March 01, 2008

• gomi-of-the-mofi!
• it's gomirc-of-the-mofirc your spelling is way off
• The snake eventually died too, but I guess you don't care about that, do you? Monster. Good article!
• *throws a taipan at both mlis and Suomynona, refuses to give them anti-venom until they read the linked story and get back on track*
• How many lives were saved by this young man's courage? That's a good question. It is as well to remember that there are three species of Taipan, of which the Inland Taipan is the worst, it is the most venomous snake in the world. The maximum amount of venom recorded from a single inland taipan bite is 110mg. That would be enough to kill over 100 people, strong adults. The median lethal dose of the inland taipan is 10x as venomous as a Mojave rattlesnake and 750x as venomous as a cobra. Despite this, there have never been any recorded human fatalities from this species; all bites have been treated with antivenene, and all of those bites occurred in those who sought out this snake in the wild or kept it in captivity. The species that Budden sought was the common or Coastal Taipan. This is a less deadly snake than the Inland, but still third most deadly in the world, and there have been many fatalities, mainly due to the fact that it lives in far more populated areas and is a slightly more pointy bastard than the Inland. I cannot find exact figures at this point, but they are believed to be considerable. Budden's unwilling sacrifice almost certainly has saved hundreds of lives, perhaps more. So what are the symptoms and manner of death from this venom? They are not pleasant to consider. Because the taipan is adapted to hunt mammals, we humans are in particular danger from the chemical cocktail it uses. The worst component is a neurotoxin that causes paralysis. It acts at the neuro-muscular junction & binds to the ends of nerves, blocking electrical activity and shutting down communication between the brain and muscles. This causes obvious initial effects like ataxia, numbness, etc, & can lead to potential respiratory arrest & heart failure, which I imagine is the ultimate fatal element. As the poison spreads, victim experiences headache, difficulty swallowing, sweating, nausea, swelling, vomiting, stomach pain & dizziness. Ptosis & blurred vision occurs early on, with later seizures, vomiting & pissing blood, & in severe cases coma is the finale. The neurotoxin is also a myotoxin: it causes tissue death. Skin & flesh around the bite necrotises. As destroyed tissue is flushed thru the blood the kidneys often fail attempting to filter this debris, leading to excessive amounts of blood & protein products in the urine. That isn't all. The venom contains another toxin which prevents blood-clotting. This causes incessant bleeding from the bite site & can lead to internal hemorrhaging - most frighteningly in the brain. Now consider that Budden died without any viable anti venom treatments: he was exposed to the full range of the effects. I have no idea what kind of treatments would have been used to ease the various symptoms in 1950, but I imagine they were primitive in comparison to today. Budden's suffering is not easy to think about.
• jesus. thanks for all that fascinating, frightening info Hank. yet another reason I may never visit Australia (the giant spiders being the main reason...)
• Hank knows his snukes.
• The giant spiders really aren't that bad. The big huntsmen that come into suburban houses occasionally have no venom dangerous to man (or at all IIRC), and are much less massive than, say, tarantulas, but may have similar leg span. They are skinny. Somewhat freaky to arachnophobes like me (I stand on chairs and squeal) but even I have developed techniques to getting them out (funnel on end of long curtain rod FTW). There are Red Back spiders which are teeny little things, in the same family as the black widow. These guys hang out under bits of wood or metal, in corners of sheds etc. Aussies pretty much get used to avoiding them since childhood. I don't know of any fatalities, I think they are only dangerous to the very young or elderly. They can make you very sick, though, but they are usually only aggressive in February-March period when laying eggs. Most of the time they are sluggish. I squished one in the car hole the other day. I have never heard of anyone being bitten by one in my life. There were tons of them in the playground of the primary school I went to in West Oz. My Great-Great Grandfather was bitten by one in the '30s, it was in his riding chaps I think as he was out on the farm, he felt a tickle and slapped at it, it bit him. He got pretty sick for some months but didn't die. He was in his 50s I think. No medical treatment to speak of in those days, I imagine. The bad asses are the funnel web spiders which live exclusively within the environs of Sydney, & which are evil little motherfuckers, not just because of their deadly venom, but because they are extremely aggressive. They will rear up at you. They have been seen to rear up and wave their legs threateningly at horses. They are psychos. But why would anyone want to visit Sydney? :D ;) More people are killed every year by horses in Australia than by any of these beasties. Course, our horses are part shark.
• And they shit plasma.
• OK, now I will not sleep as my skin us crawling. But a really fascinating read. I'll stick with living where it's unbearably cold and there are very, very few poisonous thingies, I think.
• Hank, great info - as for your question about what methods they used to treat back then, there's a detailed clinical account of the progression of symptoms and treatment used, in the article provided. it's quite fascinating.
• Jeez, if I wasa horse constantly being threatened by evil leg-waving arachnid madmen I'd be aggressive too.
• The cure for North American coral snake bite is about to disappear. Why an unprofitable anti-venom may end up costing lives.
• Once again, the FDA f*cks up. Just license the damn stuff and get on with looking at our shitty contaminated meat supply, people! You can bet your snakeskin hatband if I were bit, I'd be hiring a plane zip-quick to fly to Mexico. You can get on a portable respirator and take it with you. Fortunately, we don't have coral snakes here. But we do have some hella rattlers! Saw a big one today in the middle of the road. Mr. BlueHorse took pictures. He had bunches o' buttons. We gently rocked him off the road and into the sage, as he was in a good snake spot away from people.