Mambas are large, fast, and very poisonous African snakes whose bite is usually fatal. Their venom is neurotoxic and cardiotoxic. It attacks the central nervous system and shuts down the heart and lungs. Certainly not a very pleasant way to die.

A few days ago, a worker from Comcast installing underground cables in an apartment complex relatively close to where I live received a bite from a green mamba. The Fire Department believes that the mamba gave the worker just a warning bite, as opposed to a lethal one. Luckily the man was saved by antivenom on time.

It's still unclear how the dangerous snake, which is still on the loose, was identified. How many Americans could identify a green mamba? Perhaps the cable worker came from a tropical country and knew how the mamba looked like.

Here in Miami, I know that people usually dump their snakes into the Everglades whenever they grow too big and the owners tire of keeping them. It's creating a huge ecological problem out there, where a large breeding population of foreign snakes exist that's killing off native species.

Then you have a unique situation where the Mamba gets on the loose. Who would keep such a poisonous snake as a pet. That's absolutely insane if you ask me!! Try to imagine how it's like to live in a house with a green mamba. Are your bedroom doors tightly shut at night and opened carefully in the morning? Do you check to make sure that the snake is in his container before doing anything else around the house in the morning? Imagine coming home and finding the container empty...

I don't think that having a pet should be so stressful. Leave the Green Mamba in its native habitat!!

If you are bit, you have between 5 and 45 minutes to find anti-venom...or else.