This massive Australian spider was so full of venom that its fangs were dripping
It will now be 'milked' to make anti-venom.
Australia is famed for playing host to the most dangerous creatures on earth, but that still doesn't prepare you for something like this. Last week, while walking through Newcastle, in New South Wales, an anonymous 'good samaritan' chanced upon a massive funnel web spider. The creature, nicknamed 'big boy' was so massive that it had venom dripping off of its fangs.
Funnel-web spiders, so named because of the shape of their webs, are the deadliest arachnids in Australia, if not the world. Some species of funnel-web spiders produce venom so deadly that one bite can kill a human within 15 minutes. The venom has a compound that can attack the human nervous system and alter the functioning of all organs.
They are usually between 1.5 cm to 5 cm big, measured by leg span. Big boy turned out to be 10 cm. The good samaritan actually captured the spider and dropped it off at a hospital. Big boy was then moved to the Australian Reptile Park, where it will be 'milked'. A glass pipette is used to vacuum the venom off their fangs, and the park, which produces the antivenom, needs 200 to 300 spiders with 3,000 milkings every year to produce enough venom for an antidote.
