The Story Of A Snake In Our Bali Villa

Around 20 minutes after arriving at our new, uniquely designed villa in Ubud, we had a very unexpected encounter – spoiler alert! It was a Spitting Cobra.

I was upstairs filming a couple videos to send to friends and family of our new place, when I heard Matt calling my name… a little too calmly.

I thought maybe he had something to show me, or maybe one of the villa’s local cats came to stop by to welcome us.

But, no. 

I came downstairs into the studio/work space room – where Matt was standing near a piece of furniture. 

He told me, “there’s a snake behind that shelf”.

A snake? 

What is a snake doing inside our villa?

How big is it? 

How did it get inside?

Cat Vs. Spitting Cobra

Matt said that he was petting the villa cat, Albert, when he noticed something move in the bushes.

Matt walked inside our villa, where the workroom opens up through a big glass store to the front yard, and something followed him inside.

A cobra.

Yes, a COBRA FOLLOWED HIM INSIDE!

At first, we didn’t know it was a cobra.

I knew there were a lot of snakes in Bali, but we typically only saw smaller, harmless garden snakes.

Matt, without knowing that the snake was in fact a COBRA, moved the furniture to force the snake to leave the room.

Shockingly, it worked, and now the snake had moved on to our front outside seating area.

I, of course (in fear), ran inside to get a view from the snake on the other side of the glass door.

The snake was now slithering along the outside of the downstair’s bedroom glass door.

Albert, one of the villa’s cats, was fascinated by this snake and saw it as lunch.

Typically, having a cat (or several) in Bali is a great way to keep your home clear of any spiders, mice, rats, snakes, or whatever else is creeping around.

But, as I was taking a video of Albert trying to “catch” the snake, we saw its entire head puff out as an act of defense. 

And right at that moment, Matt said “Lex, that’s a cobra.”

What Is A Spitting Cobra Snake?

So… what is a cobra? And what kind of cobra are we talking about here?

Cobras are a species of highly venomous snakes with various subspecies. 

The cobra found in our villa was a “Spitting Cobra”.

Spitting cobras can be found in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, and Malaysia.

They are widely distributed in Bali, highly venomous, and are able to spray venom from their fangs up to 4-7 feet. 

I’m not going to go further into detail about Spitting Cobras, because honestly, I’m starting to freak myself out.

Okay, so now that you know about how we found the cobra and what these cobras are capable of… let’s skip to the “good” part.

The “Good” Part Of Our Spitting Cobra Story

Moments after Albert started messing with the cobra, the second he puffed his head – Albert ran away in fear.

At first, we were like “come on Albert, protect us”… but Albert stood no chance and we didn’t want him getting hurt.

So, we immediately called the staff over and he brought his friends, “the snake capturing” dream team.

Well, the dream team was actually 2 other guys in their 20s with a broom and a shovel that looked just as terrified, if not more, than we did.

I showed them the video of the snake, and they were in shock that it was in fact, a Spitting Cobra.

Well, we were too!

After about an hour of poking the ends of a broom and a shovel around in the bushes, the snake wasn’t found.

Although the finding of the snake wasn’t successful, and there’s still a thought in the back of my mind every day as we walk around our property that I will see this terrifying and dangerous snake – we did learn some interesting things from the locals regarding snakes.

They told us that here in Bali, snakes are believed to carry a very special spiritual significance.

If there is an unusually large snake in a temple in Bali, it is believed to signify the presence of a guardian deity – and therefore it must not be ostracized or killed. 

The locals also told us that there is a belief about killing cobras, and that if you find one on your property and kill it, then that snake’s partner will come back to the last place the snake was and curse the property – or attack.

Because of this, when a snake is found on your property in Bali, it is extremely important to not kill it.

Instead, you must use a tool to remove it and relocate it to another place.

What We Learned From This Snakexperience

So, after a crazy first few hours in our new villa, we finally just had to accept our experience and understand that we are in a different country, and that can come with different (and sometimes scary) creatures that we aren’t used to.

Although the cobra wasn’t found, and there’s a good chance that he’s just wandering around our front yard, we are happy to have been able to learn from this experience.

I cannot even believe how far I’ve come, and to say that I’m just “comfortable” knowing that I very well live in the presence of a cobra… but I feel a new sense of calmness and peace with all types of nature after living in the jungle for almost two months now.

Bali is an incredible island, and the beauty of living here all lies in nature.

So, if there’s any advice I can give on how to deal with the uncertainty of being in a new place and dealing with big, scary, or unusual-looking insects, reptiles, or animals – just remind yourself that they were here first, and you are the guest in their land.

What Do You Think About Snakes?

After reading our crazy story about finding a cobra in our villa, we want to know what you think.

Have you ever encountered a cobra?

What are your thoughts on finding peace in nature?

How would you have handled finding a cobra in your villa?

Let us know in the comments below, and we hope you enjoyed this blog post!