Most Extreme Venom Animal

What is the deadliest animal on earth could it be something that gives lethal injections we're counting down the top 10 most extreme Venom's in the animal kingdom and finding out just what happens when these toxins get under our skin with all stings considered you'll discover that reality bites when Venom's taken to the most extreme.
Earth is a planet of extremes extreme places and extreme animals but some animals are more extreme than others join us as we count down to find the most unusual the most extraordinary the most extreme our countdown begins in warm waters around the world for hiding in the shallows is the animal that's number 10 in our countdown of extreme venom it's the Stingray each year in America alone 150 times more people are injured by encounters with stingrays than with sharks that's because we don't see them buried in the sand.

And if you stand on one that whip-like tail lashes out and buries a venomous spine into your leg it's a nasty surprise for even the biggest hunters in the sea for hungry Orca a stingray is a mouth-watering morsel but the stingrays sting contains not only enzymes that destroy flesh but also serotonin which causes instant excruciating pain it's enough to make even these hungry hunters think twice so why would anyone want to keep stingrays in a touch tank here at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach California even expert mark Luce is cautious most of the time stingrays are peaceful even playful animals some have called them the Pussycats of the sea but if they get frightened one flick of that muscular tail is enough to drive home their venomous spine and that's the difference between poison and venom

Venom only works if it's injected into the victim so stingrays are only dangerous if that Barb's spine pierces your flesh that's why mark has a simple way of making stingrays harmless what we're doing is we're gonna actually clip the Stinger from the stingray this doesn't actually hurt the animal because the Stinger is actually it's made of a keratin which is kind of like clipping your fingernails so it does actually hurt the animal the reason we're doing it is just to make sure that nobody accidentally gets stung here at the aquarium specific after we clip the stingers the stingers actually can grow back so they do have potential to grow back a stinger with venom what we do is we'll go through every three months and gather up all of the animals to make sure that they don't have their stingers on them anything that has grown back will reclip it this venomous barb can sometimes be driven in so deep that it punctures your heart but back in 1978 it was a very different poison puncture wound that hit the headlines the city of London was home to Bulgarian dissident.

Georgi Markov as an outspoken protester against the communist regime in his homeland he probably felt safe in the streets of England but his personal cold war was about to heat up thanks to events that could have come straight from the pages of a spy novel one day when Markov was waiting at a bus stop he failed to notice the man carrying an umbrella behind him suddenly he felt a stinging pain on the back of his right thigh it's thought that an agent of the Bulgarian state security had stabbed Markov with a most unusual umbrella Markov never knew that his mortal illness was actually caused by the puncture wound it was only after the autopsy that doctors discovered that the umbrella had inserted a tiny poison pellet into Markov's leg the pellet contained ricin a poison 100 times as deadly as cobra venom derived from the beans of the castor oil plants stingray venom may not be as lethal as the poison pellets of the Cold War but you still have to be careful of that sting in their tail treat the animal with respect and this is one venomous creature that won't bite the hand that feeds it when early European explorers traveled to faraway lands they discovered new worlds with strange animals but no animal was as bizarre as the creature that's coming in at number nine in our venemous countdown  his animal lays eggs like a hand and yet it's covered with fur like a cat it's got the tail of a beaver and the webbed feet of a swan add the bill of a duck and you get the furry collection of animal leftovers called the platypus

according to Aboriginal legend the first platypus was born after a young female duck mated with a lonely and persuasive water rat but the resulting creature has one feature that's not found in birds or mammals the male platypus has a sharp spur on his hind leg that injects venom from a gland in his thigh this venom can kill a dog and leave a human in agony but since the venom is only secreted by mature males especially around the breeding season the main target is usually other males looking to fight for a territory but the platypus wasn't the only discovery of the early explorers to be greeted with suspicion when European sailors returned home from South America with a strange plan related to the deadly nightshade family most people assume that it's bright red fruit would be poisonous in America it wasn't until 1830 that a colonel Robert Johnson proved them wrong the story goes that when he announced he'd eat a basket of the deadly fruit a crowd of 2,000 watched him commit public suicide but as the band played a somber tune he didn't die in fact the fruit was delicious and he became rich selling Tomatoes today the average American gets through more than ten kilograms of tomatoes each year but while the image of the tomato has changed the platypus is still one of the world's strangest animals however it could have been made even stranger if that lonely duck of Aboriginal legend had made it with the next contender in the countdown we've seen strange Spurs and sweeping stings but when we milk venom for all it's worth you'll be left gasping for breath as we deliver the kiss of death that's next on the most extreme

you to round up number eight in our countdown of extreme venom mosey on down to see Chris Ryman on his ranch in comfort Texas  but it pays to be careful for his little doggies are real monsters Chris Ryman runs the Gila ranch which is home to about a hundred head of gila he believes that his lizards don't deserve their reputation as monsters when they're encountered they tend to be a little aggressive they open their mouths and displaying yes I think it's just ignorance myself they're a fabulous creature I think I wouldn't call him a monster the Gila gets its bad reputation because its bite really is worse than its Park this monster is number eight in the countdown because it's only one of two venomous lizards in the world it uses a deadly dribble for self-defense if you're bitten by a Gila it clamps on like a vise grip as its razor-sharp teeth slice open your flesh and then modified salivary glands produce venom that dribbles down the teeth and deep into the wound the more they chew.

The more venomous saliva they deliver with terrifying results the first few minutes I felt nausea was a little localized pain from the bite then slowly I had a lymph node that was throbbing a little bit my hands Robin and my lower back started to hurt and I went to my chest and that's when I became worried so I went to the hospital I was vomiting cold sweats and a real erratic heartbeat thanks to quick medical treatment Chris survived this venomous encounter and has no hard feelings the heelas venom was evolved for defensive  mechanisms for the lizard to keep it safe from predators and stuff once the predator gets bit they don't want to get bit again as do I it's ironic then that the unforgettable bite of a Gila monster may one day actually help people remember scientists have analyzed Gila venom and created an experimental drug that works in the human brain it seems there's a chemical in Gila spin that acts on those receptor pathways in the brain that affect memory chemical companies are hoping that their new drug could help reduce the symptoms of memory loss for the 4 million sufferers of Alzheimer's disease in America alone it seems that memories are made up of many things and one of them could soon.

the Gila monster spit we've seen misunderstood monsters and mixed up mammals but the tale of terror continues because it's no walk in the park when number 7 could send you straight to heaven that's next on the most extreme you the deadly bees have buzzed their way into number seven in the countdown because for some people these tiny insects really are the most deadly animal in the world even though each one only carries less than half a milligram of venom when you're stung by a bee venom is pumped through the barbed sting into the skin where the chemical militant gets to work on the nerve endings of pain receptors causing a brief burst of agony but for one person in a thousand bee venom causes an allergic reaction not just in the skin but in other parts of the body including the vital organs if left untreated the patient can die of anaphylactic shock in less than five minutes no wonder most people dealing with bees on a daily basis wear protective clothing but some be people in Waldorf Maryland take their clothes off here people actually want to be stung for the good of their health this is bee venom therapy in action the theory is that in addition to causing pain the bee sting also heals the venom therapy has changed the life of Pat Wagner in 1992 multiple sclerosis had reduced her to what she called a bedridden breathing corpse now more than 45,000 stings later she's able to walk again and is leading a normal life

Researchers believe that the chemical militant is a powerful anti-inflammatory substance thought to be 100 times more potent than hydrocortisone that's why a petheram a is said to wake the body up pat is now known as the bee lady and happily shares her therapy with people from all over the world notice I had no movement I came out a lot better I have seen so many miracles when I sting people just absolutely miracles AVA therapy is phenomenal it may sound too good to be true but the next contender may also save people's lives with the sting in its tail in California's Palm Desert there are two ways to find the next contender in the countdown you can poke around under rocks and hope we get lucky or you can wait til nightfall and go hunting with an ultraviolet lamp nobody's sure why'd the Scorpion glows under ultraviolet light but everybody knows why it's number six in the countdown in 1999 more than 13 thousand Americans were stung by scorpions few were fatal thanks to good medical care but in Mexico scorpions are estimated to kill 1000 people a year so how would you like to be locked in a box with nearly three-and-a-half thousand scorpions meat Kanchana cacao from Thailand she spent a world-record 32 days inside a glass cage with 3,400 venomous scorpions she was stung 9 times but said the venom had little effect on her because she developed immunity during 7 years of performing with the lethal creatures.

But there may be another reason why scorpion attacks are not always fatal recent research suggests that the Scorpion can set its venom on stun or kill instead of wasting venom on self-defense it uses a pre venom that causes extreme pain it's a clever strategy because the deadly true venom is a complex cocktail of proteins that's expensive to make but that complex cocktail may also contain one protein that could be a cure for cancer in America alone more than 24 thousand people each year are diagnosed with gliomas this is a form of brain cancer that's almost always fatal according to University of Alabama researcher Harold song Tyler the average survival is on the order of six to eight months in some cases more rapidly in some cases patients of Y five years but it is a rapidly progressing cancer for which there's currently no effective treatment options available Shawn timers team has manufactured the part of scorpion venom that seeks out brain cancer cells and cripples them without harming normal tissues it just goes to show that one man's poison is another man's cure for cancer we've seen there's a twist to the scorpions deadly two-step but coming up there's something very fishy about the Living Dead get ready for a serving of venom that's not to be sneezed at that's next on the most extreme to find the next contender in our venomous countdown take a trip to an ideal ik tropical island in the Pacific walk next to a coral reef and you could think you're in paradise and then suddenly your next step could be your last these waters are home to the world's most venomous fish the stone fish so in its feeding time at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach California Christine life keeps well clear of the animal that's lurking at number five in the countdown the reason the stone fish is so dangerous is that it looks like a stone some fish actually use their venom to as a defense mechanism they don't use it as a feeding mechanism they are actually considered ambush predators what they'll do is they'll hide and they will wait for either a fish or a crustacean and then they will just grab them with their mouths so what makes this poisonous pet rock so dangerous to humans they have anywhere from twelve to fourteen dorsal spines and the spines are covered in skin a thick skin layer and when they're just sitting on the bottom their dorsal spines will be lying flat against their body but if they are provoked the dorsal spines will come up and the skin actually will pull away from the dorsal spines and there are venomous glands at the bottom of the dorsal spines so when it penetrates someone's good or a limb the pressure will cause the venom to shoot up through the dorsal spine

Into the person or fish that they're sharing a meal with a fish can be deadly but then for some people that's part of the attraction at manhattan's nippon restaurant they serve not stone fish but pufferfish gormese come to try a dish called fugu a delicacy that if not properly prepared means instant death because it contains a poison that's 275 times deadlier than cyanide it's concentrated in the ovaries and testes and liver of the fish which all have to be carefully removed because the lethal dose would fit on a pinhead the active ingredient is Tetra dachshund a chemical that attacks the nervous system paralyzing the muscles of the body sometimes it can cause a coma almost indistinguishable from death and that's why some researchers believed that tetrodotoxin could also be used to create the Living Dead on the island nation of Haiti tetrodotoxin could play a part in the infamous powers of the voodoo sorcerer here it's believed that people can be brought back from the grave as zombies researchers have suggested this is because sorcerers grind up puffer fish as part of their magic powder so in 1962 when a victim was rushed to the hospital unable to breathe even doctors were fooled and signed the man's death certificate and yet 20 years later the same man can visit the cemetery to find his own grave this is clear vyas Narcisse who believes he emerged from this grave as a zombie slave but step on a stonefish and you're in for an even bigger surprise this ugly monster may pack a powerful punch but it's no match for our next contender a tiny terror with a really mean mouth okay so our next contender couldn't really sink a ship but these tranquil waters are home to a killer with a bite that packs enough venom to kill ten people it's stealthy shy and the size of a golf ball at number four in the countdown of most extreme venom is the blue ringed octopus it's not hard to see how it got its name but those infamous blue rings only really light up as a warning when the animal feels threatened unfortunately some people are attracted to the pretty colors and pick up the cute little octopus big mistake the bite is so small that many victims don't even realize they've been wounded let alone injected with a neurotoxin 10,000 times more deadly than cyanide it's a venom that's really good at paralyzing pesky humans

And potential prey the venom is part of the octopus is spit and is produced by two glands each as big as its brain it hunts either by spinning out a cloud of the toxic saliva or by jumping its prey and biting through a chink in the crabs armored shell but strangely enough the octopus doesn't make its own venom dense colonies of bacteria actually produce the deadly neurotoxins they live safely tucked away in the octopuses salivary glands but then harmful bacteria can live in all kinds of places including our kitchens that's because some kitchens can be breeding grounds of the bad bugs that cause food poisoning this year there's a 1 in 4 chance that you'll become sick thanks to bacteria like Salmonella or Listeria and food poisoning is likely to kill 9 thousand Americans this year that's why you don't want to cook with poor personal hygiene or a dirty kitchen since food poisoning bacteria are often present on raw foods of all kinds the last thing you want is to have the bacteria being transferred onto the cooked food on your plate bacteria can be bad news especially in your own home experts say that 80% of food poisoning happens at home largely because people don't wash their hands before cooking or clean kitchen surfaces after cutting raw food in fact your kitchen cutting board could contain more germs than your toilet seat but the blue-ringed octopus has no problem with food poisoning bacteria after all it poisons its food deliberately thanks to the toxic bacteria in its spit we've seen a deadly blue ring a stone that can spring and a glow bug with a sting but coming up we'll discover a killer who's really come out of his shell that's next on the most extreme

you the slowest assassin in the world lives inside this shell it may look harmless but the cone snail can kill as quick as lightning the trouble is when it moves at top speed the only thing it could hope to catch would be a rock that's why it's had to develop a more subtle hunting technique it's armed with a hypodermic needle full of venom it only gets one chance to instantly paralyze its prey the venom has to kill fast the cone snail just moves too slowly to get another chance to attack and swallow its prey and the venom works just as well on humans at least thirty people have been killed by the so called cigarette snails that's because when you were stung you had enough time to smoke a cigarette before you drop dead so what's in cone snail venom that makes it so deadly University of Utah biologist Baldomero oliveira tried to find out what we discovered was something that that was far more complex that that when they inject their Venom's are they're not just injecting a few toxins that can kill people they're injecting what turns out to be a very complicated cocktail off essentially perhaps fifty or a hundred different components and each of these components is like a drug cone snail Venom's potently changed the way the nervous system acts so components of these Venom's are among the most effective pain killers and drugs against epilepsy and even against mental illness we've ever seen clinical trials have found a cone snail painkiller is perhaps a thousand times more effective than morphine without the nasty side effects.

Modern-day drug companies are real excited about combining drugs and specifically targeting drugs but that's something that the cone snails really evolved millions of years ago since their 500 species and 100 components per species they're in principle about 50,000 different venom components in in the living cone snails and we've only looked at a fraction of those and so the possibilities are really much greater once once more basic science is done on the different components of the cone snails animals while the cone snail may one day provide a cure for human pain this slow-motion assassin will always give fish a real headache see snake venom is one of the most potent in the world a single drop is reputed to be able to kill three men that's why researchers like dr. Brian fry of the Australian venom Research Unit find them so irresistible the venom of every snake species has its own chemical formula the more you know about the formula the better the antidote you can make the tricky part is getting the venom out of the snake no wonder his first aid kit is a constant companion milking the snake to extract its venom is the first part of the process in creating anti-venom the aim is to use small doses of venom to get the immune system to produce antibodies these are molecules that can knock the venom off the victims nerve cells  and hopefully save the day but you have to get the anti-venom to the patient fast and that's where these guys come in Miami Florida is home to the world's only emergency anti-venom response unit captain al Cruz and Ernie Jillson are the men of venom one venom one a Dade County so it's responding to Homestead Hospital referenced over bike run by the miami-dade Fire Department venom one provides a lifeline for snakebite victims established in 1998 they now have the most extensive anti-venom collection in the US covering 95% of the world's venomous snakes as captain al Cruz explains people begin I want to own venomous snakes the key is you need to understand that snake's behavior because it's not a matter of if you're gonna get bit it's a matter of when we have an assortment of anti-venom that we call the lifeline for people not only locally here but also nationally sometimes you might only need one vial of antivenom yet king cobra you may need 40 vials.

What makes the venom one unique I'm the reason it works so well is that you call one number and we respond plus we handle over 500 bytes without a single fatality in the last four years the snake may have a truly venomous reputation but if Adam and Eve had met our final contender they'd never have gotten out of Eden alive we've seen the nine contenders they're the best of the best only one animal is a more extreme venom making machine it's number one and it's coming up next on the most extreme I didn't know them they could put Beauty and poison so cleverly together in one package it's no laughing matter when a venomous animal clears some of the best beaches in Australia for seven of the hottest months of every year an invisible killer makes the sea a deadly playground the only safe place to swim is within the shelter of a fine mesh net venture outside the net and you're playing Russian roulette with the animal with the most extreme venom in the countdown meet the box jellyfish there are good reasons why this deadly jelly is number one in the countdown according to marine ecologist Jamie Seymour these animals are the most venomous animals in world there is absolutely no doubt about that at all and there have been recorded incidences where people have had 6 or 7 feet with a tentacle on their body and it's killed them now if you do the sums full-grown animal has 15 tentacles on each corner total of 60 tentacles and each one of those tentacles is probably 7 8 feet long one animal has the potential to kill City and it can do it any minute when an unsuspecting victim blunders into the almost invisible jellyfish the agony is instant people say it's like being branded with red-hot irons and that's just what the scars look like the jellyfish is number one in the countdown because those trailing tentacles are covered in 4000 million stinging cells at the slightest touch the cells blast a microscopic harpoon through your skin to inject it's incredibly powerful neurotoxin but the jellyfish doesn't hunt humans it has smaller fish to fry its venom is so extreme because it has to paralyze fish fast before their struggles snap the tentacles paralyzing neurotoxins may be bad news for fish but it's booming business for dr. David Ann Ron at Spalding cosmetic surgery and dermatology in Beverly Hills so very much forehead crown and then right on the side of my eyes I've got a lot of this squinting okay great so let's take a look good raise your eyebrows yeah and brown and nice big smile yeah yeah I do a grantee Botox would it would be great for you.

Botox is actually a purified form of the bacterial neurotoxin responsible for the most deadly food poisoning in the world just like the venom of a jellyfish Botox paralyzes the muscles that cause wrinkles by preventing the nerves from firing eventually the nerve endings regenerate so further injections are required to keep the wrinkles at bay with more than 1.6 million procedures carried out every year Botox is the fastest growing cosmetic procedure in America today see your friends who had this done I think personally everyone spoke twice Botox is correct back in Australia no one thinks box jellyfish are great especially macho male Aussie lifeguards anybody who enters the water here needs something to protect themselves from the jellyfish's deadly tentacles it has to be lightweight yet thick enough to prevent the millions of stinging cells from penetrating the skin the solution is pantyhose only the number one animal in the countdown could turn a macho oz email into a crossdresser that's why when it comes to venom the box jellyfish really is the most extreme