Met this green snake on the walk today... not sure if it wanted the V4 or the Dvarw DL? It turned out to be neither because it was no longer alive.
Snake Talk
- Thread starter Rob Fisher
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Such a pity it was dead, awesome little snakes those Natal Green's
My wife and I found a baby mole snake while gardening yesterday and she completely freaked out. She has a phobia of snakes and ran inside the house. Looks like I am doing the gardening solo for the foreseeable future
Unfortunately I had a very much alive 2m black mamba in my garden yesterday. Thinking back it would have been impressive to snap a pic of my mod next to its head. Especially if I irritate him to show us the back of his mouth. Sadly I let that golden opportunity pass me by and happy that me and my yorky survived the visit. Maybe next time.....
I wouldn't say you missed a Golden opportunity mate, More like you were clever and stayed away from it, I've heard from some guys who used to work for me from Limpopo that the black mamba is Overly aggressive and is one of a few snakes that actually go out looking for a fight, I heard they even chase cars.... Not to mention 1 bite from this thing and you either dead or in ICU for a year.
Had 2 separate Mamba's that came to shed their skin in my garage over winter. Both of them stayed for around a mo th respectively. I worked around them and they never bothered me a single bit. The one a mate and I removed when it got a bit dicey for the cats with them gaining entrance through a broken window. The second one stayed and left on it's own accord (after I fixed the window to keep the cats out) Never had a single issue. Mamba's are definitely not friendly, but I've never seen a single one attack without being provoked. A healthy respect goes a long way when it comes to all snakes. Here is some pics of the first one we removed:
Beautiful specimen
The Mamba has such a fearsome reputation that very many stories have grown legs, tails and reputations of their own.
Yes, the bite of a black mamba will be 100% fatal without medical intervention and yes in cases where the bite hits an artery, or close to the heart/lungs or brain can lead to incredibly quick deaths. The cases where people have spent incredibly long periods in hospital are usually cases where the victim's system (especially respiratory) has already started shutting down and caused big multi-organ damage. Any snake anti-venom can only slow/prevent further damage, but cannot reverse any damage already done.
Like @Dela Rey Steyn says, respect for what you are dealing with goes a long way... No one will try and pull the tail of a lion they find in their feed shed, but so many people try to kill/catch snakes without knowing what they are doing.
As far as the aggression goes, I remember mambas tend to be nervous snakes that get agitated quickly and they will absolutely try to kill you if they feel trapped. Chasing cars though... I think I would need to see that before I can believe it.
Beautiful specimens and much respect given for saving and respecting the animals. Many times on my bush trips I come across snakes that have had the shovel treatment.
For those that do that, I hope your kraal is infested with rats and your dreams are haunted by many headed snakes.
For those that do that, I hope your kraal is infested with rats and your dreams are haunted by many headed snakes.
I agree, I would love to see footage of the mamba chasing a car too...
When I still had my own business I had these 2 guys from Limpopo that loved to tell stories of growing up and living there, quite a bit of stories involved this snake, stories of people in their village that used to fight these snakes because a fully grown one can stand almost 1.2m tall, heard stories about near death escapes and of course the mamba chasing a car because they can run or slither up to 20km/h. So as fascinating and amazing as these snakes are, I have heard horror stories from these guys about this snake for 3 years while working together... So the intent of my post was not to villainize this snake but just to express concern based on what I have heard about it... I have a huge amount of respect for the black mamba, Just hope to never encounter one.
I have heard of one first hand experience where a black mamba attacked a side-view mirror.I agree, I would love to see footage of the mamba chasing a car too...
When I still had my own business I had these 2 guys from Limpopo that loved to tell stories of growing up and living there, quite a bit of stories involved this snake, stories of people in their village that used to fight these snakes because a fully grown one can stand almost 1.2m tall, heard stories about near death escapes and of course the mamba chasing a car because they can run or slither up to 20km/h. So as fascinating and amazing as these snakes are, I have heard horror stories from these guys about this snake for 3 years while working together... So the intent of my post was not to villainize this snake but just to express concern based on what I have heard about it... I have a huge amount of respect for the black mamba, Just hope to never encounter one.
Myself, have almost once walked straight into a sleeping one (it was curled up in a tree) whilst on snare patrol.
This is the only snake I am really scared of, it will attack with little to no provocation, they carry both cardio- and neuro toxins, and even a baby can kill a human (takes 2 drops of venom).
The only snake in RSA with no anti-venom, is the Vine Snake, simply because it is so scarce, highly venomous, but luckily quite shy.
I agree 100%, regardless of the excess in some of the stories, these snakes can be seriously bad news when worked up the wrong way. I don't know how large the tractor was, but we hunted near Thabazimbi where the farm owner's foreman was killed by a mamba who "stood up" and bit him while he was on a tractor.I agree, I would love to see footage of the mamba chasing a car too...
When I still had my own business I had these 2 guys from Limpopo that loved to tell stories of growing up and living there, quite a bit of stories involved this snake, stories of people in their village that used to fight these snakes because a fully grown one can stand almost 1.2m tall, heard stories about near death escapes and of course the mamba chasing a car because they can run or slither up to 20km/h. So as fascinating and amazing as these snakes are, I have heard horror stories from these guys about this snake for 3 years while working together... So the intent of my post was not to villainize this snake but just to express concern based on what I have heard about it... I have a huge amount of respect for the black mamba, Just hope to never encounter one.
P.S. my post wasn't a dig at you in any way
I agree 100%, regardless of the excess in some of the stories, these snakes can be seriously bad news when worked up the wrong way. I don't know how large the tractor was, but we hunted near Thabazimbi where the farm owner's foreman was killed by a mamba who "stood up" and bit him while he was on a tractor.
P.S. my post wasn't a dig at you in any way
No stress mate, Luckily I don't work on a farm on a tractor and probably never will
, I'm a city kid born and raised in JHB, the only time I will see these snakes is through a glass window at the zoo
, I see Puff adders when I go hiking in suikerbosrand or magalies but they pretty passive.
I’ve had a 3m plus one attack the landy we were one when we approached it and the driver didn’t realize it was a snake. It ended up on the bonnet and windscreen in an open top safari type landy with the driver reversing like crazy while his head was between his feet!
Coincidentally the driver was the main ranger/ conservationist/ owner looking after the place in the waterberg.
Good to see you did not kill them mate. Get my fair share of mambas at my spot here in Swaziland, plus a wide selection of other snakes. I have never killed any of them. I live rural, it is me that is infringing on their territory not the other way round. Rock python in the garden a couple of years most definitely gave me a skrik though.
Welcome back! Haven’t seen you in ages but I could just be reading the wrong threads!
I absolutely love snakes, catch and relocate them all the time. We are definitely intruders in their domain.
That explains the tong thingies. Was wondering why you had them on hand lol.
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Braai tongs
Actually removed a nice big one from the plant 2 weeks back, just over a meter. Safely released in in our biodiversity off-set area.
Last year we just encountered an abundance of poffadders. We moved around passed them. And a bit of window shopping over the weekend
for those extra hot fires
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@SmokeyJoe we cordially invite you to join us.
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