Well, I killed my first cobra today (the picture above is the species of cobra but not the particular snake that I killed). Now, I'm usually the sort of guy who subscribes to the 'live and let live' principle. I don't like killing animals without cause. But when it comes to a deadly cobra that is on the school grounds between classes on the sidewalk, I didn't hesitate to help the cobra die.
Mikayla and Kirsten and I were walking home from the office today when we ran across the admittedly small cobra that was about 8 to 10 inches in length. I was carrying Mikayla's trombone case so I touched the cobra with it to make sure that it was a cobra. The familiar cobra hood came up as the snake turned to face me. That was when I proceeded to pound the cobra to death with the trombone case.
Now, Mikayla's trombone teacher, who is also her music teacher, just happened to be sitting about 30 yards away. So, I had some explaining to do as to why I was pounding the school's property (we rent the trombone) repeatedly into the cement. My justification proved to be sufficient once we all had another look at the dead snake.
Cobras are pretty common here in the Philippines. But, so is sunshine, so we take the good with the bad and give thanks to God.