Saturday, 3 September 2011

Africa's most dangerous and deadly snakes

GREEN MAMBA-Dendroaspis angusticeps

A regular resident of the roofs of a variety of buildings, including outhouses.its is also categorized as endangered poisonous snakes species.
DESCRIPTION
Green mamba snake is of  190cm in height, the body color is normally green with a hint of gold between the scales; sometimes the whole body may be of a yellow hue. Like the black mamba it has a long,
Angular head, but the lining of the mouth is white.
DISTRIBUTION
 Green mamba is mostly found in East Africa- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi below the Sahara and down to the cape in the south. 
HABITAT
 Green mamba snakes are Art arboreal snake, shy and rarely seen in its preferred habitat of well-forested areas, but more regularly encountered in the sparser vegetation of dry bush areas and coastal scrub.
FOOD
  Venomous, feeding almost exclusively on birds,eggs,lizards and mammals.
BREEDING
 Green mambas breed up to ten eggs on  land in a tree hollow or in leaf litter.





BLACK MAMBA-Dendroaspis Polylepis

Black Mamba are the Africa's most dangerous and feared snakes with   a top speed of 23 kmh, this snake is reputedly the fastest in the world. They are mostly active during the day.

DESCRIPTION
A very large snake of  up to 430cm  long seldom, if ever, black; they are generally olive-grey to mottled brown with a satiny sheen. The interior of the mouth is in fact, the only part of the snake that is black. The head is slightly flattened at the sides, making it appear heavier than in many other species of snakes.
The Black mamba’s snakes are mostly found in Africa in southern Ethiopia down to the cape of South Africa
HABITAT
Diurnal and mostly terrestrial, rocky places, Savannah lands and also woodlands but will climb to bask and HUNT for prey.  It is said that black mambas are the fastest than people can run  and agile in branches or undergrowth as on open ground, it must forage extensively to support such vigorous activity.
 It has an incredibly high rate of digestion helped by the potency of the venom, and can digest a large rat in an hour.
FOOD
Mamba bite highly venomous, it kills prey with a neurotoxin that in human beings could cause death.
CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Subphylum:Vertebrata
Class:     Reptilia
Order:   Squamata
Suborder:Serpentes
Family:  Elapidae
Genus: Dendroaspis
Species:D. polylepis

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