Just when you think that all hope is lost, an unexpected helper arrives on the scene to free you from death’s clutches and give you a chance to spread your wings once again. That’s exactly what happened in this incredible YouTube video where an eagle becomes a playing possum champion when wrapped up by a black mamba snake.
No matter how you break it down, the scene is incredible. Several astonished tourists look on and film a black mamba wrapped up with a brown snake eagle. The snake seems to have gotten the best of its opponent as the eagle looks either dead or not long for this world. That’s when some feline foes appear and turn the eagle’s day from bad to miraculous. Let’s break down this amazing fight and discuss the dynamics of each player in more depth.
A Savannah Standoff
Brown Snake Eagles are natural predators to black mambas thanks to their resistance to snake venom.
©YouTube/Latestsightings
It’s another day in world-famous Kruger National Park in South Africa. Antelopes are grazing, warthogs are chortling, and one unlucky eagle has found itself stuck, wrapped up in what would have been its dinner. In this YouTube video, a brown snake eagle (Circaetus cinereus) and a black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) tussle it out.
While snake eagles usually eat black mambas, this snake somehow got the upper hand on its would-be predator. The video starts with a scene reminiscent of Greco-Roman wrestling: the eagle is entangled by the snake, which tries to move around with little success. The eagle, for its part, looks dead, or at least, utterly incapacitated.
Unexpected Guests
Lions know not to provoke easily agitated and deadly black mambas, making this scene all the more incredible.
©YouTube/Latestsightings
It appears that the two creatures have become entangled with each other. The snake is stuck in the eagle’s talons, and the eagle is wrapped in the snake’s long, slender frame. Just when it seems like no movement is possible, two unexpected guests arrive. Two female lions, not strangers to black mamba fights, walk right up to the wrestling match.
They sniff out the scene before taking turns swiping at the now-agitated mamba. The black mamba does its best to fight off the intruders, but it’s at a significant disadvantage, with half of its body intertwined with an apparently comatose eagle. Black mambas are incredibly venomous, capable of dropping a human within 20 minutes to several hours of biting, but the lions aren’t scared. They take their time pawing and pouncing at the cornered mamba. As we will explain later, this is also unusual behavior.
Upper Hand
Unafraid and unamused, the lionesses paw at the black mamba until they knock it into a ditch.
©YouTube/Latestsightings
With several gobsmacked tourists watching, whispering about what will happen next, the lions make casual work of the mamba. In a tag-team-like fashion, they swipe at it again and again, presumably tiring the black mamba out. The two female lions start getting annoyed; they growl at the snake.
Eventually, the black mamba gets too close to one of the lionesses, and she swipes back at the snake. Hard. This sends both the snake and eagle flying into a ditch. It also seems to release the snake from the eagle’s talons. The black mamba slinks off into the bush, defeated. Then the unexpected happens.
A New Lease on Life
Miraculously, the brown snake eagle springs up alive and in charge before flying off.
©YouTube/Latestsightings
The presumed dead brown snake eagle suddenly springs to life! Instead of being hurt or incapacitated, the eagle was actually playing possum. It’s hard to say whether this was intentional or simply a result of being wrapped up by the mamba, but the maneuver worked. The eagle spreads its wings at the confused lions before flying off toward the horizon, with one wild story to tell its family.
What’s interesting about the rare scenario caught on camera in this YouTube video is how roles are reversed. It’s usually snakes that play dead as a defense mechanism. Instead, the eagle steps into that role with preternatural skill. It shows that patience really is a virtue when your life is on the line. Another unusual aspect of this video is that the lionesses approached the snake at all.
Lion and Mamba Matchup
It’s rare for a lion to attack a black mamba unprovoked, but the chaotic scene gives the felines a fighting chance.
©YouTube/Latestsightings
What’s incredible about this YouTube video is just how rare the events depicted are. A snake and eagle getting caught up in each other is anomalous enough, but then the two female lions appear. Normally, lions know not to provoke black mambas. Mambas are some of the most venomous snakes on earth, capable of delivering a lethal dose of venom to many animals, including humans, with one or two well-placed bites.
That said, lions might have the upper hand in an open area. They are massive, incredibly strong, and have lightning fast reflexes, capable of out-maneuvering even a striking snake. This proves true in the YouTube video, as the lionesses bat at the black mamba with relative ease before knocking it into a ditch. The fact that the mamba is already occupied with an eagle helps the lionesses’ chances.
Ultimately, the black mamba and the lion are fairly evenly matched when it comes to a savannah showdown. The lion is huge, strong, and very fast. The mamba is slight, but if it gets one good bite, it’s game over for the lion. One-on-one, the lion still might win—unless it gets bitten.
