Only a bit of plastic separates Scott Johnson from one of the most poisonous spiders in the world. On his coffee table in Engadine, New South Wales, Australia, there are several transparent containers in which Sydney funnel-web spiders sit on peat moss.
From this angle, the animals don’t seem so threatening – they easily fit in the palm of your hand. And yet, the dreaded Sydney funnel-webs, as they are called in their native country, can kill a human in less than an hour.
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