Feb 16, 2021: The incredible sight of a man offering water to a cobra has gone viral on Twitter again, almost three years after it first surfaced online. The old video saw a spike in popularity again this afternoon after it was shared on the microblogging platform by Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda.
In the short clip, the man - reportedly a forest official - is seen squatting in front of the snake with a plastic water bottle in his hand. He gently tips the bottle forward towards the cobra. Evidently thirsty, the snake laps up the water quickly.
"Love & water... Two best ingredients of life," wrote IFS Susanta Nanda while sharing the clip on Twitter. Watch it below:
The video has been viewed nearly 9,000 times on the microblogging platform, collecting a ton of amazed comments.
Many Twitter users praised the forest official for showing immense courage and compassion in getting close to a venomous snake to help it out.
"Courage and Compassion in action," wrote one Twitter user.
"Wow - really fantastic," said another.Some felt that the video should have come with a note warning people not to get close to snakes unless they are trained to handle them safely. This is not the first time that a video of a snake drinking water from a bottle has captured social media’s attention. In 2017, a thirsty king cobra found its way to the Kaiga village in Karnataka, where a wildlife rescue worker offered some water to it, which it lapped up quickly.
Love & water...
— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) February 16, 2021
Two best ingredients of life pic.twitter.com/dy3qB40m6N