Snake Wranglers

Craig and Jackie Adams-Maher of the Australian Reptile Park head out in search of one of Australia's deadliest snakes - the death adder - whose venom is desperately needed to help end a shortage of antivenom, now down to a dangerously low supply. Their trip takes them across New South Wales to Lightning Ridge, where they make a dramatic capture of two Eastern Browns - an aggressive snake that kills more people than any other in Australia. After Craig takes a break by attempting to ride a bull at a local rodeo - (and learns that bull wrangling and snake wrangling don't have much in common) - they bag another stunning snake - an eight-foot King Brown. But Death Adders continue to elude them. Finally, in the hills outside Sandy Hollow, their luck changes. Jackie makes her first free-hand capture of a Death Adder, and Craig uncovers a second. And on their way home, they strike gold - a litter of 15 baby Death Adders. But even that is only a start - since it takes hundreds of milkings to obtain one vial of antivenom, Craig and Jackie's Death Adder Duet will go on.

Antivenom researchers need venom from three of Australia's deadliest snakes - the tiger snake, the spotted mulga, and the king brown - and they've hired the perfect man for the job. He's Brian Bush - one of Western Australia's leading snake wranglers, and a man who's survived being bitten by venomous snakes six times. Brian's search begins on Carnac Island, just off the coast from Perth, where he corrals and milks venom from the island's deadly tiger snakes. Then, he hits the road on a 2,400-kilometer journey into the outback, camping out along the way as he searches for the other snakes on his shopping list. Brian turns up two snakes not on the list - a tiny - but lethal - brown snake, and a very deadly and fast-moving western brown. But in the end, he's successful, bagging a rare spotted mulga during a rainstorm, and a king brown hiding near some old railway ties. By the light of his campfire, Brian milks venom from his catches to send back to the waiting researchers.

For over a decade, animal activist Snehal Bhatt has led a one-woman crusade to rescue India's most dangerous snakes - cobras, vipers, and giant pythons - from frightened townspeople, crooked snake charmers and devious poachers. Now, with the situation in her home city of Vadodara well in hand, she's taking aim at the rural town of Valsad. There, poachers continue to trade illegally in such snakes as Indian pythons, and snake charmers still perform, defanging snakes and ultimately killing them. But with the help of a posse of dedicated volunteers, Snehal does battle with the charmers and poachers, and helps save people and snakes from each other. During the course of her visit to Valsad, she faces off with one spectacled cobra and rescues another from a well, removes a deadly Russell's Viper that had been mistaken for a python, saves a giant python from some anxious farm workers, and finally, releases the animals into protected forest, away from human habitation.

Renowned rattlesnake expert Bruce Means travels throughout the southeastern United States to determine how America's largest venomous snake --the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake-- has been able to survive in the face of human encroachment, while other large-bodied snakes --like the Indigo Snake, the Pine Snake, and the Kingsnake-- are in severe decline. Bruce believes that the Eastern Diamondback may respond to human encroachment by living in greater densities --more snakes per acre-- than other species of large snakes. Bruce's preliminary data indicates that he's correct: Eastern Diamondbacks are indeed capable of not only surviving --but thriving-- within small habitats. Bruce ventures deep into the swamps of Florida's Wakulla Springs State Park --an area not normally thought of as rattlesnake habitat-- and find that the Eastern Diamondback has adapted to live in this watery new terrain.

Auburn University researcher Scott Boback ventures to Belize to learn why island boa constrictors - averaging 6 feet in length - are considerably smaller than their 12-foot counterparts on the mainland. He ventures to the Snake Cayes, just off the coast, in search of the tree-dwelling island boas. Braving bugs and boa bites, Scott bags his quota of boas in just two days. But back on the mainland, the search for mainland boas proves much more difficult. Scott suffers through numerous forays into the Belize City dump, a snake that escapes into the bathroom plumbing, and export permits that don't arrive. Then, one month later, he finally gets his permits - and his snakes - and brings them back to the U.S. to continue his research.

Distinguished herpetologist Dr. Jesus Rivas heads out on a road-trip through the southeastern United States to get hands-on with some of its most venomous snakes - copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlesnakes. From his laboratory at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, travel with Jesus to the first stop on this snaky adventure, the woods outside Edwina, Tennessee, where he meets up with Reverend Jimmy Morrow, a preacher at a nearby Pentecostal church, to hunt for an integral component of the reverend's weekly worship: copperheads. Then it's off to the church, where remarkably, believers handle these deadly venomous vipers without suffering any bites. Then, Jesus hits the swamps of Aiken, South Carolina, where noted herpetologist Whit Gibbons risks life and limb measuring the aggressive behavior of another notorious pit viper: the cottonmouth. But this road-trip isn't just academic: Jesus also travels to Leesburg, Georgia to investigate the death of two-year-old boy bitten by North America's largest venomous snake, the Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake. Was this attack an act of aggression, or simply a defensive reaction? To find out, Jesus heads to Tallahassee, Florida where he teams up with renowned rattlesnake expert, Dr. Bruce Means. Together, they put this giant pit viper's disposition to the test.

Yale researcher Zoltan Takacs travels around the world to locate blood samples from some of the world's deadliest snakes. Hungarian-born herpetologist and intrepid adventurer Zoltan Takacs flies, drives and treks deep into the jungles of Cameroon to satiate his need for snake venom and blood. He's determined to discover why snakes have such deadly venom: is it to kill their prey or digest it? To get the answer, Zoltan steps into the ring with the undisputed heavyweight of the forest - the Gaboon viper. These seven-foot long, 25-pound behemoths have fangs reaching two inches long, capable of injecting a large amount of venom deep into its victim. But capturing them won't be easy, so Zoltan joins forces with local Baka Pygmies. Their intimate knowledge of the forest and the creatures that live in it could spell the difference between success and failure for Zoltan's mission.

Rom Whitaker joins some of the world's most legendary snake trackers - the Irula tribespeople of southern India - as they head out to capture India's "Big Four" venomous snakes: cobras, kraits, saw-scaled vipers and Russell's Vipers. A quarter of a century ago, Rom helped the Irulas found a venom extraction cooperative - today, the coop's venom is used to produce over 80% of all the antivenom made in India. But are there still enough snakes here to sustain the venom program - or even expand it? Rom is here to find out, by conducting an informal snake census. But along the way, a young Irula friend is bitten by a deadly cobra - and Rom rushes to help save his life.

Doctor Zoltan Takacs travels to the South Pacific nations of Vanuatu and Fiji in search of deadly sea snakes in an attempt to answer the question 'why are some snakes resistant to their own venom?' Diving at night in snake-infested waters, and braving sharks and shipwrecks, Takacs captures one of the world's most venomous snakes, the banded sea krait, and draws blood from its heart to bring back DNA samples to his lab. Doctor Takac's trek begins with a daring night-hunt on a remote island near Vanuatu, where a venomous snake bite would mean certain death. Scuba diving 80 feet to the ocean floor, Takacs encounters a W.W.II aircraft and abundant sea life, before cornering banded sea kraits in coral caverns. Takacs arrives in Fiji by seaplane, and on his first dive has a close encounter with a shark. The highlight of his journey is a bold night-time dive and an eerie underwater duet with a huge banded sea krait on the prowl for eels.

Visit Jim Harrison at his Reptile Zoo - home to thousands venomous snakes - where he runs a venom extraction program, then take a trip, where he'll collect rattlesnakes for a new form of antivenin.

Lee Grismer, a herpetologist from California's La Sierra University, leads an expedition to Tioman Island, off the coast of Malaysia, to hunt for new species of snake in one of the last tracts of virgin rainforest on the planet.

Internationally renowned venom researcher Doctor Bryan Fry plunges into the deadly waters off the coast of Australia with his wife and research assistant, Alexia, to capture and milk highly venomous sea snakes for the creation of new antivenom. They begin their quest by scuba diving for sea snakes at the Great Barrier Reef, an underwater paradise replete with toxic fish, giant sharks, and the world's most venomous sea snake, the Dubois. Finding the Dubois here isn't a problem --the waters are filled with them-- but catching them by hand and milking them for their toxic venom is no easy feat. Their highly neurotoxic venom --for which there is no known antivenom-- can kill in under twelve hours and Bryan is well aware that one wrong move could cost him his life. Then its off to the Gulf of Carpentaria --an aquatic sanctuary literally teeming with thousands of venomous serpents-in hopes of nabbing the world's largest venomous sea snake, the Stokes. Bryan's been searching for this elusive giant for over five years. If he could just get his hands on the Stokes, it might provide him with invaluable information on the venom of this slippery predator. Will Bryan meet with success ? Or will his "white whale" elude him yet again? Come join Bryan and Alexia as they risk their lives unlocking the mysteries of venom so that others might live.

Indian herpetologist Gerry Martin travels to the small village of Patia in India¿s northeast state of Orissa, in an effort to convince local snake charmers to give up the illegal practice of de-fanging snakes ¿ which ends up killing them ¿ and turn to milking and selling the snakes¿ venom for antivenom production instead. Gerry¿s adventure begins with a village tour of the charmers¿ deadly snakes. Cobras ¿Monocled, Spectacled, and King¿ are found throughout the village, indicating the charmers¿ extraordinary ability to handle, capture, and house India¿s deadliest serpents. But these snakes have been de-fanged. A venom extraction program would save the snakes ¿ and be more lucrative for the villagers ¿ but first, Gerry must determine if there are enough venomous fanged snakes in the surrounding countryside to get the program off the ground. Gerry, along with his old friend and fellow snake expert, Rupali Ghose, accompany a group of the village¿s best charmers into the wild where they struggle to capture some of India¿s deadliest snakes¿Monocled and Spectacled Cobras, and the world¿s longest venomous snake, the mighty King Cobra. With a little luck, and a lot of persistence, Gerry¿s plan should take off, creating a program that will benefit snakes, snake charmers and snakebite victims alike.