Mongoose turns tables on deadly snake

/Courtesy of Carter News Agency

By Lee Han-soo

The boomslang, a venomous cobra, is one of the most feared creatures in Namibia’s Etosha National Park.

Its venom consists mainly of hemotoxin, which stops blood clotting and can lead to external or internal bleeding.

But the feared hunter became the hunted when a mongoose recently climbed up to the snake’s resting place and ambushed it.

Sneaking up the tree, the mongoose strikes swiftly and sinks its teeth deep into the snake’s head. The snake tries to shake off the mongoose but fails.

“There were times when a boomslang would curl itself around the slender mongoose in an attempt to defend itself or possibly to kill it with a snake bite,” said Elena, who took photos of the scene. “But it was very clear that the slender mongoose was the predator and that this time the snake was the prey.”