15 Highway

SafariKay.com

has been updated with a new article BLACK MAMBA – Stay Away from the “Shadow of Death” by Chitraparna Sinha.

Africa’s largest and the world’s second venomous and deadliest snake (King Cobra is number 1), and known as the ‘shadow of death’, the Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis), a tree snake, is found in South, East and in some parts of West Africa. Some African Myths however, about the Black Mamba overestimate the snake’s abilities. The black mamba is not shrewd, intelligent, or anything else that would normally be attributed to humans.

Appearance

Though it is called the ‘Black Mamba’, it is actually not black; it is either olive or brownish gray with little purplish black on the lining of its mouth! It is actually a long slender snake with coffin-shaped head. One look at it and you will think that it is just an ordinary harmless snake!

It is neither strong nor robust but highly poisonous; this poison kills its preys on the spot! It can grow up to 168 inches in length; travel 14 miles/hour along the ground and 7 miles/hour to 12 miles/hour for longer distances! [...]

Visit BLACK MAMBA – Stay Away from the “Shadow of Death” to read the whole article.

SafariKay.com

has been updated with a new article ROCK HYRAX – an elephant relative? by Chitraparna Sinha.

Also called ‘dassie’ or ‘rock rabbit’ and said to be the nearest relative of the elephant, the hyrax is a furry small mammal that looks like an obese guinea pig. The relationship with the elephant is due to the fact that the remote ancestors were common to the dugongs, manatees, hyraxes and elephants.

The Swahili names for them are pimbi, pelele and wibari, though the latter two names are nowadays reserved for the tree hyraxes. This species has many subspecies, many of which are also known as Rock or Cape Hyrax, although the former usually refers to African varieties.

The toes of the hyrax, four on each front foot and three on each back foot, are stumpy with hoof-like nails. On the inside toes of the back feet, it has claw-like nails which are used for scratching and grooming. For climbing steep rock surfaces and trees, there is a rubbery texture at the bottom of its feet.

Profile

A brief profile of the hyrax is as follows:

1. It is about 12 inches tall.
2. It weighs between 5 lb and 9 lb.
3. …

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Visit ROCK HYRAX: the nearest relative of the elephant? to read the whole article.