Victims of Venom

About

While snakes are perhaps the most notorious of the creatures who use venom, they are by no mean alone. Venom is frequently a weapon of choice in the natural world - a highly sophisticated and specialized chemical weapon - providing a variety of methods by which to attack and defend.

Many amphibians have poisons in their skins which make them lethal to eat. Peaceful-looking coral reefs are actually deadly war zones, where coral fight for territory and food with stinging tentacles. The short-tailed shrew - one of the most common mammals in North America - uses toxic saliva to paralyze its prey, and then tucks the victim away alive to snack on later. One bite from a blue-ringed octopus is potent enough to paralyze ten humans. And the list goes on.

This fascinating story of chemical warfare begins with a look at a man who extracts venom from deadly snakes for a living and has survived more lethal snakebites during his long career than any other person on Earth.

1 videocassette (approximately 60 min.) : 1/2 in

Looks at creatures who use venom as their means of attack and defense

VHS

Originally broadcast as a program in the PBS series Nature

George Page, host and narrator

Photography, Giancarlo Pancaldi [and others] ; editor, Giancarlo Cersosimo ; music, Andrea Camilletti

Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

George Page, Paneikon (Firm), WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.), Radiotelevisione italiana., Television New Zealand.

Language

English

Subtitles

English

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed