^ Hmmm, did the man get any sort of medical attention? Unlike cobras or many other snakes, black mambas produce the same amount of venom per bite even if they used their venom apparatus a 100 times in a single day. This snake is just loaded with venom at all times. Because even without antivenom you can survive as long as you receive mechanical ventilation and drugs to treat envenomation symptoms. Black mamba venom was first produced in 1967 by Louw who reported the first successful treatment of two black mamba bites with a specific antivenom prepared by the South African Institute of Medical Research (SAIMR). This was the first time that any victim of a black mamba bite was documented to survive envenomation.
There are stories and legends of people surviving spontaneously, but this has never observed in medical literature. Bite victims who don't receive medical treatment and receive it quickly are doomed to die. Black mamba venom is of very low molecular weight and is therefore the most rapid acting snake venom known. Clinical signs of envenomation manifest in less than 5 minutes after a bite and progress to respiratory paralysis very quickly. Death has been known to occur in 15-20 minutes in severe cases of envenomation. Normally however, it takes about 45 to 60 minutes before an adult human succumbs to a black mamba bite and dies. Bites which are less severe (ie. only one fang penetrates victim, the snake only "scratches" the victim, or if the snake is sick and other various factors), death can take up to 3 hours to occur. But you generally don't survive over an hour and definitely no more than 3 hours.
In 2006 there was an incident in Africa in which a famous adult female elephant named Eleanor who was a matriarch of an entire herd, weighed over 7,500 lbs and was in her 40's that was bitten by a black mamba and died several hours after. Scientists in the field shot footage of her herdmates crying for her and trying to get her up on her feet but Eleanor couldn't do it. She died due to a very severe envenomation by a black mamba. No known snake has ever been documented to kill such a large animal with a singel bite. There are stories of King cobras that killed Asian elephants but not a single documented case. They are all just legends. I think a coastal taipan can theoretically be able to finish off an adult elephant, but that is it. No other snake besides the coastal taipan or the black mamba can do it.
There are stories and legends of people surviving spontaneously, but this has never observed in medical literature. Bite victims who don't receive medical treatment and receive it quickly are doomed to die. Black mamba venom is of very low molecular weight and is therefore the most rapid acting snake venom known. Clinical signs of envenomation manifest in less than 5 minutes after a bite and progress to respiratory paralysis very quickly. Death has been known to occur in 15-20 minutes in severe cases of envenomation. Normally however, it takes about 45 to 60 minutes before an adult human succumbs to a black mamba bite and dies. Bites which are less severe (ie. only one fang penetrates victim, the snake only "scratches" the victim, or if the snake is sick and other various factors), death can take up to 3 hours to occur. But you generally don't survive over an hour and definitely no more than 3 hours.
In 2006 there was an incident in Africa in which a famous adult female elephant named Eleanor who was a matriarch of an entire herd, weighed over 7,500 lbs and was in her 40's that was bitten by a black mamba and died several hours after. Scientists in the field shot footage of her herdmates crying for her and trying to get her up on her feet but Eleanor couldn't do it. She died due to a very severe envenomation by a black mamba. No known snake has ever been documented to kill such a large animal with a singel bite. There are stories of King cobras that killed Asian elephants but not a single documented case. They are all just legends. I think a coastal taipan can theoretically be able to finish off an adult elephant, but that is it. No other snake besides the coastal taipan or the black mamba can do it.
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