Yikes here’s a snake that’s had a taste
of its own medicine.
It’s not everyday a snake like this falls into the web
of one of nature’s most lethal spiders.
This snake has hissed its last hiss.
That's a lot of s's.
Black widow spiders are one of nature’s
most terrifying killers.
Black, black widow baby.
But there’s another deadly spider that could give the
black widow spider a run for its money.
The Sydney funnel web spider.
Brace yourself.
We've got all the insy winsy details
on these creepy crawlies.
Found in dry, temperate regions on all continents
except South America and Antarctica,
you could run into a black widow spider
not just in forests and deserts
you could run into a black widow spider
in places besides forests and deserts.
It also likes the dark corners around your home.
Remember that, as you consider
a black widow spider’s venom is 15 times more poisonous
than that of a rattle snake.
Funnel web spiders on the other hand are drawn to
cool and moist sheltered areas
in the Australian highlands.
This 2cm spider's fangs are sharp enough
to pierce through your tonenails and fingers.
At 1.3 cm (0.5 inches) wide, black widow spiders
are smaller but their venom is still lethal.
Packed with a distinct toxin that can cause paralysis
a black widow spider’s venom
takes 30 to 40 minutes to kick in.
A funnel web spider’s venom has a neurotoxin
that enters your blood stream and causes
rapid firing of nerve cells.
You experience pain within 28 minutes of the bite.
And in if you’re having an especially bad day,
you could even be dead in as little as 15 minutes.
Through some evolutionary accident a funnel web spider’s
venomous bite is dangerous
only for invertebrates or primates
including humans.
Well at least the family dog
or cat will be spared the worst of it.
So which spider is the bigger threat to you and I?
The Black widow is by far the deadliest spider
in North America.
But if we look at the total number of bites
and human deaths caused by a spider,
the funnel web is at the top of the list.
Funnel web spiders are also the more aggressive
of the two, especially the males.
A black widow spider is a lot harder to provoke.
It usually avoids confrontation
and is even known to ration its venom when biting.
Although it’s venom is more potent
than that of a rattlesnake,
its small body can only produce so much of it.
Its venom is more likely to affect children and the elderly.
The shiny black body of the black widow spider
with its iconic red hour glass mark on its abdomen
may be synonymous with danger,
Danger! Danger!
but it’s the funnel web spider that is truly creepy.
Unlike other spiders,
it weaves its web flat against the ground.
It hides in a silken burrow in this web
that opens into a funnel like tube.
And it has eight eyes arranged in two rows.
Meanwhile the one horrible thing you thought you knew
about the black widow spider is not entirely true.
It does not cannibalise its partner after mating.
Although it may eat its siblings just after hatching.
They think maybe I ate my twin.
So there is that.
But to put your spidery nightmares to rest,
there are potent antivenoms available
for both of these spiders' bites.
There have also been no reports of death
from a funnel web spider bite since 1980
and instances of death from a black widow spider’s bite
are also exceptionally rare.
And you thought there was no good news.
Now what happens when a spider is bigger than the
biggest spider you’ve ever seen?
Well it just so happens we've got that covered
in another episode of Crazy Creatures.
Piercing human toe nails with their fangs
and paralysing humans is what these spiders do.
And that’s why they’re Crazy Creatures.