The mongoose and cobra are natural born enemies, as anyone who has a passing familiarity with the Rudyard Kipling short story Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is surely aware. The scrappy, yet dexterous carnivorous mammals have a natural resistance to cobra venom, making them one of the few species to prey on the deadly reptiles.
And passengers on a recent flight trying to depart from India got to see nature up close and in action, as a trio of mongooses faced off against an unwitting cobra.
The Economic Times Of India reports that the incident took place on the tarmac of the Jay Prakash Narayan Airport in Patna, Bihar, India; though it's unclear where the flight was heading. In video taken by one of the passengers waiting to depart, the cobra can be seen tussling with a single mongoose, which attempted to strike the attacking animal.
But before the cobra could escape, two more mongooses came into view from the left side of the frame as the first mongoose kept pouncing on the reptile. It's unclear which species ultimately "won" the fight, but all things considered, the situation was not looking great for the cobra when the video cut out.
"The confrontation, captured on video, shows the snake initially engaging in a one-on-one battle with a mongoose," the Times captioned the video. "However, the situation escalates as two more mongooses join in, turning the fight into a three-on-one struggle."
According to WorldAtlas, mongooses win between 75 to 80 percent of their battles with cobras, as the animals can only succumb to cobra venom after several serious bites. And that's only if the snake can manage to penetrate the mongoose's thick hide. So considering that it was three on one, the odds were definitely not in the cobra's favor. Such is the circle of life.
