Why was that place so interesting?
For two or three reasons.
It was breeding season for the king cobras and there were many males around that place. Plus: a radio tracked female had decided to hide exactly near that building site.
The female had so to be removed from there by the researchers... but I could have meanwhile the unique occasion to see many big king cobra males from a certain distance, and to meet one huge animal practically a few meters away from my feet, even if the researchers were not that happy that I "disturbed" their snakes!
(no pictures of this one: really too fast to do anything useful)
To have an idea of what you have to look for in the distance (and also near yourself) when you are in a king cobra territory: something as large as a big branch or a big black/dark water pipe cannot be a snake here in Europe. But in Western Ghats a big branch or a big black pipe in the wood can actually be a king cobra resting or moving around...
Pictures taken from great distance at that building site with a very rudimental camera.
- In the middle of the picture you can see a "water pipe" like male king cobra
- In the middle of the picture you can see a "big branch" like brown male king cobra
In the middle of the picture is the resting radio tracked female...
Which was also seen hunting and then eating a rat snake!