Yesterday I mentioned the show I went to with the Grandkids and wives who were being treated to a Mothers day special. Below… Grandson and the Bulldog…
Apart from the snakes (which Linda would not watch, she won’t even look at a comic book snake) we had Nianell entertaining us… before this she was not a favourite of mine, her sister Riana Nel is, but after listening to her, I am a fan… boy has she got a good set of pipes on her (talking about her voice), is it possible to have two such magnificent voices in one family.???
But this post is about a snouted Cobra….
Snouted cobras inhabit arid and moist savannah, particularly in bushveld and lowveld areas. As a large cobra, it often has a permanent home base or lair in an abandoned termite mound, where it will reside for years if left undisturbed.
It is a nocturnal species, foraging for food from dusk onwards. It enjoys basking in the sun during the day near its lair or retreat. This species can be quite nervous and will strike to defend itself if threatened.
Like other cobras, when disturbed, it usually raises the front-third of its body when extending its hood and hissing. The hood raising is actually a request for you to leave and let it slip off quietly, although threatening in nature, it would rather escape from you than confront you.
Most of the time it has either seen or felt you coming and escaped down its hole, but if surprised it will ask you nicely to step back, the hissing sound you hear is it actually asking you to leave it alone and it will rush off… (I know and understand snake language, the snake whisper taught me)
Love the photo above… means its going away from me…
Quite the beauty… by the way most snake language as interpreted by me is “Get the hell out of here or I’ll bite you” they don’t have a big vocabulary…
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 
Gorgeous photos even if I’m not a fan of poisonous snake.
Thanks Maralee…
I always listen to the snake….see ya 🙂
Bye………
Great photos, another beautiful snake. Hector and I saw a presentation that said that most snake bites occur in people meeting these four criteria 1. Male 2. Young 3. Intoxicated 4. Wanting to interact with the animal. I definitely believe in steering clear of these creatures.
Thank you for this comment, yes I can go with this criteria.. intoxication and snakes will never go together… one slows down and the other seems to speed up… one gets braver the other gets cross.. and the result will be? a bite…
AS far as snakes go, the last words are the only words I need to know. And I am with Laurie here – what are you doing taking pictures anyway? 🙂
They are all a part of my life… I can cross paths with them at anytime, it is not only birds or animals that I might see when visiting my normal spots… I am probably more scared of spiders, yet I take their photos as well… All of Africa’s predators can be as deadly, if not more so than the snakes and I cross paths with them on a more regular basis and photo them as well… does that explain why I take photos of these when I get the chance…??
Then apparently I speak fluent snake too and didn’t even know it. My first – and only – reaction is ANY snake is to beat a hasty retreat. I’m glad snakes and I are on the same wavelength when it comes to encounters accidental or otherwise 🙂
By the way – your photos captured quite the handsome lad. Even I can appreciate it from afar!
Thanks Joanne… most of us understand a threaten language with out thinking about it… and here people thought I was clever.. see you understand the language too now both of us are clever…
that’s the only possible explanation 🙂
I’m with Linda on this one!
A seasoned traveler like you, I can’t believe it…
Interesting… I just saw a snake yesterday on a walk.; it was in the middle of the street playing dead. Almost fooled me too until I realized that it was playing dead, so I got a large stick and pushed it — sure enough it slithered away.
Thanks Genie. .. we have a few non poisonous snakes that use that tactic just so they hope you walk away and leave them be… thanks for the comment… very favorable…
Such a powerful looking reptile! Really, I’m in awe of this scary snake…look at that intense eye!!!
It has a good look of strength about it and sure does not look as though it is inviting you to join it, but to me the cobras are one of my favourites, specially with an extended hood…
The Black Mamba was bad enough but a Cobra? I’m terrified of them too…ever since I read Riki Tiki Tavi… still, amazing photos as always Bulldog.. 😉
No… at least these guys stand still when their heads are up and the hood is open, much easier to judge what they’re up to… the mamba raised as much as a 1/3 of the body and charges along at top speed… the cobra is a great subject to photo with an extended hood in full stretch…
That’s a good point…but both still really scare me. You are much braver than me 😉
Snakes are very beautiful and really shy. That’s the problem, you come up on them suddenly – then everyone gets excited. Enjoyed your photos as always
Thank you so much… sounds as though you know about snakes…
the important thing is to not take your eyes off of them…so you don’t end up running the same way they do!
Snakes are fascinating, preferably from a distance. Once found a nest of adders in a works depot that had to be left alone until the nest was vacated. They were a lot smaller than your Cobra but I wasn’t venturing too close.
They could have made an interesting photo shoot…
Good looking dudes relaxing on the grass.
No, I will run away from that Cobra, it has a mean look. Although we have encountered some snakes in our hikes, they seem to be afraid of us and scuttle away.
Thank you.. what has happened to you on the walks is exactly what happens most times in nature… the poor thing wants to escape not fight…
And I thought our rattlers were scary! I too love that photo of the cobra heading the other direction.
I would probably be more frightened of you rattlers than these, these tend to show themselves, rattlers, from my understanding, just give a noisy rattler and remain half hidden… and like Terry I would probably only hear them when almost on top of them…
I don’t know Bulldog. Seeing a cobra raised up with a puffed head sounds pretty frightening to me.
It is more beautiful than frightening, the colour patterns and the scare tactics they employ are a joy to watch… at least one can see them… I’ve been known to move about just to keep it in the hooded position, just so I can watch…
You are a crazy man Bulldog! 🙂
Snakes for a ‘Mothers’ Day Special’ sounds rather incongruous to me, as so many women are quite squeamish about them . Great photos and info, bulldog. I bet Linda isn’t reading your snake posts. 😀
AD you are so right… I could be communicating with a mistress here quite safely, she wont come near these posts… I also found it strange when I heard there was to be a snake show at a Mothers day celebration, I knew about Nianell and the other singers but this was a total surprise… held in the best of settings too, the Nelspruit Botanical Gardens a brilliant place to visit…
It sounds like a wonderful occasion, and I would have enjoyed every minute. 🙂
I do like your pictures but I do not like snakes either…. understand Linda! 🙂
Thanks for the comment Ute… I’ve been trying to turn Linda around for 40 years, still trying…
The last two photos are particularly gorgeous! I like snakes, but my husband has the phobia. Now when I say I like them, that means I admire their beauty and find them fascinating. I do not want to meet a snouted cobra unless he’s behind glass. They’re fabulous creatures, though!
Thanks Debra… I must admit I do prefer them behind glass, but as a youngster my father taught me how to catch, handle and relocate snakes that we came across in place unexpected, rather than to kill them… and this I’ve continued to do all my life except for the mambas that I allow them to relocate me to as far away as possible till someone else moves them… and with Puff Adders, a few of which I’ve killed for frightening the life out of me…
He wouldn’t have to ask me twice. Probably not even once.
Russ
Standing at a full 1/3 height with a fully opened hood it is a magnificent snake to see, just don’t get within the 1/3 distance from it… allow it to settle and it is quite easy to capture and relocate… just make sure you have a good grip of the head, or the blunt end as we like to say… the blunt end becomes the sharp end in the blink of an eye…
Geez, I hope you were using a zoom lens!
(And thanks for sharing your Mother’s Day pic of you and your grandson. Great shot of good times!)
I was not standing on top of the snake handler, I don’t know him and assumed he was a good handler, but I do like a bit of a head start when you need to make a run for it… lolol… no I let those that wanted to have the ringside seats I used the zoom…
I have always heard that you should make no move. You’re saying it’s asking for you to leave. Do you mean back away slowly or??
Diana xo
If you walk into a cobra the chances are that he is already standing hooded having heard you coming… then yes you back away, as it does not see you as food it would rather have you leave and the chances are it will leave in the opposite direction to what you went… the spitting type of cobra might even spit at you to encourage you to move off… but the hissing is a warning sign, they are not that keen on an encounter… take the American rattler, he rattles his tail to tell you of his presence and is asking you to leave, he is not after a fight just wants to be left alone… so if one respects that they are trying to get away and maybe even cornered, yes back away and let it go its own way… the strike and bite is only when you don’t heed the request… I’ve been bitten by a night adder (a dry bite) he was only about a foot long and I never even saw him, but I’m sure he was telling me to go.. he died for biting the bulldog… but can you imagine it from his point of view… a 6 ft, 2 inch 250 lb human almost standing on him, I could not be considered food and he probably had been striking repeatedly to tell me he’s there, I must have frightened the hell out of him…
Thanks for all that info bulldog, now I know should I ever run into a cobra or rattle snake. Yes from their perspective, humans must be scary creatures…
“like’ is a strange word to use when describing this post, Rob. When I saw your first picture I jumped away from the computer so fast that you’d think the creature was in the room with me.
That first picture of the two mafia hit-men would frighten the hell out of me as well Ronnie so don’t feel bad…
Snakes tend to fascinate & scare me at the same time…
They are a fascinating things if they would only allow you to study them in their natural habitats… scary, yes, but that is because of the hype that has been built up around them… some are no more dangerous than a lizard, but this does not excuse them of being killed… a lizard without legs that is living off the cockroaches that infest some houses is better than not having the snake..
Yes – will take a roach eating snake over roach infestations any time.
Wow! I love the shots of the snake, but it was even better seeing you and your grandson! Thank you for sharing, Bulldog. Loved this post!
Yep the mafia hit-men sitting quietly in the shade… thank you Skye, he is a big lad and one of my favourites, feel safe having him around…
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Rob – that’s a great picture of you and your grandson!
One day I might get a close-up picture of a snake (only behind glass!) 😀
Thanks Dianne, take the picture, but please stop kicking them, some strike faster than you can kick… and we are told Aussie women are chrome plated but snake fangs penetrate that plating…
LOL – yes, I do wear a suit of armour sometimes 😀
I have to admit snakes scare me, although one time I had a king snake around my neck as a kid. Wish I knew where that photo was. Thanks for the shots!
Thanks Laura.. as a kid you weren’t frightened why now? The misconceptions that we accept as we get older make us scared of them… look at them as Lizards without legs and treat them with respect and they’ll leave you alone…
Probably because the ones around me now are rattlesnakes…so I get nervous when I see a snake.
Bulldog and grandbulldog 🙂 Great shot of the snake going away…the further the better! I’ve held a small garden snake and had a big boa constrictor that was part of a magicians act on my shoulders (what the hell was I thinking????) but that has been and probably will be it!
You weren’t scared then, why now? They’re probably damn scared of you, more scared of you than you of them…
The garden snake was when I was a fearless kid and the boa was on a cruise ship with the handler right there and I was going for fearless points with the crowd. Not so bold about snakes now…
That snake is precious. Great shots.
Thanks Cee… a good looking snake…
Pretty snake. I think I prefer him to the rinkhals with that nasty eye-spitting habit! I had one of those trap me as a kid – between me and the only exit from a shed. Fun.
Thanks Col, yes the rinkhals is not one of my favourites either, that terrible habit of his to spit, like the Mozambique spitting cobra which had a spitting contest with me on the golf course… as for the myth of using milk to clean the eye if its successful ..
seriously….I would be running the other way…not taking images. LOL! Good job with your bravery.
Thank you.. nothing to be scared of unless your name is mamba and you are not being held by an experienced handler…