(ominous suspenseful music)
- [Zac] Wait, wait, wait.
Yep, go. - Okay, got him.
- [Zac] Are you ready?
- Pretty good hold on his body.
Wow!
Just a single drop of that venom can kill you, correct?
- [Zac] Yep.
(eerie haunting music)
(dynamic jungle music)
- The Brave Wilderness channel
is a collection of exciting and educational
animal adventure videos.
Barely even moved, it was like perfectly camouflaged
and it just said okay, you can't see me,
I'll tell you what, I did see you.
Yes, even the ones where I'm being bitten.
Ah!
Or stung.
Ah!
Find themselves chock full
of factual tidbits, tips and tricks for avoiding
these often misunderstood creatures in the wild.
I believe that a big part of my role
is to help people recognize the good in all animals,
especially ones that a large percentage of people fear
like snakes and spiders
and while it's fair to say
that these animals are feared worldwide,
the species that live in Australia are often considered
more terrifying, because of their toxic nature,
in fact the world's most venomous snake and spider species
call this island continent home
and some of them have venom so powerful,
it's guaranteed to kill a human,
without the administration of antivenom.
Today I'm returning to Australian Reptile Park,
this wildlife sanctuary is the only facility in the country,
that milks both snake and spider venom
for the production of antivenom.
It's a dangerous process and several years ago,
I had the chance to learn alongside
the park's arachnid expert, Kane Christensen.
- You can actually see the drops of venom
on the tips of the fangs and that's what we want,
we want to get that venom from those fangs into the pipette.
- If you thought milking a spider was dangerous,
today's education will be even more extreme
as I will assist in milking
the three most deadly snakes in the world.
Okay, we're going to enter the most dangerous room
on the planet, a room filled with venomous snakes.
Zac, how are you? - I'm good, yourself?
- Good to see you. - You too.
- I'm just explaining to these guys,
that this has got to be
the most dangerous room on the face of the planet,
every snake in here can potentially kill you, right?
- Oh, 100%, second and third most toxic snakes in the world.
- Okay. - So pretty nasty.
- Now the antivenom that you guys create
is saving lives every single day,
how many people are bitten by these snake species
on a yearly basis?
- So statistics are about three to 5,000 bites per year
with anywhere up to three to 400 lives being saved
with the antivenom program, so it's pretty cool.
- Wow, well, sweet, let's get into milking,
what is the first species we're gonna look at?
- So we're gonna look at the king brown or the mulga,
- Oh, sweet. - so the big boy.
- Okay, I'm gonna let you do your thing,
you let me know when you want me to come in
to get hands on with the danger noodle.
- Rightio, so I'm gonna grab the snake out of the enclosure,
I'll get you guys to jump back at that point,
'cause he's quite big and he'll swing around a fair bit,
if he wants to.
We'll then come over here,
I'll swing him on to the pinning pad using the pinner,
so nice and soft to protect the snake
and to protect myself, it's slightly tacky as well,
so it gives me that split second of time,
where he slightly sticks to it,
but it doesn't hurt him at all
and then we're gonna grab him
and hopefully it all goes well.
(light suspenseful music)
- We'll be quiet and we'll let you focus, oh, my goodness.
- [Zac] Come on, big boy.
- [Coyote] Wow, that is a huge snake!
- Yeah, you can see him a bit cranky,
he's not the happiest about this arrangement.
- [Coyote] Okay, where would you like me to go?
- [Zac] Right, so you just hang just there.
- Okay. - I'm gonna swing him
and then I'll get you to come in
and just grab this back end for me,
'cause once I get him by the head, he's not gonna be happy.
- [Coyote] Yep, go ahead and just focus,
do what you're doing.
- Grab it now? - Yep, yep, yep!
- Got him.
Gosh, it is so powerful. - Right, come over here.
- Yep, that is a big, big mulga right there.
- Rightio, so now the trick is,
'cause he's not a stupid animal,
he wants to bite me, not the jar,
so the finger is the target,
(suspenseful music)
There we go. - Oh, my goodness.
Oh wow, that is a huge venom yield, my goodness!
- So give his venom glands a bit of a massage,
try get a little bit more,
you can see him just chewing on that thing.
- Wow, look at those fangs.
Massive fangs for an elapid, wow!
That is like a grappling hook of teeth.
Can I move around just to the side?
- Yeah, yeah.
- Whoa!
- You can see him still chewing, still projecting venom.
- Yeah, the venom is still dripping.
- And he's not letting go.
- And the power in this snake's body is unbelievable,
so big around, I can barely get my hands completely on it,
that is a massive snake,
I never imagined seeing a mulga of this size.
So how do you get the snake off of the venom vial?
- A little bit of manipulation or there we go.
- Ooh, my goodness! - And what we're gonna do
is I'm gonna get you to put it in.
- Okay. - I promise
I won't let go till-- - Body first?
- [Zac] Yeah, yeah, body first.
- [Coyote] Okay, in we go, in we go.
- [Zac] Rightio, now jump on back,
'cause this is the bit where it goes a bit sketchy.
Ready, three, two, one.
- Nice job! - That is a risky
little game right there, hoo!
My heart is racing. - Yeah.
- That was cool
and that is not the most dangerous snake we're gonna milk,
so next on the list is the coastal taipan, right?
- Yeah, yeah, we're stepping it up quite a bit,
so this is not a large-bodied snake,
except these ones are pretty nasty.
- [Coyote] Okay.
Well, let's go for the coastal taipan and see what happens.
(light suspenseful music)
Wow, this snake is big too.
Oh, my.
- [Zac] So normally we cool them down a little bit,
so he's a little bit unsure what's happening,
but that might work to our advantage.
Are we ready? - Yep.
- Good. - Damn!
- Wait, wait, wait, yep, grab him.
- Okay, got him.
- Oh, yeah.
- What a cool looking snake.
- Are you ready? - Yeah.
I've got a pretty good hold on his body here.
Ooh!
Wow!
- Give those venom glands a little bit of a squeeze.
- [Coyote] Holy mackerel!
That looks like more venom than the king brown.
- Yeah, it is. - You're right,
you said he's the record holder for the largest venom yield.
- [Zac] Yes, this guy's a pretty special animal.
That is a bad time. - Wow.
So if you were to be bitten by this snake
and have that much venom go into you,
do you think there's a chance you're gonna survive?
- [Zac] There wouldn't be a very good chance.
- [Coyote] Okay.
- [Zac] Just the sheer amount would just drown your system.
That's a phenomenal amount and hugely toxic.
- It's rather hard to find a coastal taipan, is it not?
- Yeah, they're pretty secretive,
but it's when you're out bush walking,
you jump over a log and they just get a bit spooked.
- There you go, okay, ready to take him off the vial?
- Yeah, yeah, I'm getting a bit nervous now.
- Yeah.
- He's a bit cranky. - Okay, okay.
- So, - Same process?
- Same again, yeah, yeah. - I go in first.
- [Zac] You put the back end in?
- [Coyote] So much power in the body of that snake.
So streamlined, I love the scales, okay.
- [Zac] Right, you should get that tail in.
- And in. - Three,
two,
one.
- Hoo! - There.
- Two down and one more to go. (laughing)
- [Zac] And now we step it up again.
- The next one is the most dangerous snake in the world.
That was intense.
(light melodic music)
Oh, bringing in the stairs for this one.
- Yeah, I'm not quite that tall.
And he's here waiting.
(light suspenseful music)
- Whoa, nicely done.
Wow, this snake's beautiful
and you've got to be quick with the hands, huh?
- [Zac] Wait.
Yep.
- Have you got it? - Yeah.
Are you ready? - Yeah.
- See that?
Bugger all venom compared to those two big ones anyway.
That's all you need.
- That's it, the most deadly snake in the world right there
and just a single drop of that venom can kill you, correct?
- Yeah, so that drop there would kill about 250,000 mice.
- It's amazing to be hands on with a snake,
that is this dangerous,
I mean, even if I saw one of these in the wild,
I don't think I would ever try to interact with it,
I mean, we would film it from a safe distance,
we'd never even think about catching it or heading it
or certainly taking a look at those fangs
and you know, the fangs are not nearly as big
as the other species, but man,
to just know that that venom is so incredibly toxic
and how many people are bitten by this snake every year?
- Very, very little, so these are found
out in the middle of basically Australia,
no one goes out there, unless they're looking for these guys
and normally if they're looking for them,
they know what they're doing.
We had someone get bitten by one last year
and he was in a coma for nearly a week.
- Wow. - He made it through.
- Amazing, alright, you wanna take it off the vial?
- Yes, please, my hand's starting to cramp up.
(light melodic music)
- Okay. - I'll take this one,
- Okay. - 'cause we're up on top.
- [Coyote] Yeah, I am not gonna climb up there with you.
Woo, I'm sweatin'! - You're not the only one.
Are you ready?
Steady.
Thought he was coming back out then.
- Not a ton in there, but just that much would kill you.
So it's a dangerous job and it takes incredible focus,
precision and a lot of guts to do this on a weekly basis,
but how rewarding is it to know
that this venom is going towards saving lives
of anyone that's bitten by one of these snakes?
- Oh, it's awesome
knowing that I have an active part in saving lives,
like me and Kane, we always say
we're not smart enough to be brain surgeons,
but we can save lives with the antivenom program we have.
I've had people come in
and it generally happens in your worst week,
when everything's going wrong and they'll come in and go,
"You're the reason I'm here,
"you're the reason I'm able to bring my kids here."
It's an incredible feeling, it just gives you chills,
I've got goosebumps just talking about it, it's awesome.
- Yeah, well, Zac, thank you so much for having us,
- You're more than welcome. - behind the scenes today
at the Australian Reptile Park, where we got to milk
three of the most deadly snakes on the planet.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave,
stay wild, we'll see you on the next location.
Every year a collision course with fate
finds dozens of adventure seekers,
outdoor enthusiasts and even backyard gardeners
bitten by one of Australia's most deadly creatures.
Most bites happen by accident
and while no one ever wants to be
in the wrong place at the wrong time,
there is comfort in knowing that wildlife experts
such as Zac Bower and Kane Christiensen
are fearlessly working to extract venom,
that will be used to save lives.
The creation of antivenom is a fascinating science
and if you would like to learn more information
about Australian Reptile Park's milking program,
make sure to visit their website.
Hey, Coyote Pack, if you thought milking snakes
was a thrilling brush with danger,
then make sure to go back and watch the episode,
where we extracted venom from the Sydney funnel-web spider
and don't forget, subscribe and click the notification bell,
so you can join me and the crew on our next big adventure.
(light jungle music)
(birds twittering)