Quote Originally Posted by Neal View Post
Clearly you misunderstand what I said. I said they can only strike downwards, I never said anything about not being able to jump upwards. Any snake can lunge which is what that snake did. I also never said there's anything more behind those eyes. I said they're more alert. They will spend quite a more significant time watching you than other snakes, or at least this has been my experience. This is the case with my Rufous beaked and my ball pythons. My rufous beaked will sit with it's head on the ledge of the glass and watch me. If I move it'll reposition itself so it can see me. It doesn't do this all the time but it does it frequently enough.

But back to the hooded comment. I don't keep cobras but like I said I've pat one on the head once before, so if you had any real experience you'd understand how often they actually lunge. They didn't lunge on the first attempt in that video, only after irritating it did it lunge. That's the difference. It won't just jump randomly on the first time. I'd probably guess that a lot of the time those first bites are dry just to scare something off.

The reason I said about mambas is because if I'm not mistaken they're the only snake that doesn't do dry bites. When they bite they inject venom, every time.

EDIT:
Also if you pay attention to the body in that slow motion replay you can see he unhoods while striking. Maybe not all the way but clearly he does. Don't pay so much attention to the strike as to his body.
Whether it's jumping upwards or not, it struck upwards - simple. They're capable of striking in an upwards direction if they want to.

How often they lunge? That depends entirely on the cobra. You cannot tarnish them all with the same brush. There are plenty of cobras that will lunge straight off, forget about on an individual basis, it changes day by day!

I like how you nonchalantly say you "pat a cobra on the head"..sounds like a troll. Have any proof? Not that it's something to be proud of.

All venomous snakes have the ability to deliver a dry bite. Whether or not they do 0%, 50%, or 100% of the time, cannot be tested in a reliable manner.