Jules Galante recently came across a Northern king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) in the field, and she called it a “dream come true.” King cobras are the longest venomous snakes in the world, but Galante clarifies that they’re not true cobras (true cobras are part of the Naja genus), even though they have a similar threat display to true cobras. But the most surprising thing about Galante’s social-media post sharing her encounter is the part where the snake growls.
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“Unlike other snakes, king cobras are known to ‘growl’ instead of hiss due to the low frequency of the noise emitted,” Galante wrote in her Instagram post. “King cobras are apex predators and will mainly feed on other snake species. After envenomating their prey, king cobras will swallow them whole. [. . .] They cause almost zero snake bite deaths per year and will typically avoid interaction with humans.”
Turn your sound up to hear a king cobra snake growl:
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