Show COBRA anad mongoose MONG 1 A DEADLY HATRED EXISTS BETWEEN THESE CREATURES the active quadruped in almost alwoyn the anrce aur buil lac tho it india not fear the cobra on tho very farst morning as tho tourist flops down in his long armchair on say the elevated veranda of the esplanade hotel bombay he will find the inevitable juggler appealing to him with uplifted cacs accompanied by his bag his basket and the other paraphernalia of hs craft and though the mango growing trick may be more mysterious the light between the cobra and the mongoose will bo more interesting the inborn mutual hatred between these creatures must be supposed to serve some purpose in the wise economy of nature and yet would look very strange did wo irot know that similar aversions exist between other more familiar creatures and for some rea son snot always apparent irrespective of the danger of it why does the mongoose attack the cobra A live mongoose Is said never to touch a dead cobra in the way of food and alie bristly carcass of a mongoose Is probably too tough for even the alon of his natural adversary we can only account for it therefore on the sanie principle that tho best bred game dogs will not touch the flesh of tho quarry that they are so fond of hunting T the active little mongoose is almost always the aggressor for the comparatively awkward cobra unless ho got him asleep would probably never think of attacking his more opponent and it is generally the mongoose that is victor an these encounters though the cobra rears his head expands his hood umbrella like to the utmost and hisses viciously bis dabs at the enemy seem misdirected and aimless for the wily mongoose suddenly becomes double bis natural size by the erection of his tough bristly coat in a way that seems quite to deceive even the wise serpent as to what may bo bristles and what nota it is only just to say for the cobra though that it his fangs were not extracted or the poison glands destroyed a successful chance peck would soon finish the mongoose in spite of bis activity the natural animosity is no doubt greatly toned down in the specimens possessed by the jugglers familiarity breeds tolerance if not contempt on both sides so that they must attack one another with less ferocity than in their natural wild condition and must often laughr in their sleeves when the farco Is over I 1 had the good or bad luck to come across many cabras cobras hero and there the most 0 which I 1 killed indeed there s little to fear from a cobra in the open jf you do sot attack him he Is not likely to attack you unless he takes it into his head that you are going to tread on the tail of his coat it Is a delusion a rearing himself can jump at the enemy this he Is quite unable to do for the motion of the head Is along the arc of of which abe froias tho head to the part of the serpent touching the ground i on one occasion during the war in upper burma when resting on a small tent bed of an eighty pound service tent I 1 saw a cobra walking into my parlor as the spider would eay to tho fly through the open door I 1 say walking advisedly because serpents do actually walk on the end of ribs instead of wriggling along after the fashion of worms the pre i anco of this snake naturally created quite a nasty feeling with such a narrow compass to move about in buethe snake did not get out alive there are such incredible stories invented about cabras cobras in india and so extravagant too that one hesitates to ones own more modest though truthful experiences as not quite thrilling enough to be placed on record my own most creepy sensation was at an up country station in india I 1 had newly arrived there from burma and was writing at nigh tUme on one of the usual kinds of writing desks with drawers on each side and an empty interval below and between the desk being as usual placed against one of the walla of the room I 1 was dressed moreover in thin hot weather clothing and therefore particularly vulnerable to the bites of snakes sly legs were in the empty space beneath the lid and in the inter aal yal between the drawers on cither side but what was it that I 1 suddenly observed creeping round from the end of the table to my right and going into the hollow almost lu touch with my right foot it was n vile cobra I 1 could not jump away on account of the position in which I 1 was placed 1 l at once realized that to move la any way would probably rolae the serpent immediately to rear and strike at any rate whether it was by calm calculation cu or that I 1 was too petrified with horror to move I 1 never did move a till to my intense relief the co bra got beyond my feet to the back of the hollow moved away with less grace than agility and shouted to my bearer boy ait tha ton of my voice for it la scarcely needful lo 10 tell that not even the common or garden boll rope has yot penetrated into the remote dofos of india not to speak of the electric press the antton variety Hin doos aa a rule are not fond of killing snakes or anything else for that matter indeed they look upon the obra as sacred purblind fashion especially at the yearly festival of nag or the aaa of snakes naga being the aln word for a bobra however one or two ot at this elroc my servants were who had no great regard either for cabras cobras or Hin doos and we soon hunted out the cobra and dispatched him forthwith even the venomous cobra can bo made a pet of minus it one la wise his fangs and poison glands and aa for the mongoose be is one of the most of wald boasts there bopre than one variety of this animal and abey vary in size according to their and geographical distribution the moat interesting pets I 1 bad of this kind was a mongoose that was from the ultan of label an bablan ra blan district some thirty miles from 1 f our outpost on aden when t was sta enthat very sultry locality I 1 thought this arabian variety was smaller than those I 1 had eleu in india some people doubt if can bo any recovery from the full bite of a grown cobra the poisonous bored fangs of this creature work on a kind of hango and are folded back on the roof of the mouth when the animal Is in repose but when the cobra prepares to strike the mere mechanism of the upper jaw in opening the mouth raises these folded fangs if the fangs then bit fhe victim straight I 1 fancy recovery must be very rare but there Is not al ways a full complement of poison in alie glands at the root of the fangs and every successive strike makes the quantity less for the time being again the dress may catch up the greater pori tion of tho virus before the skin Is reached and lastly the fangs may not strike straight and then they are aas lly doubled up on account of the joint spoken of so that in such instances the front or outer portion of the fangs may graze the skin with perhaps no poison at all I 1 remember n strange thing happening once regarding the alto of a snake in a certain part of a detachment tach ment was in search of a new site for n temporary cantonment in place of the one wo then had thull Chot lali on our first camping ground we were seated at dinner inside the mess tent when a sudden cry was raised that one of the camp denako almost immediately outside the tent the medical officer of the detachment with tho knife he was at the time holding in bis hand rushed out at once the wound was plain enough on tho mans bare leg he had been native fashion squatting on the ground and had been bitten on the outside fleshy portion of the leg a few inches above the ankle the major at once made a slash on each aide above and below the wound and cut a V shaped fid out of the poor mans leg within a few seconds of the cry being raised As we had only gone some dozen miles away from our previous headquarters and as the detachment was going on still farther tho man was sent in next morning in a to the hospital where he lay very for somo time but eventually recovered to a certain degree As it was nighttime and the other natives the snake unfortunately escaped in the dark so I 1 have always wondered whether it was a cobra and if the prompt excision saved the camp followers life considering that over thank of it human lives are lost in india from wild beasts a very great portion 0 which is from venomous snakes it Is at first surprising to see the almost complete immunity of europeans from snake bites in that country it must be borne in mind how over that there Is only a mere handful or so of europeans in india altogether as against the vast number of natives approaching the stupendous figures of the natives moreover grope roan tho jungles with bare feet and often bure else a condition of affairs that leaves them particularly exposed to the altes of snakes be this aar it may it 19 seldom one hears of a death from snake bite among the european portion of th e indian population chambers journal |