The rinkhals snake is a sub-species of cobra whose natural habitat is the southern tip of the African continent. It is large and stout, the adult measuring between 80 cm and 1.20 m. Its venom contains neurotoxins, which is usually fatal when it is injected into the bloodstream through its bite. But before it bites, it usually spits the venom up to 3 m when it feels cornered, rearing up and spreading its hood.
The rinkhals cobra belongs to the Elapidae family; genus Hemachatus; species, haemachatus. The young adult is characterized by its keeled body scales, with conspicuously alternating black with yellowish tan bands, which fade with age into darker shades. However, in Zimbabwe and eastern cape, rinkhals with yellowish with orange bands were seen.
This African cobra is mainly nocturnal as it hunts frogs and small rodents in wet grassland. The female viviparous as up to 70 young hatch out of their eggs inside their mother before their born.
Below, the rinkhals snake on the grass near a home in Mozambique.
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