Named for the black color of the inside of its mouth, the black mamba is world renowned for its blazing fast speed, and is considered one of the deadliest snakes on the planet.
I’ve always been enthralled by this snake. Its sleek body and graceful elegance when moving, belies the deadly potential this snake harbors.
The St Louis zoo has an awesome display for their black mamba, and it is often active. It’s one of my favorite places to view this snake! I highly recommend going to see it if you ever get the chance!
Today I’d like to share with you tons of black mamba facts!
Some of them are well known, and some are lesser known, but all are listed to hopefully give you a deeper appreciation for this truly awesome reptile.
General Information
The black mamba lives in southern and eastern sub-Saharan Africa.
It can usually be found in the savannas, lightly wooded areas, rocky hills and outcroppings, and in lowland forest areas.
It is the longest venomous snake in Africa, but not in the world. That title belongs to the king cobra, which can be found in Asia.
They commonly grow to over 10 feet in length however, which is still pretty impressive in my opinion.
Extra Fact #1
Despite being named black mambas, these snakes are actually gray and/or brown.
The inside of their mouths are inky black in color though, and they prominently display their opened mouths when threatened.
The name “mamba” comes from the native African Zulu word “imamba” which translates to “scales”. This is why it’s called the black mamba.
They are considered the fastest snake in the world, reaching speeds up to 13mph. That’s faster than a lot of humans can run!
They cannot outrun a horse however, despite the many myths out there saying that they can.
The longest venomous snake in Africa, the fastest snake in the world, AND it’s considered one of the deadliest snakes in the world. No wonder they’re so fascinating!
Let’s look at more facts!
Black Mamba Venom
People bitten by black mambas often say the bite doesn’t really hurt.
Often times there isn’t any pain or even any swelling. This venom heads straight for the nerves instead.
When the central nervous system is attacked, major organs can begin to shut down.
Extra Fact #2
Being considered one of the deadliest snakes in the world requires some pretty serious toxins, and this snake is packed full of them.
They have both neurotoxins and cardiotoxins in their venom that deliver a serious punch as they attack both the nervous system and the heart.
The first symptoms after a venomous mamba bite are usually troubles breathing and difficulty talking.
This can happen in as little as 15 minutes. In some instances, cardiac arrest happens in as few as 20 minutes. If you don’t die from cardiac arrest, then respiratory paralysis will start to set in.
The respiratory system begins to fail, the heart is being attacked, but your brain is not.
Through all of this, your mind is active and you are very aware of what is happening.
You can feel it all, but you can’t move, can’t talk, can’t even swallow as respiratory failure begins. The lucky people slip into a coma in about an hour. The unfortunate one’s may take a few hours.
Either way, most people die within 6 hours unless they receive medical care and antivenom.
Fortunately antivenom is extremely effective for black mamba bites. Most people who receive it make a full recovery within a few days.
On the flip side, people who do not receive antivenom die nearly 100% of the time. Get medical help right away if you are ever bitten!
Black Mambas Are One Of Four Mamba Species
Most people are aware that the black mamba exists, and some can even point it out if they see a picture of it.
Fewer people realize that there are green mambas as well as black mambas in the family. Here’s an article I wrote about the differences between the black mamba and the green mamba.
Fewer still are the number of people who know that there are actually three different green mambas, and one black mamba.
In the mamba family there is the black mamba – dendroaspis polylepis, the eastern green mamba – dendroaspis angusticeps, the western green mamba – dendroaspis viridis, and the Jameson’s mamba – dendroaspis jamesoni.
All four live in different parts of Africa.
The black mamba is the only one of these that is considered a terrestrial snake, meaning it lives and hunts on the ground rather than in the trees.
In spite of that, black mambas are exceptional tree climbers which often do hunt in trees as well as on the ground.
Extra Fact #3
The black mamba and the eastern green mamba are the most closely related, with the Jameson’s mamba being the most distant relative in the mamba family.
They Have Hoods Like Cobras
Everybody recognizes a cobra, right?
They stand up tall and spread their impressive hoods to warn off would be predators.
Well the black mamba does the same thing, though admittedly its hood isn’t quite as impressive. It is very noticeable though, as it spreads its hood and opens its inky black mouth in a threatening manner.
Just like the cobra, the black mamba does this to make itself look bigger and more menacing to scare away anything that might attack it.
Another difference besides the size of the hood is the way they rear up. Cobras are well known for standing straight up to their full height. Mambas on the other hand lean forward at closer to a 45 degree angle.
Extra Fact #4
Mambas and cobras are actually in the same family!
That’s right, they are both part of the Elapidae family, which includes mambas, cobras, taipans and even some sea snakes.
All of these species have fixed, hollow fangs rather than hinged fangs like vipers.
These Snakes Can Have A Cranky Disposition
I’m writing this so that you can have a true understanding of the black mamba. Most articles talk about how this is a shy and elusive snake that tries to avoid human contact.
That is certainly true, but beyond that is a snake that is not afraid to take the fight to you.
Many handlers report that this snake can have a quite nasty disposition.
Rather than simply trying to get away, these snakes will often turn on their owners when loose, and become quite aggressive.
Of course all snakes are wild animals, and none can be tamed. Most snakes however, can at least be handled to some degree, even if it’s with a snake hook.
Not the black mamba.
It will go back and forth between trying to get away and attacking relentlessly. Even when you wear it down, it is extremely alert and will strike at the slightest provocation.
That being said, this snake would still prefer to avoid human contact when possible and chooses flight over flight when it has the opportunity.
Extra Fact #5
The highest number of reported black mamba snakebites is during their breeding season which lasts from September to February. This species as a whole become more easily aggravated and aggressive during these times.
Black Mambas Have Homes
These snakes are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day rather than at night. They are active hunters, so they spend their day time hours soaking up some sun rays and hunting.
At night they return to wherever it is they call home.
This is often a burrow such as an abandoned animal den, a termite mound or something else similar that offers shelter.
Black mambas keep the same home day after day, year after year for most if not all of their entire life when possible.
Extra Fact #6
As we said earlier, even though these snakes will fight when threatened, their first instinct is to simply get away.
They know where their home is though, and will aggressively attack if you are blocking access to their home while they are trying flee to it.
They Have A Very Fast Metabolism…For Snakes
Snakes are well known for their ability to go days or weeks between meals.
Snakes jaws are capable of opening extremely wide to encompass animals wider than themselves. Their stomachs are also capable of expanding to many times the original size to hold the meal. Digestion can take days.
Black mambas on the other hand, have metabolisms that digests food in about 10 hours.
And even though they are capable of consuming larger meals, they typically stick to smaller prey such as rodents, birds and occasionally lizards and other snakes.
Extra Fact #7
The average size prey for the black mamba typically weighs only around 5%-10% the weight of the snake itself.
They Often Times Attack The Upper Body
Snake bites from most species hit either the feet, ankles, or the hand.
The reason for this is that the two most common causes of snake bites is stepping on a snake and/or handling one.
The black mamba is a pretty long snake. On top of that, it can raise nearly 40% of its body off the ground to attack.
When you have a 10 foot long snake that raises its body four feet off the ground when attacking, you have a great chance of being bitten on the upper body.
Extra Fact #8
Although the mortality rate for venomous bites without antivenom is considerably high, it is widely believed there is a way to have a decent chance for survival without it.
By inducing a coma and keeping a person on life support for several days, the body has a chance of fighting off the venom by itself. Personally I’d rather not take that chance!
Give me the antivenom!
Why The Black Mamba Might Be The Deadliest Snake In The World
According to snakedatabase.org, the black mamba is ranked seventh on the LD50 SC list.
When a snake is that high on the list, it really doesn’t matter if they’re ranked a little higher or a little lower. A single bite is more than enough to kill you, and kill you quickly.
We want to see if this snake might be the deadliest of all though, so look at these facts.
- Of the six snakes higher on the list, two of them are sea snakes.
- Sea snakes are rarely encountered and VERY rarely bite.
- When they do bite, their fangs are so small it takes very little protection to prevent them from breaking the skin. A wet suit would certainly do the trick.
The inland taipan is another snake that ranks higher than the black mamba.
This snake lives in very remote areas however, is hardly ever above ground during the day, and rarely has human contact.
It’s venom may be more potent, but its extremely limited accessibility to most humans and the fact that there have been no reported human fatalities from this snake, keeping it from being considered the number one deadliest snake.
Here is an article I wrote about the deadliness of the inland taipan.
The South American rattlesnake is also on that list, but again has very little human contact.
That leaves the coastal taipan and the eastern brown snake.
Don’t get me wrong, both of these snakes are extremely deadly.
The availability of medical care is the difference here.
These snakes are native to Australia where medical care and antivenom are normally readily available. There are only an average of two deaths caused by snake bites each year in Australia.
The black mamba on the other hand, is often found in areas where antivenom and hospitals are less abundant.
It is estimated that anywhere from 4,000 to 30,000 people per year die from snake bites in sub-saharan Africa alone.
THAT is what might make the black mamba the deadliest snake in the world.
Extra Fact #9
The LD50 scale is used to measure the toxicity of venomous animals.
This scale shows how much venom it takes to kill 50% of the animals it is tested on. This is usually mice.
The LD50 SC scale means that the animals tested had venom injected under the skin as opposed to directly into a blood vessel, deep into the muscles or in some other fashion. This is the most widely used scale since it represents the result of most snake bites.
Bites directly into a vein or artery are rare, and most snakes don’t have fangs long enough to deeply puncture muscle tissue.
Black Mamba Facts Finale
I’ve tried to write this article in a way that gives you facts about the black mamba that go beyond what most articles and web sites tell you.
This wouldn’t be complete however, if I didn’t include the more mundane, everyday knowledge facts too.
So here it goes, in rapid fire.
Black Mamba Life Expectancy
Captive snakes have been known to live from 12-20 years. Mambas in the wild have a considerably shorter lifespan, and are believed to live to around 11 years.
Black Mamba Reproduction
These snakes mate from September through February.
Males wrestle one another for dominance and the right to mate with the female. They do this by intertwining themselves, each one trying to get higher than the other to overpower them.
If the female is satisfied with the winner, she will allow them to mate.
Two to three months after mating, the female will find a safe place to lay her eggs. Clutch sizes average 6-17, and the incubation period is another two to three months.
Black mambas are not paternal.
After laying her eggs, the female will move on and have nothing more to do with her young. The babies are completely self sufficient from the time they are born, and are every bit as venomous as the adults.
General Black Mamba Behavior
Black mambas are loners. They don’t live in groups, and outside of mating, have nothing to do with one another.
They seem to be creatures of habit. If you followed a black mamba, you would find that it starts out each day heading to a basking spot. It would most likely bask at the same time and at the same place each day.
Unlike other snakes that will eat a big meal, and then spend a few days digesting, these snakes hunt for food every day.
In captivity they should be fed at least twice per week as opposed to every 10 days like many other snake species.
In the afternoon, you will find the mamba returning to its same basking spot for a couple of hours before foraging some more. Then at night, the snake will return to its same home to sleep until morning.
Just another day in the life of a black mamba.
How Black Mambas Hunt
Unlike ambush snakes such as the bushmaster, which sit in one spot sometimes for days waiting for prey to come to them, black mambas are active hunters.
They are always on the move looking for their next meal. They hunt high and low, searching through branches of trees, through burrows in the ground and everywhere in between.
When they locate their prey, they strike rapidly delivering multiple bites in succession. They don’t hang on to their prey, but rather allow the venom to do its work.
This helps keep them out of harms way as many of the animals they hunt will fight back and could injure the snake.
Conclusion
Hopefully you can now see why I think these snakes are so fascinating AND often misunderstood.
Their reputation as the fastest and possible deadliest snake in the world is warranted, but often grossly exaggerated.
Yes they’re the fastest snake in the world, but at 13mph you still have a chance to outrun them. And besides, they want to use their speed to get away from you, not chase you!
Overall there are a beautiful and graceful snake. While they have deadly potential, they prefer to be left alone to live their days hunting rodents and basking in the sun.
Not a bad life!