VIDEO: Snake Charming the Most Poisonous Cobra

Most people fear snakes, portraying them as cool blooded, ruthless killers.

But there are also people out there (not many, though) that absolutely love snakes!

This video shows a very skilled snake charmer messing around with dangerous cobras.

According to USA Return, snake charming is the practice of pretending to hypnotize a snake by playing an instrument called pungi or bansuri. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous acts, as well as other street performance staples, like juggling and sleight of hand.

The practice is most common in India, though other Asian nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia are also home to performers, as are the North African countries of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

Ancient Egypt was home to one form of snake charming, though the practice as it exists today likely arose in India. It eventually spread throughout Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Despite a sort of golden age in the 20th century, snake charming is today in danger of dying out. This is due to a variety of factors, chief among them the recent enforcement of a 1972 law in India banning ownership of snakes.

In retaliation, snake charmers have organized in recent years, protesting the loss of their only means of livelihood, and the government has made some overtures to them. Many snake charmers live a wandering existence, visiting towns and villages on market days and during festivals. With a few rare exceptions they make every effort to keep themselves from harm’s way.

The charmer typically sits out of biting range and the snake is sluggish and reluctant to attack anyway. More drastic means of protection include removing the creature’s fangs or venom glands, or even sewing the snake’s mouth shut.

The most popular species are those native to the snake charmer’s home region, typically various kinds of cobras, though vipers and other types are also used. Although snakes are able to sense sound, they lack the outer ear that would enable them to hear the music.

They follow the pungi that the “snake charmer” holds with their hands. The snake considers the person and pungi a threat and responds to it as if it were a predator.

1. Saw-scaled viper

This viper, Echis carinatus, which inhabits parts of India and the Middle East, doesn’t possess the strongest of venoms, but is responsible for more human deaths annually than any other snake, partly because it’s often found in populated areas.

2. King cobra

Wondering which snake can bring down an elephant? The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) delivers enough neurotoxins to kill an Asian elephant, as well as about 50 percent of the humans it bites. Reaching 18 feet (5.5 meters) in length, the king cobra is also the world’s longest venomous snake.

3. Tiger snake

This deadly snake (Notechis scutatus) inhabits southern Australia and Tasmania, and kills victims with a potent mixture of neurotoxins, coagulants, hemolysins and myotoxins. Interestingly, these snakes vary greatly in size depending on their preferred type of prey.