Potential mates find each other by sending “scent messages.” Both males and females give off a musk in the mating season. When a male picks up the scent of a nearby female he pursues her and rubs her with his head. If she’s not interested, he persists by using his head to butt and push her around.
Once she’s aroused, the male inserts the nearest of his pair of hemipenes, genitals stored inside the tail, just behind his vent. The pair can stay joined like this for hours. Scientists think that some king cobras mate for life.
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