Black Mamba

The black mamba is one of the deadliest creatures on the planet, and one of the most feared in some parts of the world. Its scientific name is Dendroaspis polylepis. If bitten by a black mamba, you have 20 minutes to live unless you get antivenin in this time. It can grow up to 14 feet long, and is commonly up to 10 feet long, and is a formidable foe to all animals. In captive, it has lived up to 10 years, but they may be able to live much longer in the wild.

Black mambas are in the class of Reptilia, the order of Squamata, suborder Serpentes, and the family of Elapidae. They mostly live in wooded savanna and the rocky hills of middle Africa. When they finding a mate, the males wrestle and the winner gets the girl. Then, the females lay their eggs in hollow trees or termite mounds. The snakes lay 5-8 eggs each season but provide little or no protection for them. Their strong, slender bodies are very well adapted to slither through the tight spaces, which they inhabit, and it also makes it easier for them to sneak up on their prey. This animal’s diet mainly consists of small mammals, rodents, or birds. The snake finds it’s prey by climbing through trees and, when they sight an animal that could become a meal, they move in for an attack. When they strike their prey and it is almost instantly immobilized so it can be easily eaten.

The mambas have no natural predators, only humans that can attack them. Black mambas are actually very scared of humans, but if they have nowhere else to go, they will start violently attacking. Humans and black mambas have been coming into contact much more recently because humans are encroaching on the snake’s territory in which it inhabits. The black mamba is a truly misunderstood and fantasized creature. This snake mostly lives a life of solidarity. If a human comes near it, it will just slither away, not viciously strike as most people think that it would. The only problems we have with this is animal is caused by us, not them, and it is our duty to accommodate these animals in a world we are vastly changing. I believe that this is true for all animals, most of them are just misunderstood, or mistreated.