10 facts about the Black Mamba

1. Black mambas are fast, nervous, lethally venomous, and when threatened, highly aggressive. They have been blamed for numerous human deaths, and African myths exaggerate their capabilities to legendary proportions. For these reasons, the black mamba is widely considered the world’s deadliest snake.
2. They grow 14 feet in length, and can travel at speeds of up to 12 mph.
3. After the king cobra, the black mamba is the longest venomous snake in the world.
4. Black mamba hatchlings are around 51cm long, and greyish-green in colour. They are independent immediately and can catch prey the size of a small rat. Within a year, they reach 2m. Young mambas are eaten by mongooses, and even adult mambas are eaten by the secretary bird and larger species of eagle.
5. As little as 2 drops of its venom can kill a person and a mamba can have up to 20 drops of venom in its fangs.
6. Black mambas usually bite their prey once or twice and then allow it go off to die before attempting to eat. They may however, bite and hold when eating birds. Their venom is mainly based on neurotoxins that are absorbed quickly by the prey. The venom will cause a blockade at the neuromuscular junction which blocks every signal from the brain passing through the nervous system to the muscles which causes systemic paralysis. The prey will die from suffocation due to paralysis of the muscles of respiration.
7. This snake can lift two-thirds of it's body off the ground when striking.
8. They are found in pairs or small groups. They are very nervous, and head away fast when a human approaches. When the mamba feels threatened it will raise its front and head about 3-4 feet off the ground, open its mouth, spread a flat hood, and shake its head. When they attack they will make several quick strikes, and escape as fast as they can. They can strike from 4-6 feet away. Before antivenins were developed, a black mamba bite was 100% fatal.
9. The Black Mambas lay between 12 – 17 eggs at a time. The eggs take 70 – 90 days to hatch. The babies are 40 – 60 cm (3-5 feet) in length when they hatch. Mambas lay their eggs in termite mounds, holes, logs, or shrews.The main time that they breed is late spring or early summer.
10. Mambas have a different nervous systems then humans and they move for a few minutes after death or getting their heads cut off.