The Cobra
The Cobra is feared for its
deadly bite in Sri Lanka but there is also respect for this reptile. My first
encounter of this respect was when I was in Kandy in the early 1970s. An adult
Cobra came near an outdoor water outlet in the courtyard of the house where I
was residing. It was a hot day and the cobra might have come looking for water
to quench its thirst. The lady of the house went close to the cobra and
addressed it as ‘Nai Hamine’ – Lady Cobra – ‘there are children residing in
this house. Please go away’. The Cobra slid away. The second incident was when
I was in Rathnapura in the 1980s. I had arrived at my bungalow situated on a
hillock, riding my Honda C90 motorbike. I switched off the engine in the porch
of the house and put down my feet to push the stand of the bike when I heard a
hissing sound. I thought that there was a puncture in the rear tyre and the
sound was of air leaking out of it. When I looked down there was a Cobra with
its hood raised and it was hissing. I called out to my wife, who came out promptly
and literally addressed the Cobra, requesting it to go away. It quietly slid
away. The video that I have posted was of a young cobra captured inside a
bottle from inside a house close to our residence. The person who caught it had
thoughtfully put a hole in the plastic lid of the bottle so that the cobra
could breath fresh air. When I asked him what he was going to do with the Cobra
he told me, that he was planning to release it as early as possible in a nearby
forest. There was absolutely no intention of harming the poisonous reptile. A viper
is vicious and will attack aggressively. A cobra will slide out of the way
unless surprised. That is why a Cobra is
called ‘Nalla paambu – Good snake’, in Thamil.
https://youtu.be/-9odtNfmIWM
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