\u201crelatively tolerant\u201d<\/em> of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs a point of comparison, a human can die from a cobra bite in as little as half an hour. The venom affects the nervous system, quickly shutting disabling the brain and nerves and thereby affecting other major organ systems in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if a mongoose is bitten by a cobra, it may not sustain any negative effects from the initial bite. Why is this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mongooses have a certain neurotransmitter in their brains called acetylcholine. The acetylcholine receptors bind to the venom in the bloodstream, basically neutralizing them and preventing them from binding to the mongoose\u2019s nervous system. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIf the toxins can\u2019t bind to the nervous system, they will pass harmlessly through the animal\u2019s bloodstream, eventually being filtered out through its kidneys and liver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multiple snake bites may overwhelm a mongoose\u2019s natural defense, which in turn will permit a certain amount of the venom to reach its nervous system. The mongoose will slow down, allowing the snake to continue striking, eventually killing the mongoose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in most cases, snakes don\u2019t even get in that first bite before the mongoose kills them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mongoose Vs. Cobra: Who Wins?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mongooses have many natural strengths against cobras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For one thing, mongooses are perhaps the only animal quick enough to dodge cobras\u2019 attempts at lashing out, and they can usually strike more quickly than cobras can. All it takes is a single crushing bite to the snake\u2019s head to incapacitate or kill it instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, the snake usually lashes out first, while the mongoose approaches more cautiously. If the snake is quick enough and manages to bite the mongoose multiple times, it may slow it down enough to go in for the killing blow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to experts, mongooses will win about 75 to 80 percent of their encounters with venomous snakes<\/strong>, so in most cases, the mongoose comes out on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCan a Mongoose Kill a Human?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You may be wondering: if cobras can kill humans, and mongooses can kill cobras, can mongooses also, by extension, kill humans? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Generally speaking, the answer is no.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMongooses are much smaller and have no specific strengths against humans. In fact, they tend to avoid us as much as possible because they realize there isn\u2019t much they could do to fight against us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, if a mongoose were infected with rabies, it might go mad and attack a human, passing the infection to the human through bite marks or scratches.<\/strong> If not treated promptly with a rabies shot, the attacked human will most likely die from the infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDo Mongooses Have a \u201cFighting Sound\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mongooses frequently make high-pitched hissing and screeching noises when they fight, but they have no distinctive \u201cfighting sound\u201d <\/em>that they always use when fighting. Sometimes, they may even fight silently.<\/p>\n\n\n\nConclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mongooses are notorious<\/a> for their ability to hunt and kill venomous snakes. Their natural immunity to snake venom, along with their ability to strike suddenly and kill immediately, make them one of the few animals<\/a> in the world that poisonous snakes such as the king cobra have cause to fear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You may have heard that mongooses hunt and kill snakes. You may have even witnessed a mongoose fighting a snake, either in person or in a video. But have you ever wondered at the reason behind these fights? Why are mongooses and snakes enemies? Why and how do mongooses kill snakes, and what gives these … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10145"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10145"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12476,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10145\/revisions\/12476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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