Today we are going to talk about one of the best known snakes in the world for being one of the most poisonous on the African continent. It's about the black mamba. It belongs to the Elipidae family and is characterized by being poisonous. These snakes are characterized by other surprising aspects that surprise most people.
In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the black mamba.
Key features
It is a snake whose skin color is dark green or gray on the back and a whitish color on the back. It is called black mamba because the color of the inside of its mouth is bluish black. It is one of the longest snakes in all of Africa, being the average length of an adult specimen about 2,5 meters and can reach up to 4,5 meters.
One of the characteristics by which this species can be recognized with the naked eye is that the head has an elongated and narrow shape. It is a reptile, daytime activity and quite agile despite having no limbs. It is one of the fastest in the world, being able to go at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. Stability uses it in predation to obtain a greater range of success in hunting its prey.
In general, he has a rather shy and lonely demeanor. Rarely can you see several specimens of black mamba at the same time. However, it has a fairly territorial behavior. If she sees another individual for which she feels a threat or could invade their territory, she will be very aggressive. The posture he adopts in these situations is to raise his head to the highest possible height and unfold a hood that he has on the sides of his head. This aspect makes him look like a cobra, only it is bigger than him. He hisses and opens his mouth to attack the most opportune moment.
Another of the characteristics for which it is very feared is that when it hunts it does not do so by attacking only once. Its modus operandi is that of attack several times in a row and very quickly depending on the size of the prey. When it bites, it injects the lethal venom to paralyze or end the life of the individual. It is quite detained because it has been the cause of deaths in people. Although the deaths have not been caused because the black mamba has attacked first, it has felt threatened in its territory.
Habitat and area of distribution
This snake is indigenous to the African continent. Its distribution area includes countries among which we find the Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Kenya.
It usually lives in different ecosystems since they have a great capacity for adaptation. However, the preferred ecosystems are those that have dry environments with little humidity. Thus, we find it in larger populations both in deserts and in savannas. These ecosystems are located at an altitude of less than 1000 meters. On the other hand, we can also find them in some forests and jungles with humidity and altitudes that reach 1600 and 1800 meters in height. It is considered a species that is found among the vegetation where it places the burrows in small holes or rocks. Only occasionally can it be a tree snake. This happens if they are in ecosystems with a lot of vegetation.
Feeding the black mamba
This species hunts during the day and rests at night. The most common prey are mammals, birds and reptiles with a small size. They are capable of defending themselves against larger predators thanks to the lethal venom they possess. To capture their prey, they use their bite in such a way that the prey is capable of dying in just a few seconds. The main effect of its poison is paralyzing. The prey that has been injected with the poison is completely paralyzed without being able to give it a chance to defend itself. When the poison takes effect the prey dies.
When it has already met its prey and has hunted it It devours it without even chewing. To do this, disengage its lower jaw as these reptiles do in general. This is how they can swallow whole prey and the digestive system is responsible for digesting the animal completely.
Reproduction of the black mamba
The reproduction of this reptile takes place once a year. It is the only time of the year when we can find several individuals of this species in the same ecosystem of their own free will. The mating season takes place in spring. During this time, the males compete with each other for the females. To do this, they intertwine their bodies to try to immobilize the enemy and raise their head above the opponent. Whoever has won the battle has the prestige of being able to sniff out the female and begin mating.
Its reproduction is oviparous. The female has the ability to lay between 6 and 17 eggs in a burrow. She is not even considered a Mother since she does not have any role in the care or protection of the eggs. The eggs hatch at three months and the new individuals are already able to find their own food or develop and grow on their own.
The venom of the black mamba is what makes it so well known. It is a poison that has quite powerful neurotoxins and cardiotoxins that act with great speed. They directly attack the nervous system and the heart system. To give you an idea of how dangerous the venom of this snake is, we will tell you that each bite it is capable of injecting 100 mg of poison, while the dose that is capable of killing a human being is only 10 mg. That is, with just one sting it would be able to end the life of a person in a matter of seconds.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the black mamba.