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Animal Themes
Reptiles
Grasslands

Black Mambas

Black Mambas
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.65

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    fatal, notorious, striking, venomous, despite, lining, medical, abandon, encounter, poisonous, mainly, vegetation, death, easily, outrun, territorial

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Black Mambas   
1     Venomous snakes always stir fear in our minds, and black mambas are certainly among the most notorious creatures on Earth!
 
2     Black mambas roam freely in African savannahs and open woodlands. Despite what their name suggests, black mambas are not black. In fact, black mambas have a skin color of brownish gray. So, why do we call them black mambas? Well, when black mambas feel threatened or are about to strike, they open their mouths wide and give their soon-to-die victims a good view of the lining of their mouths - it is black, of course.
 
3     Although black mambas are not the world's most poisonous snakes - Australia's inland taipans are - they are deadly regardless! Just two drops of a black mamba's venom is powerful enough to kill a grown man who doesn't receive immediate medical treatment. Believe it or not, when you encounter a black mamba, its venom is not what scares you the most. Its speed of movement is. Black mambas are the world's fastest-moving snakes, and their average speed of 12 miles per hour means that they can easily outrun many animals, including us!

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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