Hope you don't mind me saying so but some of you blokes need to do a bit of studying up on your snakes.
There are two basic types of mamba, the green which is arboreal (lives in trees) and the black that lives on the ground. although there are a lot of old wives tales (esp) about mambas that should be ignored, mambas are generally considerably more aggressive and much more inclined to stand their ground than pretty much any other snake in Africa.
Puff adders are not an aggressive snake at all and their first line of defence is usually to play dead and about the only time you're liable to get bitten is if you actually step on one or you mess with one by doing something stupid like picking it up.
Admittedly a lot of people get bitten by puff adders but mostly beacause they do dumb things like think they really are dead and pick them up. Their fangs also fold back in their mouths which means less likely hood of a venemous bite. It should be noted that a dry bite is not uncommon with puff adder bites.
Most snakes such as cobras etc will sense your approach and duck out if the have an escape route, a mamba however is much more likely to raise the first half -two thirds of it's body off the ground and look to see what's approaching and only then duck out if it feels the need....... but it'll usually look first.
When you do come across them, the natural instinct is to get the hell out of the way asap..... however, most experts say you should just freeze as they spot movement a lot easier than a still object.... from my experience, that's correct.
It should be noted that mamba venom is neurotoxic and puff adder venom is cytotoxic.
Last edited by Shakari; 01/04/10.
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