![Photograph of King Cobra: Photo by Dr. Anand Titus and Geeta N Pereira ([1])](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F4%2F4d%2F12_-_The_Mystical_King_Cobra_and_Coffee_Forests.jpg%3Futm_source%3Den.wikipedia.org%26utm_campaign%3Dimageinfo%26utm_content%3Dthumbnail_unscaled&w=3840&q=75)
Most snakes deposit eggs in a burrow, a rotting log or a termite mound and leave. The king cobra is the conspicuous exception. Using a coil of her forebody as a rake, the female drags forest litter backwards into a heap that can be most of a metre across, forming a chamber for roughly twenty to forty eggs and a second layer of leaves above it.
The mound is not simply cover. Decomposing plant material generates heat, and the interior of the nest runs warmer and steadier than the surrounding forest floor. The female remains coiled on or beside the mound for the incubation period, which runs to something on the order of two to three months, and typically departs before the young emerge.
What is often overstated is the aggression of the guarding female. Reports of unprovoked charges are common in popular accounts, but documented behaviour at nests is mostly display and retreat, and the extent to which nest attendance improves hatching success has not been measured well in the wild.