(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)
