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Click here for a printable version of this page.
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What Stephen's holding isn't a magic wand.
There are some who say it has magical powers. But will it really allow him to charm an extremely dangerous brilliant creature?
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The creature concerned is this awesome monocled cobra.
It's an fast moving, venomous snake and so is very, very dangerous.
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This type of snake is used all over India by snake charmers, who sit in front of their snakes playing the pipe.
The cobra sits up out of the basket, gets into a striking position and appears to concentrate on the music!
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So does it work? Well, Stephen put it to the test in the studio!
As soon as the music starts, the snake appears to respond by emerging from the basket just as expected.
But if you take the music away, the snake is still transfixed!
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Well, it has nothing to do with the music, and everything to do with the pipe.
The snake sees the pipe as a threat - so he gets ready to strike in case the pipe gets too close.
Snakes can't actually hear - they're completely deaf. In fact they don't have ears!
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