Vipers
Viper is a common name for snakes in a family of venomous snakes, characterized by a pair of long, hollow fangs, usually with reserve fangs beside them, in the front of upper jaw. The fangs fold back against the palate when not in use and quickly swing forward to strike, injecting deadly venom to kill its prey and also serve as defense. The viper generally has a broad, triangular head, and the eyes have vertical pupils. Most vipers give birth to living young from eggs hatched inside their mother’s body.

Vipers are distributed throughout most temperate and tropical regions of the world, except Australia. They occur from lowlands to elevations of more than 4500m, from deserts to rain forests, and even in arctic regions.

Vipers are usually divided into two groups: the true vipers, the horned and Gaboon vipers of Africa and the Indian vipers-and the pit vipers, which have a distinctive heat-sensitive pit between the eye and nostril, and which include the rattlesnakes, copperhead, and cottonmouth.

King Cobra, the venomous snake
The aptly named king cobra is the largest venomous snake in the world which is about 5 meters in length. They are aggressive if harassed, and their bite is deadly. When disturbed, it raises its hooded head to get a better view or to strike. Large individual can raise themselves to a height of about 1 meter. They prey on other snakes and frequent bamboo thickets, mangrove swamps, and other densely vegetated habitats. Females may construct a nest chamber in which eggs are laid- the only snake known to do so.