When this poisonous monarch comes out to hunt, the whole forest steers clear. That is, until a rat snake blunders into its path ... and gets swallowed alive!
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "World's Deadliest: King Cobra", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/reptiles-animals/snakes/deadliest-king-cobra/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [ { "url": "http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/king-cobra/", "name": "King Cobra Profile" } ] }, "credit": "National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/deadliest-king-cobra.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/deadliest-king-cobra/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/core_media/ngphoto/image/61454_0_616x346.jpg", "transcript": "Of all the predators that use venom, the most notorious may be this one.
The king cobra thrives in the forests and plains of southern Asia.
His lethal venom and deadly fangs are renowned.
All take caution when he patrols the forest, knowing that a mistaken encounter could turn deadly.
In one bite, it delivers more venom than almost any other snake.
Enough to kill 20 men in less than an hour-or the biggest creature in the jungle.
But the cobra's favorite food is other snakes.
That doesn't make anyone less uneasy, though.
They give him plenty of room to hunt.
A tree offers an excellent vantage point to spot his next prey.
And this rat snake tops the menu.
The rat snake grows up to seven feet long-but carries no venom.
The cobra can spot prey from nearly 300 feet.
And it's found its own lunch.
The rat snake detects its namesake prey.
But it's unaware that it too is being stalked.
The rat is about to be rescued...by an unlikely savior.
The cobra can detect the other snake's movement through vibrations in the ground.
But its direction finder is its tongue.
The cobra can strike from over three feet away.
The rat snake's resistance is futile.
The cobra injects deadly venom through its fangs-like toxins through a pair of hypodermics.
The venom floods the rat snake's nervous system.
First comes dizziness...then sleepiness.
Finally-paralysis.
The cobra gulps its dinner whole.
It can expand its jaws to accommodate a super-sized meal.
And its teeth also face backward, to move the meal along.
Digestion is already starting.
Venom is eating away at its victim.
The rat snake may still be alive-but locked in a coma from which it will never awaken.
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