Baby vs. Cobra

Well the baby's obviously not bothered by the whole situation..

Defanged or not, it still thing being smacked in the head by a cobra would hurt!

"it still thing"

WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU ON ABOUT SON?

I still think.

Does anyone know WHY this video was made? I read a few references to it being a ritual or a rite of passage, but I could glean nothing more specific from youtube. There were pages upon pages of racist and inane comments, with no real information about what was happening in the video. I'm just curious if this was a one-off or a more widespread practice.

Yeah, I agree with you kris: friends don't let friends comment on YouTube ...

"There were pages upon pages of racist and inane comments, with no real information about what was happening in the video."

That doesn't sound like a YouTube comment thread AT ALL!

:)

one of my friends told me he saw this documentary on TV years ago.

I never believed him.

thanks to youtube, now he can regain his honour! :D

(indian people sure have... in their pants, yes mam'!)

how bizarre

aghh older than the internet. Ok not that old, but I'm doing a timewarp to 2007 at least.

this is a beggar using his kid and a defanged cobra to make money on the street. So while the kid and the cobra are supposedly 'fighting', the dude goes around with his bag/cap whatever and asks curious bystanders for money.

I've yet to find the source I read a couple years ago on this. But, Cobras are normally kept as pets there and the family lets them run freely. A good omen, of sorts, if the child develops no fear as he grows older. He will see them all his life working the crops as they are literally everywhere there.

insane!

@bleh : this is so old! I timewarped to lastweek ;p

Can't make out what they're saying, but I think its pretty clear they're all enjoying it!

I say poor snake, because the baby has no idea what's going on and isn't scared at all! The snake on the other hand...talk about massive ego damage!

But I feel bad after watching it though - I wanted the snake to win! :P

Seriously though,the snake wrapped itself around the baby's neck! That could have gone wrong, even though I don't think cobras squeeze their prey - do they?

That was epic.

Typical heathen cultural crapola. *Yawn*. Next.

But, Cobras are normally kept as pets there and the family lets them run freely.

I call bullshit on that one.

"mother theresa
July 7th, 2008 at 9:34 am

Typical heathen cultural crapola. *Yawn*. Next."

LOL... oh, the irony.

Defanged of course.

snopes.com sort of has an answer:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/babycobra.asp

That's nice Adam. Go read a little rather than look for trouble.

Yeah, when I saw this back in 2007, I noticed the video abruptly stops as soon as Mr. Snake wraps himself around the throat. Defanged-good. Choking-bad.

They're not really saying much helpful. The woman's voice says "He's coming after [the tail]" and "He [the baby] saw it [the snake] now" right when the baby looks at the cobra's head. The man's voice is mainly egging the child on, though much of it I can't make out. They don't say anything about the cobra per se (re: defang or mouth stitch). I obviously understand the language, which makes me come from the same part of India, but I have no clue what the hell these people are doing. It's not a cultural thing. It's a single family thing.

Yeah, it is ironic. Roman Catholicism is rather heathenistic eh?
I concur. Too many rituals, too many relics, too many bleeding statues
and Jesus images on bread. Gave up catholicism for lent . Decided to become a Christian instead. OH, but kept the catchy name ;-)

Yeah the Cobra's mouth is actually sewn shut. Even still its a very odd ritual to say the least.

Why would anyone want to deface nature like that? The spectacle only teaches us to numb out of the inherant beauty of things.

@ mother theresa:

Well, that wasn't exactly what I meant. I was going for more of the tolerance aspect and my doubts that Mother Theresa would have called her adoptive culture "crapola".

But your explanation works, too.

If those snakes are everywhere, then my trip to India will be canceled in any future plans lol.
However, the fact that they are doing this and thinking its funny is horrible abuse to a child as far as I'm concerned! Not to mention the snake (even though I hate snakes) why would anyone sew its mouth or de fang it for their pleasure?
Its exploitation of a child for the amusement of the so called adults who are present in this video! Shame on them all!
Call it a ritual, it still barbaric!