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Intelligence in King Cobras
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by asud on July 15, 2009
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It's often stated that King Cobras are the most intelligent of the snakes. Anyone here mind sharing their own personal experiences of, justifications for or dissents from this observation?
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by Phobos on July 15, 2009
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Watch this video and see for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0DP8qBzngI
Al
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by asud on July 22, 2009
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it's fantastic looking in that king's eyes and sensing something's there, some sort of curiosity, discrimination or problem solving faculty...
unfortunately, i'm traveling and don't have access to a computer with working speakers (so can't hear the corresponding commentary). ack.
so many people on this site who work with their snakes in educational settings, etc. list kings as their favorite to 'work with.' i'd love to hear in folks' own words/experiences/anecdotes what precisely it is about them...
(and thank you for the video. talk about close up!)
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by Aries54 on July 23, 2009
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A few years back, I kept an adult male king. And yea, it was by far the most intelligent snake (or any cold blooded creature for that matter) that I've ever been around. It's kinda hard to explain though-I always thought that he recognized me as the hand that fed him because he was always calmer around me(after having him for a while) than anyone else. The best thing about kings, is watching them as they try to figure something out. Such as how they're going to strike. Most snakes just react. Not kings,..........they think it through,....watch you,...and wait for you to slip up, then they attack. It's so awesome. I've been lucky enough over the years to work with 5 of these creatures, and in each instance, each one is different-just like people.
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by LarryDFishel on July 23, 2009
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Alright, I'll be the voice of dissent...
"looking in that king's eyes and sensing something's there, some sort of curiosity"
What you're seeing is not in his eyes, it's in yours. The snake has, essentially, a fixed expression that probably evolved for some specific purpose (maybe for intimidating predators). He would look the same if you removed his brain.
"I always thought that he recognized me as the hand that fed him because he was always calmer around me"
I can't swear that this is not true, but my experience suggests again that it probably has more to do with you than him. Kings react to the way you move and the more confident you are the less you will be showing signs of hesitancy that will embolden him. He's mostly acting the same way he would in combat with another king.
That's different from many other snakes but I think that has more to do with them evolving territorial behaviors than some sort of insight into your thoughts.
Kings stand upright, have round pupils and what looks like a "brow ridge", and move to face in your direction when you move. All these things make them look more "human" to us and of course, in our arrogance, we judge the intelligence of animals largely by how human they look.
People see a king staring at them and think it's sizing them up, planning it's next move. I see them looking at their own shadow or reflection in the glass the same way. I can usually distract one with the handle of a snake hook and it will completely forget I'm there as far as I can tell.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think most non-snake people don't give snakes in general enough credit for intelligence. I just think most of the differences we see are a matter of human perception, not snake intelligence.
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by asud on July 27, 2009
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'What you're seeing is not in his eyes, it's in yours.' I appreciate the dissent here. I don't imagine this'll ever really be a settled issue, but I can see how anthropomorphism may've slipped in, especially with visibly, demonstrably active, often upright kings (and not so with, say, a more sedentary, 'expressionless' snake).
By the way, anyone know where the Hamadryad moniker comes from? Why does an ancient Greek term for tree nymph get applied to a snake that lives thousands of miles away from there (and isn't even particularly bound to trees per se)?
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by LarryDFishel on July 27, 2009
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I can only answer a small part of that question, which is that in spite of scientific names often being referred to as "Latin names", most snake names seem to be Greek (with Latin spelling) rather than Latin. I don't know offhand whether there is a specific reason for that.
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by Kingetula on September 7, 2009
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Cool snake however picky damn eater! I have seen some that don't even eat rat snakes or pinkies when born and need to be pinky pumped! Letting yourself starve to death because you don't like the menu isn't very smart.
Just my 2 cents and sarcasm at the frustration!
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by lanceheads on September 7, 2009
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I'll chime in here.
The late John Werler (longtime Director of the Houston Zoo and supervisor of herps at San Antonio Zoo) once told me the most intelligent snake, was the coachwhip and Black snake. Ditmars also stated the Black snake (Coluber constrictor) was the most intelligent snake also.
Mr. Werler, one day demostrated how smart Coachwhips were, we had one on display at the Ellen Trout Zoo (where I worked back in the late eighties)he told me to take it out of it's exhibit, and that he would show me how smart they were. Laughing and doubting him at the same time, I removed the snake and put it on the floor. Well, as you guessed, the snake bolted! LOL! I quickly caught it and he took it from me and placed his cupped hands on it to calm him down. Well the snake calmed down and he lifted it's head about a foot or so off the ground and told the snake to stay!
I'll be damned, that snake didn't move for 10 min.! As we walked around and tried to distract it, the snake NEVER moved! It was like in a trance! I couldn't believe it! I don't know if that's intelligence or not, but the snake stayed put in that postion until he tapped it on the head, and the snake bolted again!
Pretty neat demostration, if I may say so!
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RE: Intelligence in King Cobras
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by Rob_Carmichael on September 7, 2009
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It's difficult to place "intelligence" on a serpent, however, I will say that what they are wired to do, they do exceptionally well. Having worked with a number of kings, and one very special one in particular, all I can say is that it is truly a privelege to work with such magnificent animals. They build their own nests, show behaviors that are quite extraordinary, are the world's longest venomous snake and yet we still know so little about them. To me, they behave in ways that are admittedly a bit anthropomorphisticly (if that's even a word!)intelligent and I think they do show a higher degree of "intelligence" compared to other serpents but that's only based on daily observations working with them and many other species. I also see some of the same behaviors in coachwhips, racers, indigos, etc...maybe with sighthunters there's just something that appears to be more intelligent than sit and waid predators, etc. I'm blabbering now!
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