Watch: Cobra spits at phone after hiding in jacket
Two Jack Russells sparked a wild chase when a spitting cobra slithered through their home situated between Loskop Dam and Middelburg.
For Brood and Botter, two Jack Russell terriers, it was a normal Saturday until they found an uninvited guest slithering across the living room floor. What started as a frantic discovery turned into a wild chase down a hallway, into a cupboard, and finally into a face-to-phone showdown that had their owner scrambling to record it all.
Kevin Ruthven from Kingdom Trails, between Loskop Dam and Middelburg in the Olifants River Valley, spoke to Caxton Network News after a video he captured over the weekend garnered more than 350 000 views on Facebook.
Ruthven said Botter was the first to notice the Mozambican spitting cobra, but Brood was at her side within seconds.
“The snake escaped and slithered to our cupboard in our room, where it hid in my jacket’s sleeve. I got the jacket outside and put my phone on record… as it got out of my jacket, it noticed my phone and spat at it,” he explained.
Someone in the comments suggested the snake may have sensed the phone’s heat from the battery and seen it as prey; however, there’s no evidence linking Mozambique spitting cobras to heat detection.
Ruthven confirmed the snake was not killed. “I do not kill snakes. It spat at my phone, gave me a last look and slithered into the bushes.”
Neither dog was hurt in the encounter.
Watch the video:
