Black Mamba (Dendroaspis Polylepis)
The black mamba has had the most bad press of any African snake.
When it bites it can inject between 100mg and 300mg of venom.
25mg is sufficient to kill an adult.
The venom is fast acting and can cause death in less than an hour or up to 6 hours.
It has a neurotoxic venom which affects mainly the nerves related to respiration.
The fangs are slightly hinged on the maxilla.
Myths
Black Mambas bite their tails to form a wheel to roll after prey.
They can exceed 100km/h.
They kill cattle for fun.
They are the most venomous snakes in Africa.
They chase after people.
They can exceed 5m.
They are the most aggressive snakes.
They are called black mamba because they are black.
Facts
They don’t bite their tails to roll after prey.
They can reach a top speed of 11km/h, the average human can run 25km/h.
Mambas will only bite livestock if it is small enough to swallow or if the snake perceives it to be a threat.
Black Mambas are 3rd on the list when it comes to toxicity, it is beaten by the Boomslang and the Vine snake.
Just because the snake is trying to escape in the same direction as the person, does not mean the latter is being chased.
The average length for an adult is 2.5m, the longest ever recorded was 4.4m.
Black mambas are nervous snakes, because of this they often appear to be aggressive. Make no mistake they will bite if cornered. They prefer to move off when disturbed.
They get their name from the pitch black interior of their mouth. The body colouring is mostly grey or greenish grey with a light blue-grey underside.
They are mostly terrestrial but are as at home in trees as they are on the ground.
The cache is placed in a very large tree