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The last thing that I wanted to see and the last thing I expected to see in Africa was a Black Mamba. The longest venomous snake in Africa, second in the world only to the King Cobra of Asia. It is fast, mean, and deadly. In a single bite it can inject enough venom to kill 20-40 adults, which is 3 times more venomous than the Cape Cobra, more than 5 times as venomous as the King Cobra, and about 40 times as venomous as the Gaboon Viper. It is one snake I did not want any part of. Yet, less than 12 hours after I landed in Africa I was looking at one stretched across a dirt farm road not more than 20 yards in front of me. 
I think the driver, the tracker, and the professional hunter probably saw it at about the same time. I saw it but I couldn't make my mind believe that I was seeing a snake so peaceably laying stretched across the road, minding its own business, and making no effort to move. "What is it?" "A cobra," said the PH. Great, I thought. I've always wanted to photograph a cobra up close. Having lived and worked in Asia a number of years where the King Cobra naturally occur I had, in not a few occasions, been intentionally close to those poisonous serpents but I had never had the opportunity to take my own photos of them. Now I snapped a pic. I wanted to get closer and maybe get a real interesting photo but before I could the tracker said, "Black Mamba". Now that's a snake of a different color. I decided that I was close enough for photographic work. "Go ahead and shoot him", the PH gave me permission. "Where should I shoot him?" "Close to the head." I picked up my .308, chambered a round, safety off, then peered through the 4-power scope to pick the spot where to hit the snake. I moved the crosshairs along its gardenhose=slim body, first to the right, then leftward along its entire length but I couldn't see the head clearly. I didn't know which end to shoot. "You have to shoot quickly, otherwise he'll get away," the PH warned. I knew that the crosshairs and the bullet point of impact were dead-on at 100 yards since I had just a few hours ago zeroed the rifle in. That means at 25 yards it should hit exactly where the bullet would hit at 100, so says the trajectory chart. I put the crosshairs where the snake's body touched the ground and about a foot to the right of where I thought the head was. I let off a round. I knew I had hit it but it did not move for about a second or two. Then quick as greased lightning, quicker even than I would have imagined from the all the stories I have read about this most-feared snake of Africa, quicker than what I had seen it move on television documentaries, this mamba sped off into the bush then up a nearby acacia. 
"It's going up that tree!" The speed and smoothness of the snake's movement was fascinatingly beautiful. "Shoot it again!" I aimed at any spot I could on the slender dark grey body and let off a round. The PH grabbed his 9.3x62 from the gunrack and joined in the foray with a quick shot. I think I shot again, or he shot again, or we both did. At that moment I wasn't counting shots - just trying to terminate the snake's ability to escape or retaliate. "It's hit!" We could see now that the mamba was hit bad. Its body was broken, almost severing the snake into two pieces. The longer part, to the tail, was almost immobilized, draping across branches of the thorny acacia. The other part, the head, the lethal end, was moving wildly, trying to climb higher, trying to move the rest of its paralyzed body, trying to find or strike its attackers. For any other creature, the wounds that it sustained would have ended the fight, probably terminated all movement and life altogether. Not so with the the mamba. Its reputation for fierceness and aggressiveness is not exaggerated. Its movements slowed and we approached it cautiously. The snake was entangled on a branch and could no longer move the rear section of its body. The PH tried to dislodge it by pulling on the paralyzed tail but it was caught fast, and the other end was still moving, alive, and very lethal. Now we could clearly see the reason it was named the Black Mamba - its mouth opened to reveal a sinister black that housed a pair of death-dealing syringes. "We'll leave it and come back for it in the morning. It'll be dead by then." We all happily agreed. That night, while having a sundowner, the PH told me that that particular snake was probably responsible for the death of four of his cattle. 
In the morning, we returned. The snake was dead. One of the trackers brought out a pruner and cut the branches that had prevented the mamba from falling to the ground. Stretching its full length out on the dirt road we inspected it. We found a bullet hole about a foot from the tail. That was probably my first shot - the one that I thought was a hit near the head. I think all it did was piss it off. Then we tape measured it. 105 inches - almost 9 feet!  9 feet of lightning fast death - me, holding its head gingerly with a napkin. The following is excerpted from Wikipedia: The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is the largest venomous snake in Africa and the second largest venomous snake in the world, behind the King Cobra. It has an average length of 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) and a maximum length of 4.5 meters (14 ft).[1] The black mamba receives its name from the black coloration inside of its mouth, rather than their skin color which is a gray to olive tone. The black mamba is the fastest moving snake in the world, capable of moving up to 20 km/h(12.5 mph). However it uses this speed to evade danger, rather than catch prey.[1] The Black Mamba is one of the deadliest snakes in the world. A single bite may inject enough venom to kill from 20-40 grown men, easily killing one unless the appropriate anti-venom is administered in time. When cornered, they will readily attack.[2] In fact, many snake experts have cited the black mamba as the world's most aggressive snake, noting tendency to actively attack without provocation.[3] When in the striking position, the mamba flattens its neck, hisses very loudly and displays its inky black mouth and deadly fangs. It can rear up around one-third of its body from the ground[1] which allows it to reach heights of approximately four feet (1.21 meters).[2] When warding off a threat, the black mamba usually delivers multiple strikes, injecting its potent neuro- and cardiotoxin with each strike, often attacking the body or head, unlike most other snakes.[4] [1] If left undisturbed, Black Mambas tend to live in their lairs for long periods of time, which are often vacated insect mounds or hollow trees. Black mambas are diurnal snakes that hunt prey actively day or night. When hunting small animals, the Black Mamba delivers a single deadly bite and backs off, waiting for the neurotoxin in its venom to paralyze the prey. When killing a bird, however, the Black Mamba will cling to its prey, preventing it from flying away. Black mambas are among the ten most venomous snakes in the world. With a LD50 of 0.25-0.32 mg/kg, the black mamba is more than 3 times as venomous as the Cape Cobra, over 5 times as venomous as the King cobra and about 40 times as venomous as the Gaboon viper.[5] Black mamba venom contains powerful, rapid-acting neurotoxins and cardiotoxins, including calciseptine.[6] Its bite delivers about 100-120 mg of venom on average, however it can deliver up to 400 mg of venom; 10 to 15 mg is deadly to a human adult. The initial symptom of the bite is local pain in the bite area, although not as severe as snakes with hemotoxins. The victim then experiences a tingling sensation in the extremities, drooping eyelids (eyelid ptosis), tunnel vision, sweating, excessive salivation, and lack of muscle control (specifically the mouth and tongue). If the victim does not receive medical attention, symptoms rapidly progress to nausea, shortness of breath, confusion, and paralysis. Eventually, the victim experiences convulsions, respiratory failure, and coma, and dies due to suffocation resulting from paralysis of the muscles used for breathing. Without treatment the mortality rate is 100%[1], the highest among all venomous snakes in the world. |
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