Cobra Swallows Knife in Karanganyar: UGM Expert Says Stress Unlikely, Cites Mistaken Identity

A wildlife expert from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has stated that while snakes can experience stress under certain conditions, the case of a cobra swallowing a kitchen knife in Karanganyar likely has a different explanation. The snake was still alive when evacuated by Exalos Indonesia volunteers in Sroyo Village, Jaten District, Karanganyar Regency, Central Java, on Tuesday (4/8/206).

Donan Satria Yudha, a lecturer and wildlife observer from the UGM Faculty of Biology, believes the cobra misidentified the kitchen knife as prey. ‘I see it as not stress. The kitchen knife was used for cutting meat and so on, so there was still a residual aroma. Snakes have poor eyesight, so they focus on using scent,’ Donan said when contacted on Wednesday (5/8). ‘Because there was the aroma of meat, or blood, it ate the knife. That is my view from a biological perspective. The idea of eating a knife due to stress seems incorrect. A snake’s brain is very small, so the concept of stress-driven thought is, in my opinion, not accurate,’ he added.

Donan explained that a cobra cannot regurgitate an object once it has been swallowed. ‘It cannot vomit it up because its teeth curve backwards, preventing regurgitation. So it continues to be swallowed,’ he clarified. According to Donan, the snake’s Jacobson’s organ was functioning well, enabling it to detect the scent on the knife. However, due to the snake’s poor vision, the Javan cobra did not realise the source of the smell was a knife. ‘It misidentified it, because the knife had been exposed to meat,’ he said.

Donan noted that snakes can indeed experience stress under specific conditions. Causes of stress in snakes include unstable environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity, habitat changes, and disturbance by humans. ‘Characteristics of a stressed snake include coiling up, repeatedly rubbing its body against a hard substrate, and sometimes being easily angered and hissing,’ he added.