- Narrator: You've been bitten!
And, uh-oh, it's venomous.
How long have you got?
Well, that depends on a few factors,
including the potency, dose delivered,
and speed of distribution.
Turns out, not all venoms act the same way.
Here are the animals
with the fastest acting venom on earth.
First up, spiders.
There are around 40,000 species of spider
and most are venomous.
But, thankfully, only a handful pose a threat to humans,
including the male Sydney Funnel-web Spider.
Its venom is 60 times as potent as cyanide
and can kill a human in one to two hours.
The venom attacks the nervous system,
kicking it into overdrive until, ultimately, it shuts down.
Of course, spiders aren't the only
venomous animals in Australia.
It's home to 20 of the world's 25 deadliest snakes,
including the Eastern Brown Snake which is responsible
for the most snakebite deaths in the country.
Its venom is 8,000 times stronger than cyanide
and can kill a human in about one hour.
Its venom also attacks the central nervous system
but, this time, it slows everything down.
And, to top it off, the venom has a coagulant
that causes the blood in your veins and arteries to clot.
Between the two, it's not a good way to go.
Now, at this point, you might consider switching
your Australian safari to a scuba dive,
just to be on the safe side.
But, venomous animals live in Australian waters too,
like the Blue-ringed Octopus.
Its venom is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide
and it'll bring down a human in just 20 to 40 minutes.
Bacteria in its saliva makes an extremely potent neurotoxin
which paralyzes your muscles.
And, once that paralysis hits your diaphragm
and rib muscles, you have only a few minutes
before you suffocate to death.
But another marine animal is even deadlier.
The fastest acting venom on earth
belongs to the Australian Box Jellyfish, or Sea Wasp.
It's not the most potent venom out there
at 2,000 times stronger than cyanide,
but encounter one of these guys
and you'll be dead in 15 minutes.
That's because their tentacles are covered
with tiny, venom loaded darts called nematocysts,
which shoot heart-stopping toxins into the body
wherever they make contact.
All of this sounds pretty scary but, remember,
you're less likely to die by venomous spider
than by car crashes and infection, or disease.
And, it's not like these animals are after you anyway.
They'd just as well prefer
that you stick to your own habitat.
But, still, be smart, be respectful, be safe.
Tell us the scariest animal encounter you've ever had,
and thanks for watching.