Which are the world`s deadliest reptiles? And why?

I think Australia has to claim some of the more deadly reptiles while our close neighbour New Zealand has the envious claim of having absolutely no deadly creatures!

Best know in Australia is the Funnelweb spider a big hairy and deadly monster that jumps when cornered and whose bite can be fatal. Funnelwebs were originally only found in the more northern parts of Australia, reasonably common in Sydney but more recently to be found a little further south. With the temperature changes the hot weather is making is easier for them to be found in what used to be temperate areas.

Another nasty is the redback spider - this is an intensely black spider with just a bright red mark on its back. In the days of outdoor toilets it was a genuinely feared character that you took considerable trouble to avoid sitting on! It seems it likes the dank and damp atmosphere so if you are visiting the outback and come across public toilets just check for redbacks first!

An introduced species is the Cane Toad. This particularly unattractive character was brought to Queensland to rid the sugar cane plantations of the mice the spoiled the cane. The Cane Toad adapted brilliantly, breeds prolifically and its slimy outer skin is deadly to all who ingest it - particularly dogs and cats who sniff it and then lick their noses or small children who may touch it and then put their hands in their mouths.

It also displaces other native frogs and is officially now a pest which is spreading to the west and south.

In the snake arena we have our deadliest one in the form of the brown snake which is a small but deadly snake that likes to hide in woodpiles and bits innocent fingers grabbing for wood without checking first!

A more common sight around homes is the 'Daddy Long Legs' - no idea of its proper name but we see a lot of them - this fragile spider is actually very venomous but fortunately it is unable to penetrate human skin so cannot harm us and is easy to remove.

Also around the home is a less attractive looking spider called the Huntsman - they will often take up residence in the corner of a room and while they look a bit threatening they are actually quite harmless to humans but will catch flies (without webs handing all over the place) so when we see a huntsman on the wall we are usually pretty happy to let it stay quietly doing its bit for us against the flies!

And, of course, let us not forget the deadliest of all creatures in our country:

Human beings!