Usually, most snakes are cannibals who eat other snakes when hungry or there is no other source of food available. It was rather unusual for the Snake Helpline members to witness what unfolded in an under-construction septic tank in a house in Dulanapur village under Banki-Tamapada block.
After finding the mother Cobra with its hatchlings, the family had telephoned Snake Helpline for help. The Snake Helpline members reached the spot and rescued 14 cobra hatchlings one-by-one, but the mother was not alive.
It is being suspected that the mother Cobra died to lack of intake of food or water. She was not a cannibal; she was a mother after all.
All the hatchlings were safely taken to a nearby animal shelter where proper care is being ensured.