Most Dangerous V's Most Venomous

This is a very common talking point at our training courses and Julian spends a fair bit of time on it because even though a snake may have a large amount of venom or a high toxicity of venom, it doesn't mean it is the most dangerous species in Australia. Let's look at why.

I'll start with the meaning of 'dangerous'. Google tells me dangerous means "able or likely to cause harm". So, the most dangerous would mean the most likely to cause harm. 'Venomous', on the other hand, means, "capable of injecting venom', so we can assume that the most venomous means 'capable of injecting the most toxic venom'.

In Australia, the most venomous snake is the Inland Taipan. But, it lives in central eastern Australia meaning very few people come into contact with it. So, even though it is the most venomous, could it be considered the most dangerous, given our above definition. Would an Inland Taipan cause much harm out in the middle of nowhere?

The Brown Snake, however, is a different story. Unpredictable behaviour, fast, prolific throughout all of Australia including major cities and very, very adaptable. The Eastern Brown Snake is without doubt the most dangerous snake in Australia!