Slithering in the Indian rainforest,
a snake lurks in the shadows.
Its venomous bite
can take down humans with a single strike.
In one corner of the ring,
we have the king cobra.
And on the other side of the ring,
we have the cobra's bitter rival,
the mongoose.
It's one of the most confident
and agile creatures in the animal kingdom.
These long-standing enemies
are about to meet for the
ultimate grudge match.
Now, let's take a look at the
tale of the tape for our two warriors.
The king cobra comes into this battle with its
vicious striking abilities.
Just a drop of venom from its fangs
is enough to take down an elephant.
But will its 10-foot body be an advantage
or disadvantage for the reptile?
We'll have to wait to find out.
And it's opponent, the mongoose,
has thick fur and skin,
which might help with the cobra's fangs.
The mongoose may weigh in at just 2 kg (4.4 lbs),
but don't let its small size fool you.
With its agile attitude
and surprisingly vicious bite,
it'll have a couple of tricks up its sleeve
come fight time.
Now it's time to place your bets.
Who do you think will emerge victorious?
The Agumbe rainforest
in India is where our
two opponents will be facing off.
We meet the mongoose
surveying the area
looking for any tasty morsels of food.
Since our mongoose is known as
an opportunistic feeder,
it'll take any snack it can get.
That includes birds,
insects, and of course,
our king cobra.
Arguably its favorite meal.
And if we take a look at what the
king cobra is doing,
we can see it's minding its own business.
And to be honest, folks,
we're not even sure if it knows it's in a fight.
After all, cobras are
defensive creatures
and won't attack anything if
they don't have to.
But eventually,
as the mongoose continues looking for food,
it sees the king cobra.
It doesn't look like the cobra
is noticing the mongoose
coming from behind.
That's because they're deaf
to any sort of background noise.
The mongoose looks to be
pretty excited and
jumpy to get the initial strike
on the cobra but
ultimately fails because
it's not sneaky enough.
Now the cobra is face to face with
the mongoose.
They're both sizing each other up.
The mongoose is walking into the fight
with confidence and
maybe even a little bit of stupidity.
It's probably had this
kind of fight before.
And not only that,
but the mongoose has
also been known to get into bouts with
animals way too big for its size.
The cobra, on the other hand,
is taking a much more
defensive strategy
and looks to be waiting for the mongoose
to make a mistake.
The mongoose so far has been playing it
pretty close to the chest here.
Growling and occasionally
showing its teeth to the cobra.
And the cobra is doing much of the same.
Its strategy so far has been to
hiss and pull fake out jabs at the mongoose.
The mongoose looks to finally be gaining
the courage to strike and
goes in for a solid bite
but oh!
The cobra seems to have
dodged the attack
and manages to nip the mongoose.
Now it doesn't look like it's
made much contact,
but its venomous strike
did manage to pierce the skin.
The mongoose should be down for the count,
but wait, what's this?
It doesn't seem to be phased by the strike.
That's because the mongoose is
immune to a certain dose
of the cobra's venom.
It looks like it can still fight,
but if it gets just one more strike
from the cobra,
this fight will be all over.
Now the mongoose is
taking its time to
fake out the cobra.
And it looks like the cobra
is starting to get tired.
Since it's such a defensive creature,
it's not used to long battles like this.
The mongoose sees the cobra
is starting to get tired
and goes in for an actual strike.
It bites at the cobras head
disorienting it.
The mongoose now goes in for a second strike,
breaking the cobras head
and finishing it off for good.
And your winner is the mongoose!
Due to its stamina,
agility, and
immunity to venom,
the mongoose was the perfect
predator to take on the cobra snake.
This ladies and gentlemen
is a true underdog story.
Who might we put together for our next battle?
Maybe a pirate vs a knight?
We'll see who wins on the next round.