Black Mamba

moomba-2
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Another of my favorite subjects besides people is wildlife. This image has both. I wanted to give the ‘otherside look’ if you will. So they let me in the backdoor of the Moomba cage, at Alligator Adventure. I had first recruited the family and set lights for them in the normal viewing area. The glass reflections were reduced using a polarizer. I was able to get just inside the cage with my arms to eliminate the doorway, so was unable to see left or right. I was later told that this bigguys mate was just to my right inside. Which I confirmed later. Interestingly every time the on camera flash went off, this snake would jerk as if he’d been shocked. Black Moombas can strike 3 times their body length, also told me later. He was 8 ft I was 5 ft from him, even closer to his mate. The zookeeper who allowed this was later retired.