TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A venomous cobra was spotted near a swimming pool in a park in Taipei City on Wednesday morning (June 5), days after video footage of a cobra in Taichung spooked many Taiwanese netizens.
A Taiwanese netizen posted photos of a one-meter-long cobra on the popular online message board PTT, which they said had been spotted on Wednesday next to a swimming pool in Dahu Park in Taipei's Neihu District. In one photo the cobra can be seen flaunting its hood and hissing at a person trying to shoo it off with a broom.
In the next two photos, the serpent can be seen slithering toward a drain grate and eventually sliding into it. The netizen who posted the photos said that many cobras had been recently spotted in the area and advised visitors to exercise caution.
(PTT photo)
Netizens commented that they had also recently spotted many snakes in Dahu Park, possibly due to the rise in temperatures. According to the Venomous Snake and Ferret-Badger Bite Emergency Information Station (毒蛇鼬獾咬傷救急資訊站), cobras were also spotted in Neihu District last year, and in 2016 the Taiwan Habu, or Brown Spotted Pitviper (Protobothrops mucrosquamatus, 龜殼花蛇), was spotted in Dahu Park.
Some netizens speculated that the cobra was an invasive species that had been introduced. However, the shape of the white rings on its hood indicated that it was a cobra species native to Taiwan known as the "Taiwanese cobra" or "Chinese cobra" (中華眼鏡蛇), reported CTS News.
The Taiwan cobra (Naja atra) is a protected species and by law should not be harassed, abused, hunted, or slaughtered. The most notable feature of the cobras is that when they feel threatened, they will raise their head, open their hood, and make an intimidating "hissing" sound.
Person trying to shoo away cobra with broom. (PPT photo)
Although Taiwan cobras are highly venomous, some hospitals in Taiwan stock antivenom and deaths from cobra bites in Taiwan have become rare.
Last week, the Taichung City Tourism Bureau week posted a video of a cobra rearing up right next to a marker on the Dakeng Trail No. 5-1 in Taichung. On its Facebook page the bureau said to "watch out for snakes in tall grass!"
The bureau goes on to say that it's "prime bite season" and advises hikers to bring a walking stick to detect and deter snakes lying in the grass.
Cobra heading toward drain cover. (PTT photo)
In 2014, there was an outbreak of rabies found among 31% of ferret-badgers living in the wild in Taiwan. Last year, 10 townships in Taiwan's eastern county of Hualien issued warnings for rabies after two people tested positive for the disease as they were bitten by ferret-badgers.
Cobra slipping down drain. (PTT photo)
