9 Most Venomous Animals in the World with kill time of less than 1 hour
When venom comes to mind we mainly think of snakes. But you will be absolutely surprised by watching our top 3 contenders who are so dangerous that you might not be able to survive if bitten. Without further ado let’s begin our list of the 9 most venomous animals in the world.
9) Stonefish
Image source: Reef stonefish by Rickard Zerpe, available under CC by 2.0 at Flickr.
Symptoms: Venom causes intense pain and swelling
Kill time: Less than an hour
Stonefish is considered one of the most venomous fish in the world. It contains 13 dorsal spines which can pierce through a soft sole shoe releasing venom from 2 sacs at the base of each spine. Each spine can have potentially 5 to 10 mg of venom strong enough to kill you in minutes.
Surprisingly, stonefish don’t use venom to hunt but use their deadly speed to capture their prey. These animals are experts in camouflage and are responsible for the death of people living on Indian and Australian shores. This species spine is usually venomous and does not bite to deliver venom.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals: Wear a hard sole shoe is a lifesaver. Use the hottest water(more than 60°C) on your wounds after the sting, since its poison is heat sensitive. Avoid warm places underwater since it is these venomous creatures’ natural habitat. Be calm and don’t allow the venom to spread faster, but quickly rush to the hospital without wasting time.
8) King cobra
Video source: Times Of India, Youtube.
Symptoms: Venom causes intense pain, swelling, double vision, ptosis, and paralysis
Kill time: Half an hour
As the name suggests this animal is the king of snakes but doesn’t have venom as powerful as the black mamba. The main threat in the case of King Cobra is the amount of poison this animal injects. A black mamba merely injects about 55mg of venom per bite but a King cobra injects about 8 times more than a mamba(420mg).
This snake is not only large in size but also kills other heavily venomous snakes like Krait and other Cobras. The venom quantity per bite is sufficient to kill 20 people or even an elephant. The antivenom for this snake is not cheap, costing about 2000$ per vial and might need 25+ vials for survival.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals: Apply a pressure immobilization bandage on the bitten limb. Don’t wash the bite area because it contains traces of snake venom. This helps doctors to give a suitable antivenom.
7) Eastern brown snake
Image source: Matt from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Symptoms: Venom causes extreme sensitivity to light in the eyes, muscle weakness, difficulty in talking, and vomiting
Kill time: Less than half an hour
Eastern brown snake venom is rated as the second most toxic venom. This is the one of the most poisonous snake in the world with an LD50 score(lethal dose) of 0.03. This information means only a small amount(3mg) of this neurotoxin venom is enough to kill you. Brown snakes are extremely aggressive and can keep on pursuing you if provoked or threatened.
These snakes are mostly found in Australia and can travel at a speed of 12 miles per hour. The amount of venom this snake release depends on its size too. The bigger the snake is, undoubtedly the more venom the snake will inject and the more antivenom vials will require.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals:
Don’t kill the snake just capture an image or clear details of the snake. Apply a pressure immobilization bandage on the bitten limb. Don’t wash, cut, suck or block the blood flow.
6) Belcher’s sea snake
Image source: Belcher’s sea snake by Bernard DUPONT, available under license Attribution (CC BY 2.0) at Flickr.
Symptoms: Venom causes vomiting, diarrhea, migraines, paralysis, respiratory, and kidney failure
Kill time: Less than half an hour
The Belcher sea snake is really a highly poisonous snake underwater. The venom is 100 times more powerful than terrestrial snakes. However, due to fewer encounters with this snake, very few deaths have been reported.
Belcher sea snake victims are mainly fishermen and they grow only about 1 meter in size. This snake mainly doesn’t bite and even if it bites it only releases a very tiny amount of venom. Thus we have placed this snake lower ranking than the famous inland taipan.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals:
Wash the bite area gently with soap and water. Apply a pressure immobilization bandage on the bitten limb. Avoid unnecessary movement and don’t cut, suck or block the blood flow.
5) Inland taipan
Image source: Inland Taipan by Matthew Klein, available under license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 at Flickr.
Symptoms: Venom is a fast-acting neurotoxin causing headache, vomiting, paralysis, and breathing difficulties
Kill time: About 20 minutes
Inland taipan is the most venomous snake who with a single bite able to kill 100 people or 2,50,000 mice. These snakes are mainly found in Australia and bite only in defense otherwise they flee mainly. Although this snake is one of the most venomous animals antivenom specifically for Inland taipan has been created successfully.
Taipan venom is 50 times more powerful than the Indian king cobra and it can kill an adult horse in just 5 minutes. Another amazing feature of this snake is it changes color according to the climate around it. This snake color becomes lighter in summer and darker in winter helping them to regulate their body temperature.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals: Apply a pressure immobilization bandage on the bitten limb. Don’t wash the bite area because it contains traces of snake venom. This helps doctors to give a suitable antivenom.
4) Blue-ringed octopus
Video source: Roser Gari Perez, Youtube.
Symptoms: Venom causes excessive saliva production, chest tightness, sweating, numbness, and dizziness
Kill time: About 20 minutes
Blue-ringed octopus is found in the Indo-pacific region and has venom powerful enough to paralyze you in 10 minutes. This octopus when feels threatened highlights blue rings on its body to warn predators. Thankfully, they are not aggressive species and attack only in self-defense thus giving very less human deaths.
Blue-ringed octopuses are lethal and are listed as the most venomous animals of the sea because their venom can kill more than 20 humans in a few minutes. The octopus produces tetrodotoxin venom with the help of its salivary glands and disperses venom through their beak. Their tentacle or skin doesn’t possess any venom like poison dart frogs who also possess the same kind of venom.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals: There is no antivenom specifically for this venomous creature. Seek immediate medical attention if bitten or even feel like bitten. The main reason is you will feel nothing when this creature will bite you. Don’t wash and just apply a pressure immobilization bandage on the bitten limb.
3) Bulldog ant
Image source: Giant Bulldog Ant by Arthur Chapman, available under license CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 at Flickr.
Symptoms: Venom causes heavy abdominal pain, difficulty in breathing, swelling, and itchiness throughout your body
Kill time: Within 15 minutes
In Guinness book of world records, the Bulldog ant is entitled as the most venomous insect in the world. The venom in its stings is powerful enough to kill an adult in five minutes. These species are really aggressive and don’t fear humans at all thus keep on stinging multiple times per encounter.
Medical research is being done on this Ant found in Australia for developing painkillers. Some species of bulldog ants are called jumper ants since they aggressively jump toward intruders. Bull ants can grow to 0.3-1.3 inches long and are omnivorous in nature.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals: Wash the stinging area with soap and water. Applying an ice pack or cold bottle relieves pain and reduces swelling. Painkiller tablets can also be used if pain continually increases.
2) Sydney Funnel-web spider
Symptoms: Venom causes heavy sweating in 5 minutes, muscle numbness, swelling, and redness
Kill time: Less than 15 minutes
Funnel-web spider is the most venomous spider in the world. If it bites your torso, consider yourself dead in 5 minutes. Fortunately, antivenom for this creature has been created successfully thus reducing the death casualties every year. These spiders are just 8 cm in length and are mainly found in Australia.
In these species, the male venom is 6 times more powerful than the female. The fangs of funnel-web spider are quite sharp and even bigger than the brown snake. There are many spiders who are very similar in looking like funnel web spiders but are surprisingly non-venomous.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals: Apply a pressure immobilization bandage on the bitten limb. Avoid unnecessary movement by splinting the limb. CPR therapy must be given as soon as the victim loses consciousness.
1) Australian Box Jellyfish
Video source: Top View, Youtube.
Symptoms: Venom causes extreme pain in muscle and chest area, excessive sweating, swelling with a burning sensation, and a pattern of jellyfish tentacles created on the sting area
Kill time: Less than 5 minutes
Australian box jellyfish are undoubtedly the most venomous animals on the planet living mainly in the Indo-Pacific region of the ocean. This creature can have 10 ft long tentacles with each tentacle having 500,000 cnidocytes. You should at any cost avoid swimming on beaches during the stinger season of jellyfish.
Box jellyfish venom has the potential to kill 50 humans in under 2 minutes. Even if you survive you will still feel days of agony and pain and rope marks all over your body. There are 50 varieties of Box jellyfish but only a few of them are lethal to humans. You can delay the effect of the sting by following the crucial steps below.
Life-saving tips against this most venomous animals: Don’t touch or wash the bite area at any cost otherwise more venom may enter your system. Use vinegar to carefully remove the tentacle by rinsing it over the sting area. Don’t rub or get sand into the sting area after tentacle removal. To manage pain soak the affected area in hot water.
Thus hereby we conclude our list of the most venomous animals in the world. Hope you liked the article. Feel free to comment and share this post.
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