Puff Adder

0:00:02 > 0:00:05'On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters,

0:00:05 > 0:00:08'and here's just one of my many favourites.

0:00:08 > 0:00:10'This is Deadly 60 Bites.'

0:00:10 > 0:00:11Whoa!

0:00:15 > 0:00:17This is a puff adder.

0:00:17 > 0:00:19It's one of the most feared snakes in Africa,

0:00:19 > 0:00:21but I think they are utterly fascinating.

0:00:21 > 0:00:24And the most interesting thing, perhaps, is that its strike

0:00:24 > 0:00:27can be over and done with in as much as a fifth of a second.

0:00:27 > 0:00:31Now, I'm hoping to show you that by getting it to strike at...

0:00:31 > 0:00:33this water balloon.

0:00:33 > 0:00:37'We're using the balloon to simulate a small mammal.

0:00:37 > 0:00:40'Hopefully, it will strike it in the same way.'

0:00:40 > 0:00:42Oh-h-h!

0:00:42 > 0:00:45That was glorious.

0:00:47 > 0:00:51You can see the tongue flickering on the air.

0:00:51 > 0:00:54It's drawing back into that classic S-shape which gives it

0:00:54 > 0:00:57the possibility to extend to strike.

0:00:58 > 0:01:00It's focused on the balloon.

0:01:04 > 0:01:06Oh, wo-o-ow!

0:01:07 > 0:01:11That is absolutely unbelievable.

0:01:11 > 0:01:16It's a very, very short strike, but you could see as the mouth opened,

0:01:16 > 0:01:20the sheath that covered the fangs being exposed.

0:01:20 > 0:01:21They're very, very long those fangs,

0:01:21 > 0:01:25and really act like tiny stiletto daggers.

0:01:25 > 0:01:28And they have just knifed into the balloon,

0:01:28 > 0:01:32and for a fraction of a second, the water is hanging there in one place.

0:01:32 > 0:01:36If that was mammal prey, it would've carried it on pumping the venom

0:01:36 > 0:01:40into its body, and then it retreats. It lets it go.

0:01:40 > 0:01:43This is really important to the puff adder, because what it's doing is

0:01:43 > 0:01:46it's making sure that its prey can't do it any damage.

0:01:46 > 0:01:49It's now retreated, it's back to its original position,

0:01:49 > 0:01:52and it's just going to wait for its prey to succumb to its venom.

0:01:54 > 0:01:57The gloriously camouflaged, split-second striking

0:01:57 > 0:02:02puff adder has got it, and is definitely going on the Deadly 60.

0:02:08 > 0:02:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd