World's Most Venomous Snakes: Ultimate Faceoff (Full Episode) | When Predators Attack

We're on a collision course with the world's deadliest predators. Do we stand a chance when predators attack? Snakes and humans have a complicated relationship. In some parts of the world, they're revered for their strength and wisdom. In others, the serpent's role as the villain in the Garden of Eden story has made it much less popular. Snakes have the power to fascinate and repel us simultaneously. It's still a mystery exactly how they came into being some 20 million years ago, long after the dinosaurs had gone extinct. While some believe snakes evolved from water creatures, others suggest their closest ancestor was a reptile, similar to a monitor lizard, with legs and feet. They lived underground, and natural selection favored those with the smallest limbs for easier burrowing. Eventually, their legs and feet were eliminated altogether, while additional vertebrae were added. This length and flexibility allows snakes to navigate in a variety of environments. On the ground, in the water, and up in the trees. Today, there are more than 3,000 species of snakes on the planet, some more dangerous to man than others. Every year, the rattlesnake bites more people in the United States than any other snake. Thanks to its extensive range, it's found everywhere in the United States. But the greatest concentration is in the southwest and northern Mexico. Rattlesnakes range in size from species to species, but share the same method of defense and attack. When threatened, this snake warns with a distinct rattle, the sound of hollow scales knocking against each other in the end of its tail. Then, its long, movable fangs snap out like switchblade knives. Its strike is lightning fast. All snakes have the ability to control their venom release. Sometimes, a dry bite will suffice by scaring off a challenger to avoid a fight. If not, a snake will go in for the kill, releasing its venom in the amount it sees fit. The majority of rattlers pump out hemotoxins that destroy blood cells and tissue, reducing the ability of the blood to clot. The result? Hemorrhaging. This rare, microscopic look shows a rattler's venom attacking healthy cells. Most bites are painful within five minutes, and if left untreated, fatal. November in the Florida panhandle. Herpetologist Bruce Means is studying rattlesnake mating habits. Today, he's looking for a female rattlesnake to feed a transmitter to, so he can track her movements. There you are, you beautiful little creature. Now, let's see here. I had hoped to be the one herpetologist who, in his career, had never been bitten by a venomous snake. Well, unfortunately, working with venomous snakes is a risky profession. Bruce is about to get up close and personal with the world's largest rattlesnake. I really was euphoric, thinking what a wonderful day this was. Not ever expecting that I was going to encounter an eastern diamondback rattlesnake. Well, I wanted a photograph. The light was right, and I had my camera with me. I took several photographs of the snake. You know, at that point, that should have been sufficient. And I'll never know why I decided I had to pick the snake up. Nice snake. Bruce finds a stick to pin the snake's head. But it's too short. The rattlesnake sounds off a warning, then strikes. At first, the pain was nothing more than a pinprick. But the moment the venom enters Bruce's bloodstream, it attacks his tissues and cells, setting off a chain reaction that could paralyze his entire system. I began feeling symptoms right away with this snake, but I felt tingling on the tops of both of my hands. I wanted to just panic. I mean, I already knew how dangerous it was to be envenomated. And here I was on an island a long way away from any help. I had a long walk to go to get to the kayak. And then I had an even longer passage to make across the bay. He needs to stay calm so he can paddle the mile back to the mainland. And as I was going, I was thinking to myself, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. It's been nearly 20 minutes since the bite. And Bruce knows this viper's venom can kill a man in as little as an hour. I said, you've got to not panic. Don't think about how long a paddle it will be to get to shore. Don't think about you're all alone. Don't think about you could die. The venom spreads throughout his body, soon blocking the nerve impulses to his lower limbs. When I got to shore, I couldn't get out of the kayak. I was totally paralyzed from the legs down. When you're trying to keep as low as you can and you inch yourself along the ground, you know, you're wiggling your body back and forth and pulling with your arms. Now, an hour since the bite, the venom is close to paralyzing one of his most critical organs, his diaphragm, which will stop his breathing. Bruce manages to drive his truck a mile down the road to find help. By the time he arrives at a hospital, he'll need 26 units of antivenom to save his life. Bruce is extremely lucky to be alive. The rattlesnake, it was absolutely no fault of its own that it was protecting itself from this monster that was trying to jam its head in the sand with a stick. Despite his close call, Bruce still chases down and studies these deadly creatures. There is a bit of a danger even now for me working with these animals. I mean, I love them. I empathize with them. I understand them. And, you know, familiarity in this case drops my guard. That's not good. I have to force myself now to remember that's a dangerous animal. Because of their large range and potent hemotoxic venom, rattlesnakes are responsible for the majority of snake bite fatalities in the U.S. Still, they're no match for this desert viper. The saw-scaled viper is the world's deadliest snake. Extremely common, it kills hundreds of people every year. It inhabits the deserts and rocky outcroppings from northern Africa and the Middle East through India, where it spends most of its day buried underneath the sand, removed from the blistering heat. Confronted, it offers its own distinct warning. It rubs its serrated scales together to produce a rasping sound similar to a saw cutting wood, a warning well-heated. Like the rattlesnake, the saw-scaled viper injects its prey with hemotoxic venom, which destroys blood cells and tissues, causing burning, swelling, and hemorrhaging. Without antivenom, cardiovascular and renal failure may occur. Hemotoxic venom is found in the majority of the world's most dangerous snakes, from the forest floor to the treetops. One canopy lover is found in Africa's arid forests south of the Sahara Desert, stretching to South Africa and the islands off Africa's southeast coast. It's called the boomslang, and it's perfectly camouflaged to hunt from above. Females are usually brown, blending into branches, while males are brighter colors, like green, keeping them concealed among leaves. The coarse-edged scales on its stomach provide grip, allowing the boomslang to climb straight up, where it waits patiently for one of its favorite meals to come within reach. The boomslang strikes, gripping prey with rear-facing fangs. It chews until its hemotoxic venom takes effect, and the prey hemorrhages to death. This ground hunter employs a different toxic cocktail to subdue its victims. The inland taipan roams in the sparsely populated area of southwestern Queensland and South Australia. A largely solitary hunter, it avoids human contact, but it preys on mice and rats, so it's often found in proximity to humans. And that's when the trouble begins. When threatened, the taipan raises its body in a tight S-shaped curve, then strikes repeatedly. It floods its target with venom, withdraws to a safe distance, then injects another deadly dose. A taipan's bite paralyzes a prey's nervous system, resulting in respiratory failure and death. This highly potent venom is neurotoxic. Just one milligram, a drop about the size of a pinhead, can kill a thousand mice. Neurotoxic venom can prove deadly on land and at sea. The banded sea krait roams from the Bay of Bengal across the South China Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It's supremely equipped for aquatic life. Its right lung fills nearly the length of its body, so it can dive over 30 feet below the surface and stay submerged for at least half an hour. A stroke of its flattened paddle-like tail propels it forward for the strike. Neurotoxins shut down this eel's nervous system, while mycotoxins bind to muscle fibers, rapidly destroying them. Paralyzed, the eel dies of suffocation. Another type of venom has the power to dissolve a prey's tissues in one strike. Found from northeastern India, Bangladesh and Bhutan, across southern China to northern Malaysia, the monocled cobra is known for its proud stance and distinct hood. It intimidates aggressors by standing tall, spreading its hood and hissing loudly before striking with a powerful mix of neurotoxic and cytotoxic venom. While neurotoxins attack its prey's nervous system, cytotoxins dissolve tissues and organs. After being bitten, a human victim may die in as little as 30 minutes. Despite the obvious danger, humans have long been fascinated by the cobra and the challenge to charm them. In Punta Gorda, Florida, snake handler David Weathers spends hours each day honing his skills. His snakes are housed in a shed behind his home. He's preparing for a show the following day, stacking boxes of snakes to load into his truck. This monocled cobra is the last to load. His father and a friend record the process on videotape. This is the actual footage from that night. Absolutely had no idea that anything was going to happen. He packed up everything else. This was either the last or the next last snake to go. I had no idea that anything was going to happen with this snake. Snake wrangler David Weathers has been bitten by a deadly cobra. Yeah, I got a severe pain in my stomach because that's where I got bit right in the stomach. David's friend races him to the hospital. The panic hit struck both of us, actually, because we both realized that we had no antivenom. I knew it was a race against time. There's a scratch where he went for a second bite. There's a fang mark there and a scratch here. All that in there is localized venom that's starting to go through my system. Hello, sorry, sweetie. Listen, I'm on my way to the hospital. I just got bit by a cobra real bad. I'm having problems breathing. I was doing a good 95, 100 miles an hour through traffic lights. Start honking your horn, honk your horn. I would think that is a good possibility by his reactions that he could actually die. I feel worse than I'm being stabbed in the stomach. The cobra venom attacks David's muscle tissue, and the debris from dead muscle cells begins to clog his kidneys. Soon, they'll shut down, and he'll be in full renal failure. His wound was turning blacker and blacker, and it looked like it was just ready to explode any minute. Every second was critical. Every second that went by was a little bit closer to his death. David finally arrives at the hospital in Fort Myers. Just 20 minutes after the bite. But the hospital does not stock cobra antivenom. David must wait for it to arrive from a special poison unit, and the clock is ticking. People can go downhill very fast and die right in front of you, even after they had been fine for 30 minutes. Al Cruz of the medical unit Venom 1 is shocked when he finally arrives at the hospital with the antivenom. David was there laying in bed telling me, I feel fine. I said, you've just been hit by one of the deadliest cobras in the world. You're far from fine. David is immediately given five vials of the antivenom, but it isn't working. His blood work was so dangerously high, his kidneys were ready to shut down on him. Despite the risk of an overdose, David is given five more vials. And finally, he pulls through. David spent weeks in recovery contemplating what happened. I don't hold any grudges against the animals. He's doing his job. He's being a cobra. He did what he was supposed to do. And I just definitely wasn't doing what I was supposed to do. Even an experienced snake handler can misread a moment. When we let our guard down, the result can be deadly. Los Angeles, California. 33-year-old Anita Finch lives alone in a trailer park with a variety of pet snakes. She was always interested in creatures. She wasn't interested in dolls. So she didn't make friends very easily because of that. She was teased and bullied in school. She was ridiculed. From a young age, Anita saw that few people understood her passion for reptiles. So she learned to hide it. Her trailer home is her safe haven. A place she can live judgment-free with her collection of snakes. She's happy. But others are wary. As a manager, I shouldn't have allowed it. And I mentioned it to her. I said, because this is dangerous. And she says, look, they are all in an aquarium with their name. They're never outside. I said, OK, I don't want to know any more than that. Anita is looking for the next species to add to her collection. Without the proper permits, she illegally acquires a deadly gaboon viper. The gaboon viper is armed with the longest fangs in the serpent kingdom. Its leaf-shaped head is almost the size of a human fist. With a stout body that stretches up to seven feet, it weighs as much as a medium-sized dog. It's a patient hunter. In the wild, it blends into the forest floor and waits for prey for hours. When the moment's right, the gaboon strikes. Hollow fangs inject hemotoxic venom directly into prey, causing uncontrolled internal bleeding and death. Fangs up to two inches long slowly walk the victim into the snake's mouth. With this new addition, Anita's collection is finally complete. To get a hold of something like that, I mean, it was like the diamond. I think she thought it was just something so rare and beautiful. Anita likes to free-handle her venomous snakes and often lets them roam freely when she cleans the tanks. The gaboon is no exception. I said, Anita, you're playing so much with the danger. You don't understand what those animals can do. December 15th. Anita, you there? Anita? It's been three days since Anita has last been seen. I walked in her house and what I saw was not something I wish on anybody. Police are called to a Los Angeles trailer home to investigate what is reported as a possible homicide. The first thing you notice when you walk in the house is the odor of reptiles. It's got a very unique smell and it was very strong, which tells me that there was a lot of reptiles. There was a lot of blood on the floor. There was also copious amounts in the toilet, in the restroom, in the sink in the restroom, as well as the floor of the restroom and drops of blood leading down the hall. They're horrified when they discover Anita Finch's lifeless body. It kind of, to me, literally looked like somebody had just attacked her with a ball bat or something. I didn't fully realize it was indeed a snake bite until I actually got up and did the physical examination of the body. When I touched her hand, I had holes that were oozing fluid out of them. This is definitely a snake bite. Police investigate the fangs of all her snakes. There was the one, the gaboon viper, that we were more interested in, and opening up its mouth. Of all the snakes, that was the one that certainly lined up. A story of what had happened begins to emerge. It hit her twice on her hand. It's known to be fatal within 15 minutes. So I should imagine anything and everything that happened had to have happened very quick. In a sense, there was no help. I don't think anybody could have gotten to her with antivenin quick enough or gotten her to a hospital that had the proper antivenin. Anita didn't call 911, but in her last moments, she may have hoped someone would find her in time. She was found clutching a note with the name of the hospital she should be taken to. Each year, venomous snakes kill as many as 90,000 people worldwide. But not all snakes are venomous. The majority are constrictors, monsters with massive jaws and super strength. The green anaconda kills with power, not potion. It's the world's heavyweight champion, reaching 30 feet in length, nearly the size of a school bus, and weighing more than three grown men. Its body can be over a foot in diameter. It thrives in the South American tropics, from Venezuela to the Amazon's southern edge. Anywhere there is water, its forked tongue searches the air for scent trails left by prey. Then it waits in ambush, with only its head visible above the waterline. Stealth gives way to raw power. The anaconda's teeth are arranged in a double row and point backward to catch and hold struggling prey. It wraps around its victim and begins the squeeze. Every time the prey exhales, the snake tightens its grip. Even a 300-pound black caiman can fall victim to an anaconda's crushing death coil. An anaconda can easily stretch its jaws wider than its own head, to a maximum gape of 180 degrees, wide enough to swallow a man whole. Jose Damaso, a native of northern Peru, has seen these colossal serpents in the swamps around his home. There are some five swamps near the Uran. Ever since I was 17, I've been going there. I went alone or with my father-in-law. We went all over the mountain to fish, everywhere. There are lots of animals there, not just anaconda. There are lots of animals. Jose and his father-in-law trek to a familiar fishing spot. It's a place known to harbor green anacondas. At any moment, if you go there, you might see it. It's there, sunbathing, curled up. And it's listening and it's watching. When you move, it sees you. The men split up to find their own pools. As Jose focuses on his catch, a super serpent begins its stealth attack. The anaconda can hold its breath for up to 10 minutes. Fully concealed, it closes in. Razor-sharp teeth dig into Jose Damaso's thigh. If the anaconda succeeds in coiling, there will be no chance of escape. I jumped to my feet. I grabbed its head and threw it off me. If I didn't, it would have dragged me away. Jose's quick reaction may have saved his life. When the snake let go, I shouted for my father-in-law and I took off running. But he is left with a reminder of just how close he came to the unthinkable. I lifted my leg like this and three teeth came out. One more is still in there. Jose knows he took a risk entering the snake's domain. It has grown up there. That animal, that anaconda, since it was small, and it has grown into such a tremendous animal. Even now, it's still living there. This constrictor's stealth attack came from below. But another killer snake hunts from above. The reticulated python is the world's longest snake. A monster that can grow up to 30 feet long and weigh over 300 pounds. The weight of two grown men. Like the anaconda, this super serpent doesn't need venom to kill its prey. Its 10,000 muscles squeeze its dinner to death. Reticulated pythons range from India to Indonesia. A region packed with hot, humid rainforests, rivers, and dark caves. These places give the serpent the cover it needs to hide its massive body while it waits in ambush. This python blends into its surroundings with an intercrossed or reticulated pattern. While its elliptical, cat-like pupils open wide to optimize night vision. Heat-sensing pit organs detect the body heat of passing prey. And chemical sensors on its tongue pick up odors from the air. In an instant, the snake traps its prey with sharp, backward-curving teeth. Then begins the squeeze, stopping the flow of blood and oxygen. The victim dies of suffocation. Like the anaconda, pythons swallow prey whole, using a unique lower jaw that detaches at the front. Its highly elastic skin stretches out as its jaws consume the meal. Plantation worker Yi Chung Huan walks on a forest path in rural Malaysia. When either his chemical scent, the vibrations of his footsteps, or the heat of his body catches the attention of a super snake. A 22-foot reticulated python hits Huan at full force. Huan collapses, unable to move. And then the snake slips its coils around his chest and neck. Huan's struggle ends there as he takes his last breath. The python releases Huan's leg and begins moving towards his head for the swallow. Police Sergeant Abu Sama took this photo. He was searching for Huan when he discovered the body. The snake was sucking the victim in. The sound was like a snoring sound. The python tried to escape, but Sama shot it dead. Despite stories like these, pythons and other large constrictors are popular pets. Trendy, fashionable, hip. Hundreds of thousands of pet pythons are in the hands of responsible owners across the globe. But cohabitating with large reptiles has its risks. A Las Vegas family has a new pet. All the cyruses enjoy their python, especially nine-year-old Catherine. I'm never really afraid of anything. She didn't really have a name before, so we named her Victoria. I thought of her as a pet. I mean, I liked her more than a dog. I got her, she was probably about four foot. She's just somebody, you know, around the house. Just pet, quiet. I mean, very clean. But Victoria is growing up fast. In just four years, she's almost quadrupled in size. Fueled by her ceaseless appetite. August 2008. I was sleeping, and I felt, you know, like something bit me. She's really strong, and every time you move, she tightens up more. I could hear popping, because every time I'd move, she would just get tighter and move up towards my chest. She squeezed onto my ribs. Victoria is set to feed, and Catherine is rapidly becoming her next meal. You cannot even imagine how strong these snakes are. The strength is there, that snake is ready to eat, and it's eating time. Running back down the hall into the kitchen, grabbed a butcher knife. The only way to get the python to let up is complete decapitation. I like this snake. I didn't hesitate when it come to my daughter. I mean, I didn't even think about it. I think about, if my dad wasn't there, where would I be? And when I do tell the story, some people don't even believe me. But I have scars. Teething scars, where they pulled the teeth out of my leg. Catherine is lucky. But her experience follows an unfortunate pattern. In the U.S., in the last decade alone, nearly 10 people have been killed by their pet pythons. Snake-related incidents like these are on the rise. Many owners end up with a lot more snake than they can handle. Some get loose, and others are abandoned, left to roam freely in our neighborhoods and wreak havoc on the ecosystem. We put ourselves, each other, and the environment in danger because of our curiosity, adoration, and obsession. We may take wild animals out of the wild, and we may think we know them. But snakes and their unique behaviors will always remain unpredictable and dangerous.