Black Mamba ( Dendroaspis polylepis) is a large, round-bodied, slender, but powerful snake. It tapers smoothly towards the tail, but is of markedly more robust build build than its distinctly gracile congeners Dendroaspis angusticeps and Dendroaspis viridis.
Black Mamba is most dangerous creature. There are so many facts and so much fiction about this animal it becomes quite difficult to reconcile the two.
See here for
factual information and read on below for our own fun facts about this
serpentine sweetie, some are disputed – can you guess which!?
1) The coffin shaped head… well, that one you can figure out.
2) Speed over the ground; Usually one kph
less that the average person can run!! (actually only about 15
kilometers per hour for a short distance). This is subjective as there
have been no black mamba races nor any volunteers to do testing.
They normally go their fastest while trying to escape from humans, rather than chasing them!
3) They are subject to quite heavy predation (snake eagles, mongooses and occasionally Cape File snakes)
4) The ‘black’ part is the inside of their mouth, as they tend to be a brown/metal grey colour.
5) They will rarely strike/bite a human (most
times when handling them or when they feel threatened) but if they do,
it will be repeatedly and they will envenomate when they can.
6) They are very skittish and the display
they put on if confronted is generally remembered forever. They flatten
their necks while rising off the ground and audibly hiss while flicking
their tongue. They will generally not let a human approach within 40
meters (We are a walking destination, but not for getting close to
mambas).
7)Their Life spine is about 11 years.
8) The venom of the black mamba is extremely toxic, commonly causing collapse in humans within 45 minutes or less from a single bite.
9) Their tongues are absolutely fascinating as can be seen in the picture above.
No comments:
Post a Comment