How come when a cobra bites itself, it does not die? I know they are immune, but how?

Linus

The following is an extract from a study, which is described at the weblink below. Although it is quite technical in places, the short answer appears to be that some snakes (and other animals which have immunity to snake venom) have developed anti-toxins in their bloodstreams or in those organs which are most likely to be attacked by the venom. ''Although many animals which develop immunity to snake venoms (for example the horse) carry most antitoxins in their bloodstream, Kellaway (1931) found that most species of animal with an 'inborn' resistance to a given snake venom contained most anti-toxins only in the tissues or organs most likely to be attacked by the given venom components. Because of the high neurotoxic component of many Australian snake venoms including that of the Death Adder, it appears that much of the immunity of these snakes to their own venoms stems from modifications of the tissues of their peripheral nervous and muscular systems.'' http://www.smuggled.com/snaven2.htm May 25 03, 8:09 PM