35,000 Cobras

An Indian man says he has 35,000 cobras on his 3.5 acre snake farm. He collects nuisance snakes, and milks them for venom for a local college. (News source.)

Oddly, he claims to feed them prawns...

Snake Bites

An individual staying at the Sheraton Vistana Village resort in Orlando, FL, was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

And Thai police are scratching their heads over a strange cobra bite fatality...

More on NC Cobra Panic

A woman claims to have seen one of the alleged roaming cobras, but a search by a reptile group comes up empty. (News source.)

Cobras Loose in NC?

A flyer that states that two monocled cobras are loose in Onslow Co., NC, has local law enforcement on edge. There is speculation that the flyers are being posted by an animal-rights group that is trying to push a ban on exotic species in that state. (In which case, there may not be any loose cobras at all...) (News source.)

NC "Cobra" Sighting

A North Carolina man reported an 8-foot snake that reared up beside him while he was on an ATV in Cumberland County. A wildlife rehabber suggests it was a king cobra. Police are checking it out. Not enough of a description is given for me to determine whether or not the identification matches, but I'd say it's a bit iffy. (News source.)

Woman Helps Cobra

A woman in India found a wounded cobra, and treated it (antiseptic creams and feeding syringes of milk) despite neighbors requesting she put it back where she found it. (News source.)

Antivenom Rushed to Cobra Victim

More details have been published on the Bushnell, FL, case of a pet cobra bite. The victim is still unconscious, though. (News source.)

Snake Stories

A Chinese man was bitten by his pet cobra. Antivenom had to be flown from Shanghai to Beijing. (News source.)

While trying to flush out a snake from a shed, an Australian man accidentally shot and killed the woman helping him. (News source.)

Plastic Surgery for Cobra Victim

UK donations have paid for initial plastic surgery for a young boy who was disfigured when a cobra spat in his face. (News source.)

Cobra Fatality

A 70-year old woman in India died after being bitten by a cobra while sleeping in her bed. She woke, and was rushed to the hospital, but could not be revived after she slipped into a coma. (News source.)

Venom Smuggling

Bangladesh officers arrested four traders with 12 lbs of cobra venom. It appeared to have been smuggled into the area. The traders were trying to sell it locally. (News source.)

Snake in the Cashbox

Here is an interesting set of photos of a shop in Jeppinamogru, India, where the shopkeeper found a cobra in the cashbox. That caught the neighbors' interests...

Don't Try This At Home

Here's a profile on a snake enthusiast in India who apparently believes that drinking cobra venom means he's immune...

Malaysian Snake Charmer

Here's a brief profile on a 16-year old Malaysian snake charmer.

Snake Charmers

In India, snake charming is illegal (apparently a conservation measure). Generations have passed along this tradition, and the current tribe members (bedias) are trying to band together and get governmental notice, as they have no other means of sustaining themselves. (News source.)

You'd think this would be good test case for commercial snake farming, venom extraction facility, etc., wonder if something along that line would be feasible.

Murder by Cobra

A man in India was sentenced to life today for killing his 2nd wife (of whom his current 1st wife knew nothing about) with a cobra in the bed. The snake charmer who sold it to him, and suggested the plot, was also sentenced to life. (News source.)

British Columbia Cobra Bite

A Surrey, B.C., man was bitten by his pet cobra, and may lose a finger (or a hand). Hospital doesn't want to administer antivenom yet. (And, correctly refuses to give the home-made "antivenom" concoction a friend sent to the keeper.) (News source.)

New Giant Spitting Cobra

A new species of "giant" spitting cobra was described from Kenya. Naja ashei reaches almost nine feet in length. The late James Ashe, founder of the Bio-Ken snake farm, first caught the snake in the 1960s, and suggested it was a new species. (News source.)

Doberman vs Cobra

A pet Doberman managed to kill a seven-foot cobra that wandered into a home in Tamil Nadu, India. (News source.)

King Cobra Breeding Center Starts Up Again

A captive breeding program for king cobras in Mangalore, India, has restarted, though apparently with some opposition. (News source.)

Smuggled Reptiles

6 Bangledeshi nationals were arrested for possession (on the wrong side of the India border, it looks like) of 10 endangered reptiles: king cobras and elongated tortoises. (News source.)

Cobra Festival

Cobras are the primary attraction at the Hindu festival of Naga Panchami in Shirala, in the state of Maharashtra, India. (News source.)

Cobra Fatality

A Cambodian man (who had been drinking) captured a 6-foot cobra by improvising his trousers into a bag. He was bitten three times by the snake, and died. His last words: "Don't worry - it's nothing a drink can't fix." (News source.)

India Snake Wedding

A Hindu woman of the Vaishnav sect "married" a king cobra in a ceremony approved by local elders. The woman has left milk for the cobra on a regular basis, believing that it healed her. (News source.)

King Cobras in India

The first record of a king cobra nest (and subsequent hatching) from the Ramsar wetland site in the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary has been noted. (News source)

King Cobra Study Halted

India's Karnataka Forest Department has withdrawn permission for renowned herpetologist Romulus Whitaker to continue his study of king cobras in their natural habitat, apparently due to political maneuvering by a former employee with a grudge. No official charges have been made, but the innuendo encouraged animal rights-activist MP Maneka Gandhi to solicit an inquiry. Whitaker is well-known for having started a conservationist snake park and crocodile bank in Chennai. (News source.)