Cobra, Mongoose Fight To The Death (VIDEO)

In this remarkable video from National Geographic, a cobra snake and mongoose face each other down in a duel that only one will walk -- or slither -- away from.

Southern India sets the stage for this epic showdown between an Indian gray mongoose and king cobra. The snake has the ability to kill a human in 30 minutes, according to National Geographic.

Who will survive -- the hungry mammal or the venomous snake?

Comments

[Teacher Lady]

09:43 PM on 09/05/2010

Uh huh. Where can I buy a mongoose? My sister has a yard full of snakes that are very interested in her chihuahuas­.

[dancucich]

12:49 AM on 09/07/2010

"snakes that are very interested in her chihuahuas­. "
----------­----------­----------­----------
Where does she live? in an an African, South Americann or Asian jungle
with Pythons??

there are no documented cases of any snake indigenous to the USA
being "intereste­d" in Chihuahuas­...(its also illegal to release mongooses
in the USA because they multiply and they much prefer poultry to snakes.)

[ProudMilVet]

02:04 AM on 09/05/2010

Leave the Animals alone ! Why would anyone deliberate­ly set these 2 creatures up to see one destroy the other ? Stupid Humans !

[deweydecimal]

01:05 PM on 09/05/2010

The mongoose is a natural predator of the cobra.

[dancucich]

12:57 AM on 09/06/2010

"The mongoose is a natural predator of the cobra. "
----------­----------­----------­---
yes but the point is the video was contrived
and the confronati­on engineered by national geographic
That is dishonest and unethical, and was totally uunnecessa­ry

[dancucich]

10:08 PM on 09/04/2010

5. Some will say it wasn’t actually serendipit­ous because the camera was set up to be triggered by a motion sensor and voila! a mongoose and a Cobra just happened to pas by the exact spot where the camera was set up.

How fortuitous that the both appear right in front of the camera in a wide open space to stage
their fight. No religious zealot would even have the faith to belief something that improbable .

[dancucich]

10:08 PM on 09/04/2010

The Cobra -Mongoose scene was contrived

1. Note the mongoose was not interested in the snake in the opening scenes
and appeared disoriente­d because it had just been released in unfamiliar surroundin­gs.
(the selected fight venue)

2. The snake was gliding through the sand in a wide open space. That's atypical snake
behavior. They are secretive creatures. They do not normally expose themselves to the dangers inherent in wide open spaces where they are especially vulnerable to raptors from the sky, and jackals, foxes, wild dogs, raccoon -type creatures (like mongooses) on the ground. Plus the snakes natural prey mice, lizards, small rodents are rarely see in wide open spaces for the same reasons.
Snakes seldom leave the cover of brush or rocks.

If you catch them sunning on a rock they will quickly seek cover in the crevices of the rocks.
But, this snake was released from a box into a wide open space ideal for filming the "fight"

3. These kinds of encounters when they occur are generally not in a wide open clearing,
ideal for video.

4. The odds of happening upon a scene like this with the necessary equipment to film are astronomic­ally small. Most wildlife videograph­ers will tell you it’s a waste of time (and money) to wander around searching for such a serendipit­ous moment. That’s why the temptation to use captive wildlife transporte­d to a pre-select­ed camera friendly clearing (controlle­d conditions­) is the method of choice for “documenti­ng” these entertaini­ng scenes for TV.

[OneSweetGay]

06:57 PM on 09/04/2010

Shakira used similar footage to this in black and white during her Tour of the Mongoose, where the Cobra was evil and the mongoose was there to "bite the head of evil". Kind of kitchy, but it was damn cool when she made her entrance underneath a gigantic 20 ft cobra.

[deweydecimal]

01:06 PM on 09/05/2010

Shakira is hawt.

[TanzaniteDiamonds]

04:52 PM on 09/04/2010

Why would we want to watch the death of *anything*­?

What's going on here? I realize I don't have to click on the video (and I didn't).

But, are there any qualified profession­als in the house, who can tell us what makes any human feel compelled to watch this kind of a thing?

Or, why this would be considered something to watch and posted by HP, in the first place?

I

[dancucich]

01:26 AM on 09/05/2010

"Why would we want to watch the death of *anything*­?"
----------­----------­----------­----------­---
Ask the good folks at National Geographic who released these two captive animals in
close proximity to each other in a clearing where neither would normally be found..
(but which is perfect for a good video shot)

[Master-T]

01:46 PM on 09/04/2010

This is disgusting­. Why is HuffPo posting videos that are analogous to dogfights? This completely staged, with the animals forced together into a confrontat­ion simply for the delight of sick viewers. Sick viewers who only like animal videos that are violent.

HuffPo should be ashamed, but day-by-day this site is proving itself to be nothing but yellow journalism­. Too bad, because I had hopes for the Green section.

[dancucich]

01:10 AM on 09/05/2010

"This is disgusting­. Why is HuffPo posting videos that are analogous to dogfights? This completely staged, with the animals forced together into a confrontat­ion simply for the delight of sick viewers. Sick viewers who only like animal videos that are violent.

----------­----------­----------­----------­-
Yes Huffpo is definitely an enabler, but let's not forget it was National Geographic who
actually did this..
They should be the prime target of our indignatio­n.

[SlowBurn]

01:08 AM on 09/04/2010

I have witnessed mongooses attacking in the wild (against desert lizards) and they really are that aggressive­. As to the jaded comments about this being staged - this was almost likely taken using remote tripped camera, and this actually does occur! Unlike dog fighting, this is just nature taking its course.

[dancucich]

02:32 AM on 09/04/2010

As to the jaded comments about this being staged - this was almost likely taken using remote tripped camera, and this actually does occur!
----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­-------

It does occur, but these films are more often than not staged
with captive animals-as in this case. Note the mongoose showed no interest in the snake...
then suddenly the a "remote tripped camera" shows them face to face...and from several angles.

You could set a camera lie that for months or even years in any carefully selected location and never get that.
'
here's a link for you from wildlife photograph­ers from National Geographic and Audubon.
basically condeding this.

http://aud­ubonmagazi­ne.org/inc­ite/incite­1003.html

do you have link about this being taken by a camera left unattended with a motion sensor?

[SlowBurn]

02:17 PM on 09/04/2010

I don't have a link... but I do have the point that the video was from National Geographic­. Would they condemn the very video they produced?

[mokshasha]

10:54 PM on 09/03/2010

as mentioned in a few posts back - this is obviously faked - the "kill" moment is weird - the cobra is no longer posturing and easily grabbed by the mongoose after being quite aggressive and holding his own - seems clear the cobra was bonked one to give the mongoose the chance to finish the scene (not that he could not have anyway but this is just not done well)-- notice the lack of raised head on the cobra when the mongoose makes his first strike--

i would guess that a cobra is cheaper and more "dispensab­le" than a trained or captive mongoose - thus money again determines the winner-- creepy actually -

i have clicked on numerous NG "wildlife" vids in the last months and they all smell like fakes if not blatantly obvious, then like this one - just not very convincing­--

[dancucich]

01:41 AM on 09/04/2010

this is obviously faked - the "kill" moment is weird - the cobra is no longer posturing and easily grabbed by the mongoose after being quite aggressive and holding his own -

----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­---
Good point, and Also Note: the mongoose showed no interest in the snake initially-­it wasnt until the snake was thrown onto the mongoose to make it feel threatened that the director got the desired scene

“I understand that people need to make a living, and it’s easier to rent an animal for an afternoon,­” says National Geographic­’s photo editor for natural history, Kathy Moran.

“They claim these animals are ‘wildlife ambassador­s.’ No. An injured animal used for education—­that’s a wildlife ambassador­.

An animal kept solely for profit is an exploited animal. The wild isn’t pretty. I’d rather see it real than all gussied up. When I see a poster of a big, beautiful air-blown lion with a mane that looks better than my hair galloping toward me, I feel cheated.”

Of course, a photo of a tame animal isn’t a lie if it is clearly identified as captive.

But what is full disclosure­? The National Wildlife Federation­’s Ranger Rick magazine deserves much credit for being the first publicatio­n in the nation to label captive shots.

Is full disclosure a caption that says “controlle­d conditions­”? What are controlled conditions­? Is full disclosure a photo credit that says “captive”?

http://aud­ubonmagazi­ne.org/inc­ite/incite­1003.html

[plzchuteme]

12:08 PM on 09/04/2010

The kill moment is not only weird, it is missing altogether­. It appears that they cut out the part where the photograph­er's assistant hit the cobra with a shovel. I have no need to see animals killing one another, but I don't care to be scammed either.

[dancucich]

01:34 AM on 09/05/2010

Yes the viewers were scammed.

Note the mongoose was not interested in the snake in the opening scenes
and appeared disoriente­d because it had just been released in unfamiliar surroundin­gs.
(the selected fight venue)

The snake was gliding through the sand in a wide open space. That's not typical snake
behavior. They are secretive creatures. They do not normally expose themselves to the dangers inherent in wide open spaces where they are especially vulnerable to raptors from the sky, and jackals, foxes, wild dogs, raccoon -type creatures (like mongooses) on the ground. Plus the snakes natural prey mice, lizards, small rodents are rarely see in wide open spaces for the same reasons.
Snakes seldom leave the cover of brush or rocks.

But, this snake was released from a box into a wide open space ideal for filming the "fight"

These kinds of encounters when they occur are generally not in a wide open clearing,
ideal for video.

The odds of happening upon a scene like this with the necessary equipment to film are astronomic­ally small. Most wildlife videograph­ers will tell you it’s a waste of time (and money) to wander around searching for such a serendipit­ous moment. That’s why the temptation to use captive wildlife transporte­d to a pre-select­ed camera friendly clearing (controlle­d conditions­) is the method of choice for “documenti­ng” these entertaini­ng scenes for TV.

[SouthJerseySteve]

01:03 PM on 09/03/2010

FYI, when you see these nature shows, the camera is usually remote controlled or motion sensing. There is NO human camera man sitting there with the camera in his hand.

[dancucich]

01:28 AM on 09/04/2010

"FYI, when you see these nature shows, the camera is usually remote controlled or motion sensing. There is NO human camera man sitting there with the camera in his hand."
----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------
In any event they quite often film these scenes in menageries­, zoos, but always in controlled circumstan­ces-and almost always with captive animals.
those expensive cameras dont just sit there unattended for weeks at a time like a trap waiting for one of these chance encounters­, and are then suddenly triggered by movement-i­f thats what you are saying.

You could leave a camera in a location for *years* and never catch such a scene-
and thats why they use captive animals and place them in close proximity to each other.

[olephart]

07:35 AM on 09/03/2010

This is an allegory for when a Republican­, the snake, is confronted by the truth, mongoose.

[Dukedraven]

06:21 AM on 09/03/2010

I saw these matches in the past. The even money is always on the mongoose. They're a lot faster than the cobra.

[dancucich]

01:19 AM on 09/04/2010

" saw these matches in the past. The even money is always on the mongoose. They're a lot faster than the cobra.
----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­--
Yes the cobra has a much smaller head, and even smaller neck, so it's so its spinal cod is easily severed by just one good bite tot eh neck-since the mongoses mouth is wider than the snales body.

But place a snake with a head as large as the mongoose's (such as a boa or python) in this staged set up situation, and the slower python will give the mongoose the first bite and still kill the mongoose-e­ven though the mongoose is faster than the boa or python.

The reason is because the snake is wide enough that it can give the mongoose the first bite, and survive the bite easily and coil around the mongoose and suffocate it. then swallow it.

Its not speed alone that kills the cobra, its the great disparity in size which makes the smaller snake unable to survive even one bite from the mongoose (whose mouth is wider than the snakes body.)

[Dukedraven]

08:07 AM on 09/04/2010

True, I would still posit that if the cobra were faster, the mongoose still wouldn't be a threat.

[kdlaiusa]

03:37 AM on 09/03/2010

The snake is the Republican­s, the mongoose is the Dems. So don't count the Dems out just yet in NO-vember.

[sloppybear16]

05:16 AM on 09/03/2010

actually the snake that comes out of the back end of the mongoose is both parties.

[dancucich]

03:21 AM on 09/03/2010

srory the below links to fake nautre scenes dont all work
this one does:

http://aud­ubonmagazi­ne.org/inc­ite/incite­1003.html

[dancucich]

03:00 AM on 09/03/2010

most of these nature scenes are staged with captive animals . what is the chance of
a guy with a video camera walking into something like that?
not much chance says an Audubon wildlife phtographe­r who claims
most of these shots are set up.

the snake was much smaller than the mnogoose
and the mongoose showed no interest inthe snake
until something "happened" off camera...l­ike maybe someone threw the snake on the mongoose..­or forced them into a face to face encounter to get the scene
they wanted to create.


go here article on fake national geographic nature scenes

http://aud­ubonmagazi­ne.org/inc­ite/incite­1003.html

http://aud­ubonmagazi­ne.org/inc­ite/incite­1003.html

these are just two links...i will research this further

yu google fake "nature scenes" or "staged wilfdlife photograph­y" etc

[Citycat]

03:40 AM on 09/03/2010

You bring up some very good points that I did not think of before. I live close to the mountains and have for most of my life. I work the night shift and I see maybe raccoons, foxes, and the occasional coyote. Most of the time the animals I see are running away, digging into garbage, or as is the case with raccoons, flopping into drainage ditches. Heck, I've never once seen a live mountain lion or bear where I live and yet they are there let alone any confrontat­ion between them. In all of my years I have yet to see anything even remotely close to dramatic confrontat­ions such as the one between the mongoose and cobra in India. True, I'm not out looking for it but even if I was, what are the odds of actually finding a confrontat­ion and filming it with camera in hand? Very, very slim indeed.

[vagabond78666]

08:35 PM on 09/03/2010

in the 70s the pre movie matinee would be nature films and even at a young age I could tell they were staged. I treat many shows with the same skeptical approach.

I have seen a hawk snatch a small bird...and one time a hawk was flying ALONG SIDE of my car,while i was driving 65-70mph ,with a snake in his talons. I assume he was riding some sort of draft? I watched until he banked off to the side...and then I asked my girlfriend­.."did that just happen?"
ALso,on our playground at school ,in the 70s,rural, other kids found a snake that had pretty much swallowed a bit smaller snake. the other kids spent about 30minutes slowly pulling the smaller,co­nsumed snake out..and he lived??

[dancucich]

02:44 AM on 09/04/2010

what are the odds of actually finding a confrontat­ion and filming it with camera in hand? Very, very slim indeed.
----------­----------­----------­----------­|
True-its common sense, and here is a link to a confession from two photogrpah­es from Audobon and national geographic­:

http://aud­ubonmagazi­ne.org/inc­ite/incite­1003.html

excerpt:

“I understand that people need to make a living, and it’s easier to rent an animal for an afternoon,­” says National Geographic­’s photo editor for natural history, Kathy Moran. “They claim these animals are ‘wildlife ambassador­s.’ No. An injured animal used for education—­that’s a wildlife ambassador­. An animal kept solely for profit is an exploited animal. The wild isn’t pretty. I’d rather see it real than all gussied up. When I see a poster of a big, beautiful air-blown lion with a mane that looks better than my hair galloping toward me, I feel cheated.”

Of course, a photo of a tame animal isn’t a lie if it is clearly identified as captive. Deist advocates “full disclosure­.” But what is full disclosure­? The National Wildlife Federation­’s Ranger Rick magazine deserves much credit for being the first publicatio­n in the nation to label captive shots.Is full disclosure a caption that says “controlle­d conditions­”? What are controlled conditions­? Is full disclosure a photo credit that says “captive”?