Another Black Mamba Gets in the House

Wrong lesson! A famous TV snake wrangler with a Black Mamba – never ever try this at all!  More importantly, the wranglers do very dangerous things and make it look safe and easy. You would not feel so impressed by some one who took great care in handling and cautioned you of the many dangers. The truth is that they are experts in handling snakes but it is very dangerous and foolish to emulate them in any manner.

Source: The Butterfly Diaries

For the second time in the last few years I discovered a Black Mamba in the house – it was in the shower, being stalked by the cats.  Mambas are the most deadly snake in Africa, and the fastest snakes in the world:

The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis), also called the common black mamba or black-mouthed mamba,^[4] is the longest venomous snake in Africa, averaging around 2.5 to 3.2 m (8.2 to 10 ft) in length, and sometimes growing to lengths of 4.45 m (14.6 ft).^[5] It is named for the black colour of the inside of the mouth rather than the colour of its scales which varies from dull yellowish-green to a gun-metal grey. It is the fastest snake in the world, capable of moving at 4.32 to 5.4 metres per second (16–20 km/h, 10–12 mph).^[6] It has a reputation for being aggressive and highly venomous and is among the world’s most venomous land snakes…^]

Source: Wikipedia

There was no way of dealing with it last night – it was raining hard and everyone had gone home.  At first I worried about the cats getting bitten, but they came and climbed on top of me in bed – preferring a warm body to a cold snake.

I did have SNAKE ANTIVENIN, but it is now past the due date – used when trucking horses and goats over here from Kenya.  Need to get more from Kenya …

A couple of other entries on our local fauna:

• Visitors on the Wild Side of Lake Tanganyika – I

•  Visitors on the Wild Side of Lake Tanganyika – II