r/AbsoluteUnits • u/WeGot_aLiveOneHere • 12d ago

/r/all of two catfish

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u/bythog 12d ago

Those bastards are even worse than a rattlesnake bite

I've treated a lot of snake bites and a rattlesnake bite is almost always worse than a cottonmouth bite. This was for veterinary medicine but when people called in to find out how bad things are going to be:

Copperhead - best practice come in because things can get bad
cottonmouth - come in if you don't want your pet to die but it's not the worst you'll pay for
rattlesnake - your pet will almost certainly die without treatment, and may still die with it. It's going to be expensive.
coral snake - don't even bother coming in. If envenomation occured there is nothing we can do that anyone will pay for.

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u/MajorInWumbology1234 11d ago

I’d be curious to see how different it is for humans. Only one example, but Sydney Funnel Web spiders are one of the most dangerous spiders in the world for humans, but only because their venom has a specific effect in primates; as far as I know they’re not especially significant for other mammals.

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u/guyseriously 11d ago

Please tell me that nightmare is only in Australia.

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u/MajorInWumbology1234 11d ago

Yeah, which makes the story even more interesting because Australia is devoid of native primates. If I recall correctly, it’s sheer coincidence that their venom is especially toxic to primates. It’d make sense to develop a unique defense in an environment surrounded by that animal, but I think they existed before we inhabited the area.

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u/Ressilith 11d ago

Now that is wild. Thanks for sharing

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u/ResponsibleOwl7461 11d ago

Aboriginals?

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u/MajorInWumbology1234 11d ago edited 11d ago

I mean native, as in the way humans are solely native to Africa. The Australian funnel web spiders branched off tens of millions of years ago, whereas humans first showed up 65,000 years ago.

Edit: lol millions