Black Mambas have the most fearsome reputation of any of Africas reptiles and a lot of it is based on myth and legend. But some of it is deserved...

They can travel up to 20 km/h, which makes them pretty fast but you could still outrun them because the top speed for a human over 100 metres is 43 km/h. And if one of these were chasing you, you'd probably top that.

But they wouldn't. Stories about Black Mambas chasing people for miles are exaggerated. They are much more likely to slide off to the nearest hiding place when they feel threatened.

They typically grow to between 2.4 and 3 metres (7.8 to 9.8 foot) but there are uncorroborated reports of some as large as 4.5 metres (14.7 feet). Any snake pictures of one that large would be rare indeed.

Their venom is what gives them their potent reputation. It contains neurotoxins and cardiotoxins. Neurotoxins cause damage to the nervous system, such as parts of the brain controlling motor functions, while cardiotoxins attack the heart.

A bite is life-threatening if symptoms appear within an hour of the bite. Failing lungs, convulsions and coma precede death.

But Black Mamba bites to humans are rare. You are more more likely to be bitten by the snake in the photo below, the Puff Adder.

Why? Because they are very lethargic and don't move off when humans approach like most other snakes. I've been on a hike in the mountains of South Africa where the person in front of me stepped about a foot away from one of these without noticing it because it lay so still. If he had stepped on it he would have been bitten.

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