Reptile & Amphibian Forums

strike-wise? I remember reading that the black mamba was the fastest snake on land so would he also have the record of the fastest strike?

my guess is maybe one of the African ssp. of puff adder. I dunno. Somewhere in the 1/4-1/2 second range??
:Mark

>>strike-wise? I remember reading that the black mamba was the fastest snake on land so would he also have the record of the fastest strike?

I dunno...some of the fastest actual strikes I have seen were from Bitis sp. Some of the Crotalids, such as Cantils, are no slouches either. It would be interesting to see some actual measured times.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ok...Are we talking about the fastest strike or the fastest land speed?

Years ago the record for land speed was solidly held by the American Black Racer. These days, I don't know. As to strike speed...I think there are too man contenders....anyone got a stop watch? (lol)

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Once again I should wait till I am totaly awake before I try to answer these things.....(Yawn)

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Some people think the Black Racer is the fastest, others say the Black Mamba is the fastest. From what I've heard Mambas can "slither" in bursts up to 12 mph, but I dont know about Racers.

Mambas are one of the few snakes that still scare me... lol

Fastest striking, probably something in the viper family, maybe puff adders, russels vipers, or western diamondback rattlesnakes.

Someone should take a speedometer and clock how fast a snake strikes
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Current Collection:
0.1 Antherystic Elaphe Guttata Guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe Vulpina Gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta - Black Rat Snake
0.1 Leucistic Elaphe Obsoleta Linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python

The agitated WC specimen you are currently attempting to convert to F/T prey by trying to manipulate such with a short pair of hemastats!

Jeff

Well,I have never actually seen a black mamba out in the open but I have seen a few racers and they earned that name for a reason. They are fast!

As far as striking capability I can honestly say I have no clue but I do know that a gaboon viper is deciptively fast and can tag you faster then you can move.
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Reptiles
0.1 - Early 2002 Anery Motley Corn 33 1/2"
1.0 - Late 2003 Yellow Rat Snake 15 2/3"
0.0.1 - 2003 Banded California King Snake 29 2/3"
1.0 Green Anole
0.0.0 House Gecko
0.1 Painted Turtle

Mammals
4 female ferrets,1 male cat and 1 male doberman...and a few kids!

RIP - Nala my Rottie 08/19/2004

Ha..funny story bout those. When I was first looking to get a snake I put up a topic of ideas...and this guy emailed me and said he had a puff-adder that had the venom glands removed he would love to sell me...I guess he thought "oh stupid new snake owner he wont know how agressive this snake is even though it wont kill him"....yeah. i'm not that stupid, lol. Plus...I don't really wanna get bitten by any snake...esp. one with fangs designed to inject venom, lol.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat(Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)

that doesnt sound too fast, but you figure that a snake doesnt strike that distance. Only about a foot, so that means it can strike a foot distance in 1/8th of a second!! Thats pretty fast!!!
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1.0 Corn snake (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes (MO locale)
1.0 Eastern Yellow Belly racer (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Yellow rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
1.1 California king snake (Coastal phase)
1.0 Prairie king snake (KY locale)
0.1 Black king snake (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern Milk snake (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern/Red milk intergrade (KY locale)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian