Reproduction and lifespan The eastern green mamba is solitary except during breeding season. Gravid females tend to be sedentary, but males actively seek and court prospective mates during the rainy season between April and June. Males have been seen engaging in agonistic behaviour; they may fight each other over mating opportunities, or possibly to establish a dominance hierarchy. Typically, one male initiates a fight by moving on top of the other's body and tongue-flicking, after which the two entwine and push, attempt to pin the other's head to the ground. Male combat can last for several hours, but is less aggressive than that commonly seen in the black mamba; combatants do not bite each other. Males locate females by following a scent trail. The male courts the female by aligning his body along the female's while rapidly tongue-flicking. If the female is receptive to mating, she lifts her tail; cloacal juxtaposition follows. Courtship and mating take place in trees, after which the female can lay 4–17 eggs (10–15 on average), occurring in October and November. The eggs are small and elongated, usually 47–58 x 25–28 mm, and usually laid in leaf litter in hollow trees. The incubation period is around three months. When the young emerge, they are approximately in the wild, and in captivity. They usually reach adult colouration at . Hatchlings tend to grow to in their first year. As they age, their growth rates decrease but never completely stop. The oldest recorded eastern green mamba was a captive specimen that lived 18.8 years. Another captive specimen lived 14 years. Diet The eastern green mamba preys primarily on birds and their eggs, and small mammals including bats. It is also believed to eat arboreal lizards. It uses a sit-and-wait strategy, though one specimen was recorded actively hunting sleeping bats. The species is also known to raid the nests of young birds. Sit-and-wait tactics may be successful with highly mobile prey, such as adult birds or rodents. Documented prey include the sombre greenbul, which occur in dense areas of natural and cultivated vegetation along Kenya's coastline. Ionides and Pitman (1965) reported a large bushveld gerbil in the stomach of a green mamba in Tanzania. Although the bushveld gerbil does not occur in Kenya, green mambas prey on the seven species of gerbil that inhabit parts of its range. Predators The eastern green mamba has few natural predators. Humans, mongooses,