Black Mamba

The fastest snake in the world (according to various websites).



This snake can accurately strike even when moving at full speed. The black mamba has a top speed of 12 to 15 miles (23km) per hour (depending on source, Animal Planet said today 15 MPH) and is found all over southern and central Africa. This speed is faster than the average human.





Extremely agile, this snake can move faster than any other snake through thick cover or open ground. It has an average life span of 12 years and can grow to 14 feet in length.

One info site says they have a head shaped like a coffin! Due to their skeletal anatomy, a large mamba can raise it's head 6 feet off the ground. Black mambas often live in family groups. Two drops of venom are enough to kill a human.



Well, I am not sure how anyone measured the speed of these critters.

Enjoy your Sunday!

.

hmmm,
fast snake...

wonder if he's faster than jeffe's shovel!!!!

This thread is about to talk me out of ever going back....

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:

Horrible information, snipped.

Ann... this is just an awful thing to post after I've seen "Kill Bill: Volume II."



Russ

Jeffe's shovel

You have no idea do you?

Whether it's true or not, mambas are reputed to have a memory and a penchant for revenge. The most famous case is that of a mamba in RSA that had it's tail run over on a dirt track. Unable to catch the cause to it's pain (the car), the angry snake did the nest best thing; it attacked a nearby farming operation, biting and killing seven field hands.

When I hunted Namibia two years ago, the young assistant PH on the ranch had recently killed a mamba with a rifle. When they returned to the house, the owner told him that if he ever tried to kill a mamba again with a rifle, he was fired! Too much danger of wounding the snake, which might then become a killer.

While on that same hunt, the conversation about snakebite came up (of course) and the ranch owner said that they had learned one treatment for a mamba bite. "If you are bitten by a mamba, you should immediately get out of the sun and into the shade of a big mopane tree," Gunther (the ranch owner) told us.

"How does that help control the poison?" I asked.

"It doesn't," he replied. "But no person should have to die in the hot sun!"

I sure hope I never have occasion to take the treatment.

Ann, I sure don't know anything about their speed but I know that the naturalist's take on animal speed is mostly guesswork.

Several years ago while living in the Florida Keys I was offshore fishing with some friends. At the end of the adventure we were cruising home at 55 mph, the source on that info from a VERY accurate speedometer, that backed by data from a Loran and an additional readout on the bottom finder. We were treated to 5 minutes of dolphin frolic along the way, intercepted by 4 of them on a 45* angle and we watched with amazement as they crisscrossed under the bow, leapt and cavorted with ease. That speed is well above that which I've seen attributed to them or any other marine creature and I had the distinct impression they weren't even trying. I haven't ever tried to work out the speed they were moving when they intercepted us but my first sighting of them was at about 200 yards off the starboard beam. It was simply amazing.

The boat is the MV Harpoon, a 26' Sutphen Rumrunner(substantially modified from race configuration), powered by a pair of Johnson 225Hp counter-rotating surface drives, with 2nd level upgrade from Evolution Marine, Gil Bracket mounted. Top speed capability slightly in excess of 80 mph, which adds a new dimension to the concept of high speed trolling.

Hey Russ. I saw Kill Bill 2 as well. Did the mamba get the broad as well? Whatever her name was? She was blinded in the other eye and left in the trailer as I recollect. Not as good as Kill Bill 1 IMHO.
Peter.

Peter,

Elle Driver aka "California Mountain Snake"...don't know if the mamba gets her as she is last seen thrashing around the floor after having her second eye plucked out! I actually like KBII a little better than #1. Tarantino is one warped individual!!!

I've seen a lot of mambas, mostly while they were zooming thru the bush. No way in hell could you out run one. Luckily they are not usually looking for a fight.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Hey Russ. I saw Kill Bill 2 as well. Did the mamba get the broad as well? Whatever her name was? She was blinded in the other eye and left in the trailer as I recollect. Not as good as Kill Bill 1 IMHO.
Peter.

Darryl Hannah was left in the trailer with the Black Mamba, yes. However, if you'll recall from the end credits (I always watch the credits when some folks don't), they had a question mark listed for her "fate." So, with that, there could be a Kill Bill: Volume III" or something.

Russ

Not so. Even after running a search on google the black mamba came up as being the fastest snake in the world.

To my knowledge the fastest snake is the Black Whipsnake (Demansia atra) I have been a passionate breed and herpetologist, though I stopped keeping a few years ago.

I vaguely recall a study was done which actually measured the top speed of the black whipsnake over a reasonable distance but at this moment it escapes me.

I do know I have catch several and they are a very quick snake, as are the rest of the Demansia genus.

Useless bit of trivia to contradict this thread, but I couldn't resist.

Snakes will always be surrounded by myth mystery and folklore.