a whole prey. The four phases when a poisonous snake bites are-the strike, opening of the mouth and elevation of the fangs, closing of the jaws and injection of the venom and the retraction of the fangs.
- Snake venom– Snake venoms are of 3 types Haemo-toxic, Cytotoxic and Neurotoxic. It is a clear, transparent, lemon yellow fluid.
- First Aid– First step is to keep the person calm and not let the venom spread by tying a cloth just above the bite. Giving the person an alcoholic or caffeinated drink or any other medication is the primary first-aid.
By: Roshni Manoj Kumar