I got them to add 2 extra legs for stability after he accident. Never had a problem since.

I would imagine the extra arms would make you popular in reach-around bars.

I use all 4 of them while going solo.

Feels great.

You gentlemen all have some serious injuries, some in the past and some recently:
--Missing knee caps…ouch!:o
--Infected Abscesses…ooooh
--A tough and active fighter…pain and more pain. Very admirable Jamie.
--And also possible long lasting nerve damage in the back…(arguable the worst to live with later in life…makes everything hard to do). I always imagine Scobby as a Viking warrior!
--Sailorman, I feel for you... whether civil lawsuits, divorce, civil forfeiture or criminal indictments--the US govt and her courts scare me these days.
--Duncan, I bet hang nails make you cry only because you have a big heart; I bet you’re tough as nails when it comes to protecting your family… good man.
--Samouth, thank Buddha you're okay. I don't ride anymore after my crash.

So how are you gentlemen managing your injuries because I heard health care in Cambodia quite frankly sucks!?
I’m kinda busted up too…I mean permanently.

P.S. Vladimir, what’s the biggest snake you’ve kept. My ex-GF had a reticulated python…that Fucking Thing bit me in my left nipple area once and I had teeth marks for weeks. However, the python was fairly tame and never bit anyone except the rats we fed it.

Biggest? Longest was a 12' black mamba which my parents insisted be removed from the vivarium in my bedroom and handed over to the snake park. Definitely the most dangerous snake in the world, imho.



Also a 5' 3" Gaboon Viper, which went walkies one night, never saw it again. The caged rats were relieved.



The Gaboon Viper was actually very placid, could handle it, no problems. Longest fangs of any snake in the world, up to 2.5 inches.

Anyway, we digress.

I was "doored" riding my bicycle four years ago. My bar-end having been struck led to a front tire wobble which resulted in the tire turning perpendicular to the rode all of a sudden. The effect was to capitulate me from the seat, throwing me directly into the concrete shoulder first, feet pointing to the sky. It must have looked like I was living onto the concrete. There was pain for more than a year as a result, but that split second where I slammed into the ground was the worst.

vladimir wrote:Biggest? Longest was a 12' black mamba which my parents insisted be removed from the vivarium in my bedroom and handed over to the snake park. Definitely the most dangerous snake in the world, imho.



Also a 5' 3" Gaboon Viper, which went walkies one night, never saw it again. The caged rats were relieved.



The Gaboon Viper was actually very placid, could handle it, no problems. Longest fangs of any snake in the world, up to 2.5 inches.

Anyway, we digress.

HOLY SH*TE!
I am literally speechless. A Twelve foot Black Mamba!!!!!
I suspect that you're an expert snake handler, but were you ever bitten.

BTW, my ex-gf bit me not the python. Never saw the both them again; she was venomous the snake was not.

phuketrichard wrote:12' Really?
seems that is near the longest on record;

The longest black mamba (and current record length), measuring 4.4m, was found in Zambabwe
Unlike popular perception, Donald says the snake is not aggressive and will do anything in its power to head away from humans rather than attack.

VFM Fitsimmons, Snakes of Southern Africa, up to 14' reliable sightings.

I think you're referring to Donald G. Broadley, the curator of the Umtare Museum, someone I have met and corresponded with. in fact I thought I had discovered a new species in 1972, which he identified as Gunther's Cross-barred centipede eater. I was 14! (brag, brag) Any person who has encountered a black mamba in a situation where the snake believes - however erroneously - that they are being attacked or are cornered ,will tell you that. He probably qualified that statement. They will avoid people, unless they are mating/believe they are threatened.

It's not something you can sit down and discuss.

One snake alone was credited with six or seven deaths in ONE incident, when it entered a rondavel at night and people panicked.

They get extremely irritable in October (mating season).

I'm talking about polylepis, not augusticeps, the smaller, arboreal green mamba.

I was in a Land Rover in Chobe National Park in Botswana, we saw a hare run across the road, which was unusual, next thing this mamba stopped in the road, looked ta us, raised its body 4 -5 off the ground to show its black mouth (hence the name), and struck the windshield 5 times. It attacked a fucking Land Rover!

Very nervous, intelligent snakes, very powerful venom, and lots of it. An adult can kill 10 men, no problem, usually rear up and strike repeatedly, a 10' adult will hit you in the chest or face. King Cobra is a pussy compared to a mamba.

Weird thing, it is the best snake to be killed by, you feel no pain, as the venom shuts down your pain receptors. Neurotoxic. Medical researchers checking out the potential for pain treatment.

Anyone who does not advise everyone except a herpetologist to stay the fuck away from these snakes is a retarded hillbilly.

Still shudder when I think of the risks I took.

From wiki:

Venom[edit]


The black mamba's venom is composed of neurotoxins (dendrotoxin) and cardiotoxins as well as other toxins such as fasciculins.[14][30][36] In an experiment, the most abundant toxin found in black mamba venom was observed to be able to kill a mouse in as little as 4.5 minutes.[37] Based on the murine median lethal dose (LD50) values, the black mamba's toxicity from all published sources is as follows:

(SC) subcutaneous (most applicable to real bites): 0.32 mg/kg,[35][38][39][40] 0.28 mg/kg.[35][41]
(IV) intravenous: 0.25 mg/kg,[38][39] 0.011 mg/kg.[42]
(IP) intraperitoneal: 0.30 mg/kg (average),[43] 0.941 mg/kg.[38] 0.05 mg/kg[44] (the last quote doesn't make it clear if is either intravenous or intraperitoneal).
Its bites can deliver about 100–120 mg of venom on average and the maximum dose recorded is 400 mg.[30] It is reported that before antivenom was widely available, the mortality rate from a bite was nearly 100%.[15] The bite of a black mamba can potentially cause collapse in humans within 45 minutes, or less.[45] Without effective antivenom therapy, death typically occurs in 7–15 hours.[30] Presently, there is a polyvalent antivenom produced by the South African Institute for Medical Research to treat black mamba bites from many localities.[46]

If bitten, initial neurological and neuromuscular symptoms may commonly include headache and a metallic taste in the mouth, which may be accompanied by a triad of paresthesias, profuse perspiration and salivation.[47] Other symptoms may include ptosis and gradual bulbar palsy.[47] Localised pain or numbness around the bite site is common but not typically severe;[48] therefore, application of a tourniquet proximal to the bite site is feasible and may assist in slowing the onset of prominent neurotoxicity.[47] Without appropriate treatment, symptoms typically progress to more severe reactions such as tachydysrhythmias and neurogenic shock, leading to death by cardiovascular collapse or respiratory failure.[30][36][47]