During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

Emily Hicks (not pictured) of Charleston holds her dog Murphy along the waterfront ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Dorian in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., September 4, 2019. (Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters)

People stand with sheep for sacrifice outside a church during St. George's Day celebration in the village of Ikalto, Georgia, November 23, 2015. Georgia marks on Monday one of its most popular religious and public holidays. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

Women, who are members of Saaed group, prepare food to be given out as Iftar meals for the poor and internally displaced Syrians during the month of Ramadan in Damascus, Syria June 18, 2016. Iftar (or Fatoor) is the evening meal when Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. Muslims break their fast at the time of the call to prayer for the evening prayer. (Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

A rider rears up on his horse while surrounded by a cheering crowd during the traditional Fiesta of Sant Joan (Saint John) in downtown Ciutadella, on the island of Menorca, Spain June 23, 2016. Horse riders are representatives of ancient Ciutadella society – nobility, clergy, craftsmen and farmers. (Photo by Enrique Calvo/Reuters)

Revellers react after falling in the mud at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival, Britain, June 26, 2016. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

René Maltête was a French photographer and poet. His pictures were based on the element of surprise and incongruity, often having a humorous and even philosophical side to them. At the start of his career, he often had to resort to manual labor as an addition to his to his profession in order to pay the bills. However, René's talent of seeing and being able to capture in time humorous moment of mundane, day-to-day life payed off in the end. Over the years, his works were published in a number of magazines in addition to numerous exhibitions that were held worldwide to popularize his work. (Photo by René Maltête)

Geof Kern is an internationally renown photographer based in Dallas. He stands among the most awarded American photographers.