Snakes live almost everywhere, in forests, fields and around homes, in nearly every country in the world. In Bangladesh everyone is now alarmed by an outbreak of Russell's viper, whose bites have killed many people in many districts.

But Russell's viper is not the only venomous snake in the country; many others live here too. Do you know which is the world's longest snake? It is the reticulated python, which is 8 metres long and weighs 158 kg. The world's longest venomous snake, however, is the king cobra, which grows to 3-4 metres.

King cobra venom directly and badly affects the nerves, and a person can die within half an hour. The king cobra is considered one of the fastest snakes in the world, moving at 19 km an hour, while an ordinary person runs at 13-19 km an hour.

Interestingly, the king cobra never chases people. But if it does chase a person in self-defence, that person can be in danger. Depending on the place, the king cobra is black and white banded or brownish grey. It ranges from the Indian subcontinent through South-East Asia to southern China.

It mainly preys on other snakes, including its own kind. It is the only snake that builds a nest above ground for its eggs; the female lays her eggs in the nest and guards them until they hatch. After the king cobra, the black mamba comes next on the list of the world's longest venomous snakes, growing up to 3 metres.

After the reticulated python, the next longest snake is the amethystine python, which grows 5-8 metres long and is found mainly in Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Another long snake is the Burmese python, found in South-East Asia, which grows up to 5 metres. The Central African rock python is also among the world's longest snakes; found in sub-Saharan Africa, it is 3-5 metres long.

Citing the Natural History Museum.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.