Over distance they slow down to 7 MPH (12 KPH). However, the average human run speed over distance is 6 MPH (10 KPH). Thus, you cant outrun a Black Mamba. Still, Black Mambas are extremely shy and will do everything they can to avoid people.
Rule Number 1: Don't Try To Outrun A Snake
The very fastest snake, the Black Mamba, can slither at about 12 MPH, and a truly scared human (even one with short legs) could probably exceed that. No, the reason your kid doesn't want to outrun a snake is because they almost certainly don't have to.
Black mambas live in the savannas and rocky hills of southern and eastern Africa. They are Africa's longest venomous snake, reaching up to 14 feet in length, although 8.2 feet is more the average. They are also among the fastest snakes in the world, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 miles per hour.
Can a human run faster than a black mamba? The Black Mamba can reach speeds of up to 12 miles/hour! That's faster than most humans can run!
Black mambas are territorial, so don't go looking for a fight. If you see or hear one, leave it alone. Do not go near the snake, and if it tries to escape, let it. If it feels cornered, you'll face its wrath.
There are no free roaming black mambas in Australia.
Predation. Adult mambas have few natural predators aside from birds of prey. Brown snake eagles are verified predators of adult black mambas, of up to at least 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in). Other eagles known to hunt or at least consume grown black mambas include tawny eagles and martial eagles.
Twenty minutes after being bitten you may be lose the ability to talk. After one hour you're probably comatose, and by six hours, without an antidote, you are dead. A person will experience "pain, paralysis and then death within six hours," says Damaris Rotich, the curator for the snake park in Nairobi.
Mongooses have mutated cells that block the mambas' neurotoxins from entering their bloodstream. This makes them capable of surviving the venomous snake's deadly bite. (See how a mongoose fends off a lion.)
Stories of black mambas that chase and attack humans are common, but in fact the snakes generally avoid contact with humans. Most apparent cases of pursuit probably are examples of where witnesses have mistaken the snake's attempt to retreat to its lair when a human happens to be in the way.
The black mamba, for example, injects up to 12 times the lethal dose for humans in each bite and may bite as many as 12 times in a single attack. This mamba has the fastest-acting venom of any snake, but humans are much larger than its usual prey so it still takes 20 minutes for you to die.
#7: Common Death Adder — Australia's Fastest Striking Snakes
In just a tenth of a second, the common death adder can inject their poison and return their jaw to the active attack position.
The king cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world, potentially growing up to 20ft long, while the black mamba can get up to 14ft long. Female black mambas lay their eggs in burrows underground, while female king cobras actually build nests for their eggs.
The black mamba is Africa's deadliest snake. Untreated, its bite has a fatality rate of 100 percent, making it a killer among killers on a continent where it is thought that nearly 20,000 people die of snake bites each year, and the residents of Swaziland in southern Africa have suffered losses for generations.
"This particular cobra was older and larger than the mamba," Charlotte Arthun explains over on the Marabata blog. "While the mamba put up a fight, continually striking at the cobra, the cobra won the battle with its superior size and strength, eventually eating the mamba."
The snake doesn't care what kind of pattern you run in. You can run in a "S" pattern, you can zig-zag, or you can do "I'm up, he sees me, I'm down" all the way home and it won't make a bit of difference.
While they may not die from a black mamba bite, they will often lose consciousness for minutes after envenomation. Their prey may sneak away or bite again. Thus, the honey badger must finish the black mamba before succumbing to the venom for a short time.
The inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) is considered the most venomous snake in the world with a murine LD 50 value of 0.025 mg/kg SC. Ernst and Zug et al. 1996 list a value of 0.01 mg/kg SC, which makes it the most venomous snake in the world in their study too.
The researchers found adaptations in Komodo dragon genes involved in coagulation that make these lizards immune from the venom anti-coagulant, protecting them from bleeding to death when attacked by another of their own species.
The killer of the most people
The saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) may be the deadliest of all snakes, since scientists believe it to be responsible for more human deaths than all other snake species combined.
But, aside from young foal, adult horses do not typically die from the toxic venom from a snake bite. Your horse's Veterinarian will be more concerned with asphyxiation due to swelling, infection and secondary disease that can result from a bite.
Black mambas are shy but aggressive, and if cornered, the snake may rear up and threaten with an open mouth and a slightly expanded or flattened neck (or hood) before striking. Black mambas can strike repeatedly, injecting its deadly neurotoxic venom which causes difficulty in breathing within half an hour.
Black Mambas are described as one of the fastest and most venomous snakes in the world, a great combination for a predatory snake, not a good combination for a pet.
I felt a terrible burning, like pins and needles, in my leg. It felt like my blood was boiling. The pain was radiating up my leg; I was battling to breathe and started feeling weak," she said.