The Wrath of the Mamba

This blog is not one of those where I talk about threats to an animal species and how humans are the reason for it, this blog is more of an informative blog about one of the most respected and at the same time the most feared snake. The infamous Black Mamba, a snake which instils fear in the hearts of even the bravest.

About the Black Mamba

The Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is the second largest venomous snake on the planet after King Cobra and the largest venomous snake in Africa. Black Mamba belongs to the Elapidae family of snake, characterized by a pair of proteroglyphous fangs at the front of the mouth (It includes snakes with a pair of erect an fixed fangs at the front of the mouth and small solid teeth behind. The fangs are hollow and short). The reason why Black Mambas are called so, is because of the black inky interior mouth and not because of the black body as in fact they have more of a greyish body.

They can get up to more than 10 feet with the maximum length reported of reaching up to 14 feet. Black Mambas are also known to be the world’s most agile snake and can move up to a speed of 16 km/hr to 20 km/hr for short distances, but they usually this speed to run away from any potential predator including humans rather than using it to hunt.

The reason why even the most expert snake handlers are afraid of handling Black Mambas is because of their notorious nature. They are very flighty snakes with a very nasty venom, about which we will be talking further in the blog. The cylindrical and athletic body of the black Mambas helps them to move quickly on land and be great climbers as well, thus making them a terrestrial and arboreal snake.

Upon being threatened they open up their mouth, flashing the fearsome inky black interior, hissing and hood up like a cobra. At this stage any sudden movement should be avoided as it can provoke the snake and make it strike at you. Always remember that not only the Black Mamba but any other snake has nothing to do with humans. Slowly backing up is the best way to go about it in such situations.

The Black Mamba possess a nasty and highly potent neurotoxic venom. Neurotoxic venom directly affects the nervous system of a human body. It affects the receptors of the nerve cells by binding itself on it which starts from the brain and through electrical impulses send signals to all the parts of the body.

It affects the synapse function of the nerve cells. (The distance between two nerve cells is known as a Synapse) For an electrical impulse to pass, a chemical is realised at the synapse by the nerve ending. The electrical impulse then passes on from this chemical to the other nerve cell and the process continues till the electrical impulse reaches its destination.

Due to the neurotoxic venom a nerve cell is not able to send signals or electrical impulses to the other nerve cell thus the victim starts losing consciousness. The early symptom is when the victim starts tasting copper or something very saline on the tongue and the tongue begins to get heavier. This is a sign of the beginning of paralysis. Soon the diaphragm of the victim collapses and he suffocates to death.

The neurotoxic venom also causes immense pain, drowsiness and headaches to the victim. The venom of the Black Mambas might not be the most potent but it surely is the fastest acting venom. Black Mambas are also very fast strikers and bites multiple times thus making their bite a more lethal one. There is a 100 percent mortality rate if a Black Mamba bite is left untreated and antivenom is not given on time. They can inject up to 100 to 120 mg venom in a single bite. An average person can die within 30 minutes to 45 minutes of envenomation and a person who is hyper allergic to venom can die within 10 to 12 minutes after envenomation.

Today, Black Mamba is categorized as Least Concern according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as they are present in abundance in their natural range.

Despite its fierce reputation a Black Mamba won’t envenomate any human unless threatened or invaded in its area as it is a complete waste of venom for any snake. Black Mamba is a shy snake and has nothing to do with us, even in the wild the first thing they would do is to get away from us.