Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Black Mamba Question.

We see them often enough, they are lightening fast and will get out of your way in nearly every situation. They like to hide in termite mounds and piles of dry or rotting wood.

during the time of year your likely hunting May through July they are not very active. I've seen them laying in the big dug out holes in the bottom of a termite mound. They can look almost dead laying there, but are just somewhat dormant when it's cold.

During the heat of the day they are sometimes in a warm sunny spot in a road, or even more frequently the branches of a tree. These snakes hunt birds more then anything else so they are often in trees.

I'm not very worried about Mambas as everyone I have seen is hauling a$$ out of town when you see them. Walking in a shoulder to shoulder path is a bad idea. Single file is better. Let the snakes get away, pinned between two people when walking abreast is a more likely issue.

The snake that is a bigger problem and more likely to be seen and give you trouble is the puff adder. They will just let you step on them and then bite you. They are slow and short tempered. The rinkals is another troublesome issue. they are fast as lightening and also seem to have a shorter temper then the mamba from my experience. They rise up and spread the hood, giving you fair warning much of the time. They can move through the branches of a tree as easy as a fish swims through water.