Watch the sighting here:
Jors Dannhauser filmed the event and submitted his account to Latest Sightings. He filmed it while on safari in the Buffelshoek section of the Sabi-Sand Game Reserve.
Spitting cobra spotted
Jors said, ““We were on our way back to the camp…when suddenly we saw something on the road.”
“At first, we saw the snake, which is a Mozambique Spitting Cobra, so we approached very slowly.”
Soon after, they spotted a plated lizard, which the snake began to investigate.
Motionless
It is noteworthy that while the cobra moved over the lizard while inspecting it, the lizard remained motionless. This is possibly to avoid detection since snakes are triggered by movement.
After spending some time checking out the lizard’s tail, the snake moved to its trunk section.
Bite?
A short while later, the cobra gapes widely and moves its mouth along the lizard’s body. Still, the lizard doesn’t react. This suggests that the snake doesn’t actually bite the lizard.
A reaction. Finally!
Only when the cobra started investigating the lizard’s head, did the latter react.
As the snake opened its jaws to bite, the lizard desperately attempted to flee. However, it was too slow and the snake managed to bite it in the lower trunk.
Escape attempt
When the snake let go, the lizard again tried to move away.
However, the snake was in hot pursuit and proceeded to deliver a bite to the lizard’s head.
The now desperate lizard did all it could to escape but the snake was not about to let go.
Fangs embedded
Still biting the lizard, the snake held on while its venom went to work. Spitting cobra venom is cytotoxic, meaning that it destroys cells. This rapidly kills small prey.
As life ebbed from the lizard, the snake coiled its body around its prey.
Meal time
Once the lizard was dead, the snake began to swallow it whole. Typically, snakes will swallow their prey from the head, as was the case here.
Snakes swallow their prey whole by using jaw action and muscle contractions to envelope prey larger than the circumference of their head/body.
“Mere minutes”
Jors said it took ‘mere minutes’ for the lizard to be swallowed. With only the tip of its tail still visible, the snake then slithered into a thicket to digest its meal.
“Spitting venom”
The ability to ‘spit’ venom is unique to spitting cobras and their elapid relative, the ringhals. They deploy this ability as a defensive weapon when they feel threatened. They do not do this when hunting.
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Strictly speaking, the snake sprays venom from its upper fangs, reaching distances of up to 3 metres (10 feet). On contact with the eyes of the threat, it causes intense pain and damage to the cornea and eye membrane.
Plated lizards
Belonging to the family Gerrhosauridae, plated lizards are found across Africa, including Madagascar. Their preferred habitats vary from sand dunes to rocky crevices.