This astonishing moment unravels when ground squirrels and a mongoose gang up and bully a cape cobra, in an attempt to protect their young. This fascinating sighting took place at Nossob Campsite in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
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Lara De Matos was fortunate to get videos of this sighting and shared the story with LatestSightings.com:
"We were having lunch in Nossob campsite after a morning game drive. We were a bit disappointed because there had been no real exciting sightings. My husband was the first person to see the activity at the campsite near the swimming pool area. We saw the cape cobra and ground squirrels and knew something was bound to happen! We grabbed our cameras, and set off for a closer view."
"When we got closer we saw that the ground squirrels were trying to keep the cape cobra away from their underground burrows, where they raise their young. The squirrels took turns constantly attacking the cobra from different angles. Suddenly a mongoose appeared and took over. At that stage, the ground squirrels took a rest and watched from the side as the mongoose had its moment to defend and attack."
"After a while, the mongoose withdrew, while the squirrels again tried to deter the cobra. When the mongoose finally came back into the attack, the cape cobra decided it best to leave the scene. They all followed him to ensure that he was leaving for good."
"My best photographic opportunity ever."
"For me, this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. I do not think that a lot of people can say that they've had the opportunity to photograph such an interaction with all these species on their doorstep at a campsite."
"Almost everybody in the camp gathered to watch the encounter and there was heaps of excitement and interaction. It happened over a long weekend and there were a lot of parents with their young children. One father said that this was an experience that no child can have in any school. And that he felt so privileged that his children could have experienced it. One of the young boys said that it was the best sighting ever, better than any cage fight."
"I am terrified of snakes, but the way the ground squirrels and mongoose prevented the snake from moving in any direction reassured me somewhat, especially from where we were standing, I had a sense of security. I was very afraid that the mongoose or ground squirrels might die but later heard that they both have strong resistance to the venom of the cape cobra. If someone had told me that before the fight, I surely would have enjoyed it a lot more."
"We all encouraged the mongoose and the ground squirrels to finish the fight as winners."
"For me, there is no better activity than driving around in our country's fantastic parks (including bordering countries Botswana and Namibia) and photographing wild animals. This is therapy for my soul and I wish I could do this all year round. I do not think we always realize how privileged we are to have all these fantastic parks on our doorstep. I think taking photos for a photographer is like painting for Picasso or music for Mozart. We are in our own little world trying to create our own masterpieces."
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Never seen an orange cobra before. Must be a rare shiny! ✨️
Must be spray tan!
A shiny Arbok taking on three Skwovent and a Zangoose
@@PTtheWildEspeon 😂
nah, Cape cobras can be any colour between copper and orange......not rare at all to see orange ones
This is a Cape Cobra Naja nivea Africas most venomous Cobra they come in many different morphs Orange is one of them they are aggressive
What a beautiful Cobra,never seen a Color like this on a Cobra.
Yes he is pretty
Cape cobra!
@Come to South Africa! :D
snake is snake no matter how beatiful its
@@asefnak4764 ?
The thumbnail looks do edited, but it's actually real. I'm impressed.
You must be new here. This channel is the real deal.
This channel never clickbaits.
@@q.t.9819 I've actually been watching this channel for over a year (which is relatively short), and I'm not surprised, I'm just pointing it out.
Every thumbnail of this channel is real
Lol I thought the same thing lol
As soon as the mongoose got involved the squirrels were like, "leave it to you mate" best of luck 🤣
That's what I saw. I was asking myself why the squirrels don't distract the cobra. But nooooo they bailed out.
@@nathanaelbartholomew yeah 😄they litterally left the scene when the Mongoose came. It was like they were holding the snake up until reinforcements came 😄 and boyyy did it come ha.
@@Mellow6996 but why didn't they assist? Those squirrels were total placeholders. Title should be, cobra surrounded by placeholders.
@@nathanaelbartholomew I think personally the Mongoose wanted dinner and the squirrels were just trying to keep it from the nest. When the Mongoose came it was better equipt to deal with the matter and none of the squirrels wanted to die 😄 or the Mongoose also had a nest near the squirrels, who knows.
😆
The cobra is like "Why is everyone just standing around taking pictures and nobody helping me?"
Cuzz one bite in they are dead
After the Mongoose showed up the Squirrels were just like 🍿🐿
Good thing the cobra was in fighting shape. The goal was to wear him down before going in for the kill. The mongoose realized he wasn't tiring at all and gave up
You've done your research. Mongoose cannot just waltz right up to a cobra and kill it, they use a lot of hit and run/rope a dope strategies to wear them out. If the cobra is full of energy and stands it's ground it's often too risky to fight.
@@cygnusprime6728 thanks you for watching
I always wondered if that what the strategy was. I love the way they bait the snake by staying just out of range
Life sucks when you've got no arms.
Nah, snakes are some of the most efficient predators on the planet.
Or legs.
Or ears!
Snakes got rid (not literally, evolutionarily speaking) of their arms and legs on many occasions, it’s actually a very advanced body plan
Unless you are Nick Vujicic😎
That is one bad ass Cobra. He stood up against many and survived. That is some serious bravery. Hats off to him..
Yeah he definitely earned this moral victory, dude has nerves of steel and a lot heart. Hope he got some cobra coochie later.
He has no choice. Only impalas seem to accept death at the slightest breeze
I don't think cobra was in any danger against squirrels
@@-ENGEL- ikr punk ass squirrels ain’t shit really not sure wtf they were even messing with the snake for now the mongoose could have killed the snake if it wanted to
@@therealjackieheezy they just wanted to play... or they are adrenaline junkies
Beautiful Cobra, lovely color and a real victor...haven't seen a Mongoose give up before...that Cobra was indeed special.
Who said the mongoose gave up? Maybe he came back and finished the job
Yeah that's why they wanted to eat it
It's a baby I gus
May be he already had his lunch and was not in a mood to kill the cobra. He just came to help the squirrels to chase the cobra.
I love the brilliant colors of the cape cobra
1:43 the reaction time of mongoose is almost insane and unreal.... the way it jumped backwards within fraction of a second
*In this corner, we have the deadly taipan, and in the other corner, the agile aardvark. Let the animal fight begin!*
faster than a cat
@@monschronicles9569 exactly
Such a beautiful snake.
the agility of the mongoose and the squirrels crazy
Yeah but the Cobra won
@@starter47990 oh well....
Imagine going to school in Africa in an area where they have safaris and just *going* to the safari as a field trip!
I live just outside the Kruger & during school there was only one field trip there 😂
@@PettyTendergrasp That is so cool!!
We went to game parks during school trips
Crazy how the squirrels were chilling on the sidelines watching the mongoose take on cobra
They were just learning from the master
Yep…they know how badd ass that mongoose really is.
Slithering stuck in the middle, 7 feet tall, weighing 13 pounds, THE COBRA. Bullying from the left, right, top and bottom, they are the world tag team champions 'SQUIRRELS AND MONGOOSE'. This is a 2 on 1 handicap match to leave the territory. Result: The winner of this match and still the world tag team champions 'SQUIRRELS AND MANGOOSE'. Snake left the territory.
WWE commentary. Lol.
ce n'est pas une question de territoire... les mangoustes mangent les cobras. c'est une question de survie pour le cobra qui a bien résisté et qui n'avait pas d'autres choix que de partir parce que les mangoustes et les écureuils allaient l'epuiser de fatigue.
@@velociraptortyrex6248 oui.
I couldn't get the exact size, but no true cobra weighs 15 pounds on average.
@@randomkinkajou5747 you must be fun at parties
Great video, both the quality of the snake and mongoose imagery was excellent.
2:08 cobra was like "help me" 😂💀
Bad day to be a cobra mate. The lightning speed of the mongoose is mind blowing.
Yeah but the Cobra won
@@starter47990 he lived to fight another day
@@johnmclain5279yep. That's the life of an animal
Mongoose reflexes is a beast
Such a beautiful snake
That cobra is gorgeous
Dont think it will be gorgeous if it bites you
I love how the squirrels use their tails as fake heads to trick the snake into striking at the tails instead of the squirrel's actual heads. I still felt kinda bad for the snake tho cuz I thought it wouldn't be able to make it out alive, this seemed like a hopeless situation but eventually it tired out the mongoose until it lost interest, giving the snake an opening to escape. Also is it just me or does that mongoose have goat eyes?
wow I didn't realize thats what they were doing, it looked to me like it was using it like a shield. Thanks.
@Dennis Wilson never knew squirrels could be such killers wtf
I think the mongoose left because the tourists started up their cars
Why feel bad for the snake? How many helpless animals you think it tired out before killing? Food is food.
U felt bad for a fckn cobra?
Now THAT is a great example of teamwork in the animal world!
And what did that teamwork accomplish?
@@megaruhe6296 It stopped any of the mammals from being bitten and dying!
@@megaruhe6296 The squirrels were just defending their homes. They were not snake hunters by nature. That single mongoose was the only snake hunter there. When the snake retreated, the squirrels had defended their homes successfully.
Happy to see that beautiful cobra survived!
All snakes must die.
@@ariaarulasan why?
I assume the squirrels had a nest nearby that they were defending.
I have never seen a beautiful Cobra like her before. What a courage and fighting spirit displayed.
What a beautiful specimen of Cape Cobra. Gorgeous snake :)
Even though this is an amateur video, I love the way they have chosen to shoot from a low angle, close to the ground. Awesome.
I wouldn't call this video amateurish, the quality is insane and the animals look so big and detailed from this angle even though they're actually tiny.
Why would you call this a amateur video exactly??
At the end, the Mongoose to the squirrels was like 🙄: Y'all need to call the town snake exterminator or something. I'm not paid enough for this dangerous job. (Leaves)
Beautiful Cobra! 🧡
This reminds me of Zelda games, when Link is fighting multiple enemies, but they're only fighting one at a time and you use Z targeting to kill them off one by one
These snakes reflexes are second to none jeez!
Seems to be a very unusual setup. Open ground, great camera location, mongoose, ground squirrels, cobra. I wonder if humans had anything to do with one or more of those setup elements.
My thoughts exactly.
These animals dont care about human presence, your around animals who dont know when there next meal
@@mical2great , this video shows animal behavior as modified by humans.
It's called a safari dummy
@@dcc-randomstorieswithmel7424 , it's called phony setup dummy.
At first I was like, why are they provoking the cobra. Then I realise that it was probably heading for their community and they were there in advance to confront it.
How is this bullying looks like they’re defending their home
@Leopard Is King Of Beasts mongoose is looking for food but squirrels are defending their babaies
Snakes don't adequately adjust for where the target is going to be after it dodges. They miss the same way by the same amount every single time, like a lazily programmed videogame AI.
They're good at catching prey such as birds, but this cobra is just bluff striking to avoid wasting venom, and to make the mongoose think twice.
It's not necessarily trying to bite the animal, it's an intimidation tactic. Animals avoid conflict unless absolutely necessary, because victory of a conflict but being maimed will probably end in death anyway.
If the cobra actually bit anything here it was probably dead because it could just be rushed by everything else watching the fight, and it only has one mouth to bite with. Cobras have been doing this for a long, long time and they've spread throughout most of the tropical old world because bluffing works - as seen in this video.
Life sucks when you've got no hands...
And life sucks when u get bit by it too
It's crazy how it's using it's tail as sheild. Op strategy. Those micro bites know how to fight.
Now that's one gorgeous snake 😍😍
thank goodness he got away. more than 1 mongoose and he may not have survived.
This video was fascinating to watch! When mongooses and snakes fight, it's a battle of patience and attrition, and both sides know it. If the mongoose dodges enough strikes and tires the snake out, they will win. Reptiles tire quickly and it take several snakebites for a mongoose to feel any effect. If the snake is cautious and only strikes when it has a good chance of inflicting an envenomed bite, they will at least survive. Moongooses are highly resistant to snake venom, but not immune: they won't risk getting bitten too many times. Nature is a great many things, and strategic is one of them. 😉
Interesting, sounds like a chess match
Mongoose ao cool !! ❤️ and so strong 🔥🏆
It’s interesting that the cobra knows that the mongoose is it’s natural predator and becomes much more agitated when it arrives.
That is a beautiful cobra
That's quite some WARRIOR of a Snake, to successfully defend against so many enemies👍
I appreciate the strength and courage mongoose 💪💪💪
Well, the Mongoose has evolved over 3.5 million years to have a mutation in their neurotransmitter receptors that block the binding of snake venom to their receptors so they’re essentially immune to venom. That’s what gives them the courage, they basically eat the most venomous snakes in the world for breakfast lunch and dinner without much trouble.
That is such a beautiful snake wow.
The squirrels use their tails like a bullfighter uses a cape
I'm Team Cobra for sure! 🐍
The squirrels called Rikki-Tikki-Tavi to get rid of the cobra intruder.
YES! It immediately reminded me of that movie!
@@nickyt9097 Best childhood movie ever, no doubt. 😂
I’m proud of that serpent 🐍🙂
what a beautiful golden snake
What a beautiful snake 😍 It defended itself very well I thought. Life is tough and cruel, in nature you could be a meal any second forget the constant pain, hunger, fear and suffering and diseases we humans are entitled brats with no clue about how good we have it
Wise words
1 million views! Certified!
what a stunningly beautiful cobra !! was the video color corrected in any way or totally natural color ?
Look up really stunning snakes,this is just orange. Snskes have really beautiful skins trust me
Squirrels be like “you just wait till my cousin gets here”
😊 જય શ્રી કૃષ્ણ બધા જ જીવો નો બચાવ થ ઈ ગયો કોઈ ને કસુ નુકશાન ના થયું..એ બહું જ સારૂ થયું છે
squirrels: "hey, you're on our turf mang!"
Mongoos reflexes 👌👌👌
The mongooses reactions are incredible.
Squirrel 🐿️ also deserve some fun in life 😜😜😜
They have enough fun chewing up attic wires
*The suspense is killing me! The black mamba and the mongoose are giving it their all in this intense animal fight!*
such a beautifull squirrels 🦖
I usually take the side of the mongoose, but can’t help but support the outnumbered underdog in this one. Didn’t know squirrels can get so aggressive with snakes.
They were probably distracting it from reaching their young. Squirrels are only aggressive so snakes that pose a danger I think
🍓 Remember, in the Old Testament, the most exterior covering of the Tabernacle was the Badger skins, which belong to the Mongoose family, to guard against the serpent (I think )
Great video...unimaginable....what a beautiful brown snake....thank God that it was not killed by the Mongoose...
Such a vibrantly coloured snake! Oh u beautyy!
The amount of stress on the Cobra..😳
Genuine question: Do mongoose eat ground squirrels? They seemed pretty chill with him rolling up. Do they live near each other sometimes?
Good question
They are almost the same size so i doubt they too.
Yes. They eat young squirrels. This video is the adult squirrels distracting the snake from going into their burrows and looking for the younglings to eat.
yeah the mongoose should just eat the squirrels
Rats eat both mongoose and squirrels
Beautiful color on the cobra
Fun fact: Ground squirrels do the same thing with rattlesnakes here in California.
Fun fact #2: California ground squirrels have a high resistance to rattlesnake venom
That cobra is beautiful… like the colour of sunset.
What an absolutely beautiful cobra!
Player 2 has entered the game
That mongoose is a legend, making the cobra to get tired. The cobra was getting tired and used its no. 6 sense( sense of a serpent) to escape from been lynched for food.
What a beautiful color of a snake
Squirrel be like: I'll watch you figth bro you got it😂
The colour of the snake is beautiful..
And here I thought I was having a bad day
Glad the Cobra made it to see another day. Beautiful snake.
I must say that cobra is super beautiful never seen such a Color in them before
Having Rikki Tikki Tavi flashbacks…. Loved that movie 😅 The mongoose looks like a fox and a squirrel had a baby…. They’re so cool.
I am 1st time watching it .... Squirrel kan se lad ne lage be aur wo bhi sanake ke sath...
They were playing Kabaddi & enjoying.
Im so happy the cobra got away
Honey Badger: Hold my beer 🍺
I never knew squirrels are snakes. Learn something new every day.
Best wildlife channel I've seen that never upset me#
Cobra: why do I hear boss music... mongoose: *appears*
Cobra is such a magnificent color
I know orange cape cobras aren't particularly rare, but this one is really pretty
Mongoose: hold my beer 🍺
Strange that mongoose didn't take the cobra down while it had its back on it! Never seen a mongoose miss an opportunity like that! I guess it wasn't hungry.
Mongoose tested the cobra and realized it was too fit to take down. If the snake doesnt tire in the first few strikes the mongoose will give up. Mongoose rarely kill cobras anyway, its an impressive feat but extremely uncommon.
And mangoose was not all by the audience
Love how the mongoose just suddenly realizes“you know what? Fuck this shit, it ain’t worth it”
It's great I would love to see it
Beautiful cape cobra, don't care about the others animals
The snake's color is so beautiful🧡
A yellow cobra, you don't see that everyday. Beautiful colour.
This is once in a lifetime moment
To witness yes. Probably happens a lot when we're not looking, along with even more crazy things.