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.how did I end up here? Two beady green eyes stare directly in to mine, intentions unknown. His bright yellow belly turned upright in warning. His tongue moves in and out, in and out, searching for a sign from me. Does he want to strike? Will he slither away? I have come face to face with the world's most venomous snake: The Inland Taipan (with the infamous Cobra coming in second). In fact, Australia is home to 10 of the world's most venomous snakes, along with a handful of other rare species that could instantly kill you including the terrifying Box Jellyfish, the furry and deadly Sydney Funnel-Web Spider, the lingering and alarming Bull Shark, and a shell that can actually bite an unsuspecting you. (Yeah, you read that right. A seemingly harmless beach treasure, equipped with a deadly stinger: The Cone Snail). Back to my encounter. The Taipan snake hides away in the outback where humans rarely roam (except me, obviously). The outback is fascinating in its desolate solitary. The creatures that have evolved to withstand the barren conditions of the outback never cease to amaze, and the vast emptiness and lack of human touch, is apparent as far as the eye can see. The Taipan snake strikes with intensity, preciseness, and deadliness. Its venom kills quickly, taking down its prey (mostly rats) with 400x the necessary potency for death. Luckily for me (so I hoped), the Inland Taipan is also confrontation aversive, and doesn't seek to expel unnecessary energy on a morsel as untasty as myself. So I waited. Heart racing. Sweat dripping. Hands shaking. What would he do? Would he strike me down, leaving me in the desert writhing in pain, begging for someone to find me? Or will he let me live? I think to what people do when wielding such devastating weapons. Would they spare the snake, or leave it as a rubbery tube of emptiness? I'd like to think they would choose "live and let live" .and fortunately, so did he, as he turned and slithered away.