In Guangdong Province, China, a man discovered a package hidden in the bushes and was delighted to find it contained a clutch of eggs. However, these eggs were unusually "stuck together", which struck him as odd. Excited to take them home as an addition to his meal, he shared the find online, only to be met with urgent warnings from netizens advising him to return the eggs immediately—and even to consider moving away quickly.
According to a report by Elephant News, the man from Shaoguan City mistakenly picked up a cluster of sticky eggs, thinking they were chicken eggs for dinner. Online commenters quickly corrected him, explaining that these were not chicken or duck eggs but rather cobra eggs. They cautioned that the eggs had already absorbed his scent, which could attract the mother snake, a king cobra, to track him down. Some advised him to buy realgar (a traditional snake repellent) to scatter around his home, while others urged him to relocate for safety, warning that the mother snake can follow the scent for 15 to 30 kilometers over several months and might even come to watch him sleep at night.
While the tracking ability of cobras is indeed impressive, some of the netizens' claims may be exaggerated. Nonetheless, it is wise not to pick up or disturb unknown eggs found outdoors. The Amphibian and Reptile Research Club of National Chiayi University in Taiwan has shared similar advice after a local resident found a clutch of snake eggs while weeding farmland. The researchers placed the eggs in an incubator and later released the hatched snakes back into the wild, emphasizing that snake eggs should not be rotated or shaken to avoid injury or death of the embryos.
In summary, encountering unknown eggs in nature, especially those that appear stuck together, should prompt caution and respect for wildlife. It is best to leave such eggs undisturbed and seek expert advice if intervention seems necessary.
