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Snakes: Black mamba

Jumbo

Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:10 am

wildtuinman wrote

I dunno hey... I don't think that you should make an already bedonnerd snake even further demoeren by spraying it with something in the eyes. :twisted:

Good point! :shock:

It just so sad to have to kill them, but often you really and honestly do not have a choice.

They are actually fascinating creatures and a BM sighting in Kruger (not on our stoep) is the ultimate for us. We actually had a very nice sighting last Monday on the S92 near Olifants….it was a big guy/girl….it went over the road and then for a few seconds raised itself up between the grass….quite amazing how they lift themselves up like that!

wildtuinman wrote

Get yourself a pet honeybadger.

Think the SO will prefer to do the mamba with a BM than to constantly leopard crawl to avoid the pet Honey Badger. :lol:

I actually wonder if a Honey Badger will take on a full-grown BM? Anybody ever seen this or heard of it?

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wildtuinman
Legendary Virtual Ranger
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:27 am
Posts: 5349
Location: Chasing down the rarities

Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:24 am

And a good point with regards to your SO! LMAO!

Honeybadger is a deadly snake killer (hulle skrik vir bôggerol). A Zambian lodge reported a badger with live 2.5m black mamba clutched in it's teeth. It then wandered off to go feast on the snake.

Badger killing black mamba have been observed quite a few times, I've heard. I've never seen it myself thou.

Some reports even mention badger being immune to the snake's venom, but I won't bet all my lunch box money on that.

davegrohl
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:31 am
Posts: 65

Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:08 pm

I was also lucky(?) enough to see a black mamba on foot.

Was on a hunting farm in Thabazimbi area (not sure if they are common or rare in this part), for those that don't know, its in the northern province.

I went with a group for a hunt (i don't hunt, I just go with for the food, drink and sleeping under the stars). While they were off hunting, I would walk around our base camp, never more than a km away from the base (saw a crimson breasted shrike!), when a friend and I stopped dead in our tracks.
A 7/8 footer was gliding through the short grass along our would-be path.
About 10 meters away.
We didn't move, but luckily the snake didn't give us any attention and moved on through.

A bite from a BM in the middle of nowhere (didn't have cell phone), would not have ended pretty.

We turned around and had a breakfast beer to calm the nerves!

Meandering Mouse
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Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 8:47 pm
Posts: 10377
Location: meandering between senility and menopause

Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:09 am

I have only seen a BM once in the Park, close to Skukuza.
I was interested to read that it can "propel itself" off the ground.
This is exactly what this snake was doing.
It was so quick as it crossed the road that it seemed to be moving a couple of centimetres above the ground.
I have since seen many snakes cross the road, it is nothing like what I saw that day.

Pilane
Virtual Ranger
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:11 pm
Posts: 472
Location: Somewhere in the Bush

Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:26 pm

Quote

BM is painless and you just need to be put on life support, that is if you can get to one in time.

Breathing and circurlation starts to shut down, cramps, paralysis of the larynx, hyper ventilation, uncontrolled vomitting, suffocation....... relatively painless :twisted:

Bennievis
Virtual Ranger
Joined: Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:06 pm
Posts: 642
Location: Testing the sand, so to speak

Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:57 pm

Quote

Nelspruit - The body of a young British man who was studying to become a game ranger near Hoedspruit and who would have celebrated his 29th birthday this week, was flown back to London on Tuesday after he died of a black-mamba bite.
Nathan Layton, 28, had not thought initially that the snake had managed to bite him.

According to a report in the British newspaper, The Times, staff were transferring the snake from one container to another so that students could examine it more easily.

Layton apparently had been waving his arms to encourage the snake to move faster when it bit him on the finger.

According to a statement from Bushwise, the snake bit Layton on March 4 at the South African Wildlife Campus where he was completing the Bushwise game-ranger training programme.

Bushwise personnel reacted immediately and called an ambulance when Nathan began showing symptoms of a snake bite.

"He was declared dead shortly after the ambulance arrived," according to a statement.

Bushwise said that no one, including Layton, had realised that he had been bitten.

I always thought you will know when a mamba bit you, that it would be like a gun shot - painful :shock:

Now my respect for these creatures are even more.
Goodness me.. talk about handle with care.

Mfezi
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 7:27 pm
Posts: 134
Location: Somewhere

Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:43 am

Can anyone maybe shed more light on the fact that you get bitten by a snake but you do not feel it. Taking into consideration that the fangs are basically a hypodermic needle penetrating your tissue, surely you should feel the slight sting when it enters your finger or tissue. Then also the fingers are supplied with a lot of nerve endings and sensory "bodies." I would also expect that one will feel a slight bump when the jaw bones of the snake hits the target.

I think that there are many unanswered questions here!!

Anyone with Black Mamba experience that can shed more light on to this, will be appreciated.

Imberbe
Senior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:28 am
Posts: 14342
Location: Pretoria, RSA

Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:02 am

It often happens that when a person get injured he / she does not initially feel it. It is a function of the human body and not particular to a snake bite.

As for snake bite, the bite itself is not that big an impact. As you mentioned, it is like needles. I have had injections that hurt, and I have had injections you could hardly feel.

I don't think one should make too much of it. :wink:

Meandering Mouse
Legendary Virtual Ranger
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 8:47 pm
Posts: 10377
Location: meandering between senility and menopause

Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:59 am

Black Mamba venom is a neuro toxin and cardio toxin.
It could be that it deadens the nerve endings in the area once the venom enters the area.
That is my theory.
It attacks the cardio vascular system very quickly.
It can kill in as little as 15 minutes.
I should imagine that the cytotoxic venoms are the one's that are extremely painful as it kills the body's cells. Puffies would cause extremely painful bites due to the necrosis and due to the size of the fangs.

It is a very sad story about this young man.
Again, it illustrates how much respect and caution needs to be used when dealing with wild animals.

BLACK MAMBA

Diesel
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:13 pm
Posts: 110
Location: Knysna

Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:03 pm

I saw black mamba crossing the road a few times when travelling in my vehicle in the Kruger.
I also like doing wilderness trails in the Kruger and luckily never encountered one on foot.
I believe that you may have a black mamba visiting you, when you smell curry when entering your hut.
And this is not a joke.
I would like to know more about the behaviour of these animals....
Are they afraid of humans?
When do you know it is ready to strike?
I heard that it will not go out of it's way for you - if you are in it's way, you will be bitten?
What do you do when facing a black mamba?
I also believe that the closer you come to a mamba, the higher it lift it's head from the ground - there were cases of people being bitten as high as their shoulders????
Can someone help?

wildcat50
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:02 pm
Posts: 4

Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:00 am

Diesel you were definitely lucky to see the mamba from the safety of your car and not on foot!
They are beautiful creatures

I have also heard that they will not travel around you if you cross their path.
Dr Ian Player mentions in one of his books an encounter he had when walking a wilderness trail where he crossed a black mambas path and it reared up to face him, he remained completely motionless and after a few seconds it lowered itself to the ground and continued on its journey.
Must have been terrifying.
They apparently move at a considerable speed as well

Johan van Rensburg
Distinguished Virtual Ranger
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 3:33 pm
Posts: 1943
Location: St Inkbank

Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:10 pm

I enjoyed a relatively close encounter with a mamba recently in Mapungubwe NP, together with Natal spurfowl and Meves's starling. These birds were quite fearless. Check out the thread here.

Bennievis
Virtual Ranger
Joined: Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:06 pm
Posts: 642
Location: Testing the sand, so to speak

Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:32 am

Please peeps, I am completely sober. I have read somewhere on the forum (cant find it now) that apparently you will smell curry when a mamba is in a room.. is this true?? :shock:

Diesel
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:13 pm
Posts: 110
Location: Knysna

Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:42 pm

Bennievis, when we did the Sweni trail we had a briefing the first night (they always do the first night).
Our guide warned us to always check for snakes under our beds when entering our huts.
He said that a black mamba smells like curry and if you do smell curry in your hut, you better get out fast.
I am sure that he knows what he is talking about, as he has been a guide in the Kruger for many years...

armata
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 8:29 pm
Posts: 21
Location: Oudtshoorn

Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:56 pm

I studied Black mambas in KZN for two years, and wrote up a paper.
They stick around the same refuge permanently if left undisturbed.
I watched them from a hide, just like you would a bird.
Observing them like this showed a new perspective, calm and peaceful.
Many people get bitten when attempting to kill a BM with a stick or a panga - the only safe way if you have to is with a firearm.

I now live in the Little Karoo and study the dwarf adders and also the Cape cobra, the latter is showing very similar habits to the BM.

BTW do you know that all the BM bites in Swaziland are fatal?
They do not have antiserum and have limited respirator facilities.

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