You may have heard of snake charming, but what about a snake tango? A video has surface on Facebook of two black mambas wrestling in one man's yard in Escombe, Queensburgh, South Africa.
The snakes were spotted by Lelo Chili, a resident of Escombe, who called Duncan Slabbert, a local snake rescuer, to handle the situation-but not after capturing this spectacular sight on video.
Black mambas are Africa's longest and most venomous snake, and finding two of them in your yard would be absolutely chilling. But finding them entangled in this battle is also oddly...beautiful?
Nick Evans, another snake rescuer in the area, posted the video above to Facebook and provided some context to this behavior.
Evans says these two black mambas were caught going to blows for one of the classic reasons males fight: over a female. Evans shares when black mambas fight over a mate, they don't use their venom. Instead, they wrestle—and they'll continue this wrestling match, repeatedly intertwining and trying to pin each other, until the weaker of the two gives up.
There are a few different reactions illustrated in the comments, but one summed up everyone's sentiments in one: "I felt a butterfly in my tummy. I don't know if it's over the jealousy of two men fighting over the female or the horror of just gazing out my window and finding this sight."
While some of us might have reactions similar to some who commented on the Facebook post-"Nevermind they can keep the yard and house"-Evans expressed witnessing this sight as "one of the most spectacular snake sightings one could possibly wish for." According to National Geographic, this behavior is rare to see in the wild, which might contribute to the snake rescuer's appreciation of this special sight.
And he's not alone; despite a prevalent discomfort and even fear around snakes, much of the comments on the video were positive. Viewers shared a lot of appreciation over the beauty of the occurrence, which almost appears as an engaging and delicate dance-mesmerizing and magical. There were also words of thanks over the catch and release of these two dangerous creatures.
So, How Big Were They?
Black mambas can be up to 14 feet long, but the average is just over 8 feet, which is right were these bad boys land on the measuring tape. The victor of this fierce battle was 8.5 feet long, and the defeated fellow came in at 8.2 feet.
The bummer? After a 35-40 minute battle, the big guy didn't even get the girl; Slabbert caught both after the battle was decided, and relocated them. Evans met him for measuring and release.
The video shows them being released in the same place, which sparked questions on the comment thread about if they would start fighting again. Evans quells the fears by reminding viewers that they were taken to a place where there is no female to fight over, so they go merrily on their way.
Should I Be Scared?
Well, we don't recommend getting in a wrestling match with a black mamba. While they're widely regarded as shy around humans and try to avoid a fight, they will attack when provoked. If you're in a remote area with no access to antivenom then you're in a dire situation, because they will bite repeatedly, injecting a terrifying dose of their venom.
But fear not, black mambas live in the southern and eastern areas of Africa in savannas and rocky hills, so if you're outside this area, you can resist the impulse to pull your feet off the ground.
With Evans answering so many of our questions, we're left with one: where is the female they were fighting over? Hopefully Chili doesn't find another friend lurking in the garden.
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