A frightening video of a king cobra trying to follow a toddler has gone viral on the Internet. It showed the venomous snake, about two metres long, slithering on the shiny floor of a front yard in Vietnam with breathtaking speed as the child played on the floor. His grandfather, who was standing right behind him, first noticed the angry reptile making a move towards them. Since he had recently recovered from a stroke, he could not react quickly and shouted for help. The child's father sitting nearby then ran to their rescue.
He grabbed the child as the grandfather stood watching for the snake. They immediately scrambled back into the house. The video showed the grandfather limping as he followed the child and his father. Even before they could enter the main glass door, the snake had entered the front yard and was closing the gap between them.
The father put the child inside and returned to close the glass door as the grandfather neared it. He pulled the doors and the grandfather picked up a stick as a precaution in case the snake passed through the door before they could close it. The snake, meanwhile, made a determined attempt to reach them, moving alarmingly through toys and other items scattered in the front yard, before they closed the door. However, it failed.
The snake then tried to sneak under the door but there was not enough space. After a few more futile attempts to find an opening, it moved out of the front yard. The family, it appeared, was saved by sheer luck.
The video has received several reactions on YouTube, most of them talking about the snake's speed.
“Look at the speed man,” said a person with a username “Yo yups”, asking people to never underestimate snakes or their speed and run to safety immediately.