• 25. 4. 2024, 8:00

EP. 10. The most venomous snake on land. The deserted heart of the Australian outback, where people seldom venture, is the hot, baked home of the most venomous land snake in the world – the inland taipan, a two meter long snake with enough venom in one bite to kill a quarter of a million mice. The rare envenomating lizard. Venom is not the exclusive domain of snakes and spiders. In the deserts of the south-west United States and the north west of Mexico lives the striking and venomous Gila Monster – the largest land lizard in North America. Blue ringed octopus. In the shallow waters of the Pacific Ocean is an animal the size of a golf ball that carries with it not one, but two types of venom. One is used on its main prey of crabs and is relatively harmless to humans, the other is used in defense and can kill an adult human in minutes. The tiny toxin wielding Red-backed spider. In secluded outhouses, under fences and letterboxes, under barbeques and amongst garden litter are the messy webs that hold the killing fields and the hundreds of offspring of a very deadly female. Tucked in the corner of her web the scarlet stripe of the red-back spider advertises her lethal capabilities. The ferocious Sydney funnel web. In contrast to the timid red-back spider, the fearsome Sydney Funnel-Web is more inclined to stand its ground than to run. And in contrast to the red back, it is the male funnel-web that is the more dangerous of the two sexes. Funnel-webs can be extremely aggressive and are armed with downward pointing fangs that are strong enough to pierce fingernails as they deliver their highly toxic venom – which has the deadliest venom?