NARRATOR: Black mambas have very few enemies in the wild.
But she's not about to meet her nemesis, the slender mongoose,
a notorious snake killer.
They may look like featherweights in the ring,
but these are two of the most lethal predators on the planet.
The mongoose has razor-sharp teeth and lightning speed.
But one bite from a mamba can kill 15 grown men.
[SNARLS]
So imagine what it can do to a five-pound mongoose?
The mamba is lethal, but she's not tough.
She relies on her venom to sedate her victims
and immobilize their weapons.
Here's the kicker.
The mongoose has an antidote to her potion.
The toxins in snake venom attach to chemical receptors
in their victims and block communications
between nerves and muscle.
Mongoose receptors have mutated, so that venom simply
bounces off the muscle cells.
He's literally immune to danger.
The mongoose MO is to dance circles around his prey
until it's exhausted.
And then, the kill shot.
One swift snap to the back of the head and the spine
is severed.
The snake is still alive, but paralyzed.
Her muscles twitch.
But her bite is gone.
For the mongoose, the reward outweighs the risk.
A seven-foot snake is a hearty meal for a pint-size predator.