An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

The other day I received a call from one of the local fire departments; they had another snake for me - a cobra this time. Few things make my day like cobras do, so I drove down to the station full of cheer, humming a corny show tune, and generally in love with the whole world. Arriving at the station, I found my expectations bizarrely surpassed by reality. The fire chief handed me the cage with the words "That ain't no local snake", and one look through the mesh confirmed his judgment. Instead of a chunky, black Chinese cobra (Naja atra) with block-shaped hood markings, I was looking at a slender, brown snake with an lyre-shaped design on the hood. Now, I'm no cobra expert by any stretch, but from everything I've seen in books and online, this thing looked to me like an Indian cobra (Naja naja). (Please correct me if I'm wrong!). The fire department had removed it from somebody's garden by the seaside and figured that it had been a captive animal which had either escaped or been set free.

Well, Chinese or Indian, cobras are always a reason for a party, so I loaded a few fellow ophidiomaniacs plus the kids in the van and drove into the mountains to find a relatively peaceful and cool spot for a photo/video session, the results of which you see here. After we were done, we gave the animal to a friend of ours. He has what I believe to be the largest collection of venomous snakes in Taiwan, and this critter will join the other 38 cobras in his care.

Addendum I: The video camera on the tongs is Mr. Onionsack's invention and allows him to get up close and personal with dangerous critters. You can do it at home, too: just wrap your camera's strap around the jaws the way it's shown in the photos. In the last two pictures showing the camera, the snake found the device too close and attacked it. Onionsack is going to show the footage here after he's done editing.

Addendum II: Can N. atra and N. naja cross-breed? I'm just wondering about the possible ramifications if the snake had stayed free to roam in the woods here....

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herpseeker1978
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by herpseeker1978 »

very nice Hans! Cobras are so awesome!

Josh
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ahockenberry
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by ahockenberry »

Very cool !
Thanks for sharing
dthor68
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by dthor68 »

Great photos! Where can we go to see the video?
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TravisK
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by TravisK »

Nice one.

Couple Questions:

How old are your Boys?

I really know next to nothing about cobras, but is it possible that that cobra is found naturally in your area and it's just not very common?
WW**
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by WW** »

Hi Hans,

That is a standard, if rather underfed-looking Naja atra, not a Naja naja nor a naja x atra hybrid. That particular hood marking is not all that rare in N. atra (at least not in many parts of the Chinese mainland - see http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/Taxa/Naja_atra.htm for a photo of a specimen from near Hong Kong), the body pattern is standard atra, as is the throat pattern, and all are quite different from N. naja, and it seems to have only 25 or *possibly* 27 scale rows around the hood, which, in combination with the very contrasting hood mark, excludes N. naja.

It may of course originate from a different part of Taiwan or perhaps even from mainland China (is there much trade in wildlife between you renegades and the PRC? ;) ), or just be a bit aberrant for your location, and hence unfamiliar-looking, but it is defintiely N. atra.

Love the video set-up - look forward to seeing the finished product!
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Steve Atkins
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Steve Atkins »

Awesome pics, again. What I would do to get that phone call from local fire dept :mrgreen:
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Thanks for the nice comments!

Thank you in particular, Wolfgang! I've seen a lot of pictures of Taiwanese Naja atra, but never one with hood marks like this, hence my enthusiastic, albeit quite amateurish, mis-identification.

My boys are nine and eleven, respectively.
is it possible that that cobra is found naturally in your area and it's just not very common?
What Wolfgang said... :D
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MattSullivan
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by MattSullivan »

nice photos :thumb: gorgeous snake!!!
onionsack
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by onionsack »

dthor68 wrote:Great photos! Where can we go to see the video?
Here is a link to some video of the snake. Truly a shame the tongs snapped in half before we could get much video of the animal but you certainly get an idea of the speed and ferocity of a Naja atra strike. :shock:
Paul White
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Paul White »

"That ain't no local snake
wait, when did you go from Taiwan to Texas in this adventure? :lol:
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Paul White wrote:
"That ain't no local snake
wait, when did you go from Taiwan to Texas in this adventure? :lol:
Close. That was a direct rendering of the guy's Taiwanese working class-accented Mandarin.
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by WW** »

Very cool indeed! You have just made me pack a set of tongs to take on my forthcoming AZ trip - I wasn't going to take them since I don't use them for catching rattlers, but I will now use them to get video footage!
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

WW** wrote:Very cool indeed! You have just made me pack a set of tongs to take on my forthcoming AZ trip - I wasn't going to take them since I don't use them for catching rattlers, but I will now use them to get video footage!
Looking forward to the footage!
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TNWJackson
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by TNWJackson »

Really cool photos and footage. I wish the wild cobras I've seen had sat so cooperatively for photos, they always seem to be far more preoccupied with escaping than with defensive displays.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Mr Jackson

what species did you find in the wild? To my extremely limited experience (four encounters), they all want to escape first.....only when they're tired, they sit down and hood up.
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TNWJackson
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by TNWJackson »

I've seen a few N. kaouthia, but most of my experience with wild cobras has been with N. sumatrana. I've never had them sit stationary (strikes not withstanding) and hood for that amount of time but you're right, once they realise they can't escape they do attempt to bluff (and spit in the case of N. sumatrana) their way out of trouble.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

I might have to get back to you for pointers about photographing N. sumatrana, as that's one of the two cobra species in Sarawak (the other being O. hannah). Photographing spitters must be exciting...even with my 70-300 mm zoom.
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TNWJackson
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by TNWJackson »

My primary tip would be "keep your mouth shut". I always wear goggles when dealing with spitters, but I once had a large N. sumatrana spit directly into my mouth - apparently it was trying to stem the flow of verbal diarrhea emanating from that orifice.

I've seen Ophiophagus too, but they're a different kettle of fish again. I have never had so much fun with snakes as I have "playing" with juvenile kings - the adults are a little scarier though!
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

TNWJackson wrote:My primary tip would be "keep your mouth shut". I always wear goggles when dealing with spitters, but I once had a large N. sumatrana spit directly into my mouth - apparently it was trying to stem the flow of verbal diarrhea emanating from that orifice.
:shock: :shock: :shock:
I have never had so much fun with snakes as I have "playing" with juvenile kings
How is that?
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kkchome
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by kkchome »

A fantastic report, Hans. I am a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to go herping with you and Mr. Onionsack during my visit to Taiwan last month. I will definitely try to get over before the end of the year and hopefully we can plan an outing up to Yangmingshan or Baling.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Thanks, kkchome, and welcome to the forum! Here's hoping you will regal us with lots of pix and stories from your herping adventures in Hong Kong, a place with an enormously varied herpetofauna that includes King cobras, pythons and all sorts of other fantastic goodies. (Yes, that's right - Hong Kong).

Hope to see you in Taiwan soon!
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Warren
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Warren »

ahhh found the avatar post :-)
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: An Indian Cobra in the Taiwanese Woods (Massive DUW!)

Post by Mike Pingleton »

Thanks for pulling this one up, Warren! Brilliant stuff. I'm gonna hafta try that tong-cam technique with a bushmaster sometime.

-Mike
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