by Wazted » Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:15 am
I found this article about them..
LYDENBURG - Black mamba. The deadliest of all African snakes, the very mention of which strikes fear into the hearts of men. Even Steve Irwin preferred to keep his distance from this extremely venomous serpent. Yet in Lydenburg there lives a man who not only owns a black mamba, he holds it, strokes it and feeds it water from the palm of his hand.
Her name is Swartbek and at 3,2 metres, is a pretty impressive specimen indeed.
Neels Bothma, who has been working with reptiles for the better part of 50 years and is the only individual accredited by the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Association (MTPA) to conduct reptile training and education, is the owner of this extraordinary snake.
Neels says his love of wildlife and lifelong work in this field, started with his father, a farmer who taught him that farming and wildlife went hand in hand and taught him to love even those things that people feared, particularly so-called dangerous wildlife. As a child Neels kept reptiles as pets, much to his mother’s dismay. She wondered why he couldn’t have normal hobbies like owning fish or collecting stamps.
In 1994 he started the Mpumalanga Herpetological Association in Nelspruit and registered as a paramedic, working as a station officer for four years. It was during this time that Swartbek came into his life. He received a call that a female black mamba swollen with eggs had been run over. Neels rushed there to take the snake to the vet but it died on the way. As the vet sliced open the body and carefully removed all 13 eggs, placing them in an incubator, Neels took the first hatchling as his own.
Swartbek is nearly nine years old and trusts Neels completely. "She has never tried to bite me and is even comfortable shedding her skin in my hands," which, according to Neels, is the most dangerous time to come into contact with a snake, as it partially loses its eyesight and resultantly becomes very nervous.
It does not get milked and is highly venomous, but is perfectly calm in Neels’ company. This case is unique - he is the only person in known history to have "tamed" or developed a relationship with a black mamba, which makes friend and colleague at MTPA, Chris Hobkirk very nervous. "This case is one in a million and I worry that one day she will bite. You cannot tame snakes, there’s no such thing, they just get comfortable with human disturbance and accept that it isn’t life-threatening. But even dogs, which for years have been tame, can suddenly one day attack a child. She could have a bad day one day and strike," says Chris, who urges everyone not to attempt to handle a black mamba. He admits that this extraordinary relationship helps to debunk the myth that it is an aggressive, violent killer. "It’s a nervous creature that will only strike if it feels threatened or cornered. If you come across a black mamba just move away slowly so that it knows you aren’t a threat, " says Chris.
Seeing Neels and Swartbek together is the most beautiful and incredible thing, however, both men stress that this is a unique case and should not be tried at home, ever!