--- title: Australia's venomous animals and why few people die — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Australia's venomous animals and why few people die», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Australia has some of the most venomous snakes, spiders, jellyfish and sea creatures in the world, yet only a handful --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Australia's venomous animals and why f… # Australia's venomous animals and why few people die Lesson 166 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/0/) — Australia has some of the most venomous snakes, spiders, jellyfish and sea creatures in the world, yet only a handful of people die from them in a normal year. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/1/) — The reasons are simple: most of these animals are shy and bite only when grabbed or stepped on, antivenoms (medicines that undo venom) exist for the worst ones, and people learn rules like checking under the outdoor toilet seat and swimming inside stinger nets. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/2/) — Think of a dog that growls behind a fence: it is dangerous only if you climb in, and venomous animals are the same, so leaving them alone keeps you safe. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/3/) — Venom is something an animal injects with a bite, sting or spine; some animals only have irritating hairs, and a horse or a cow hurts more Australians every year than all the snakes and spiders together. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/4/) — The inland taipan has the most toxic venom of any land snake when tested on mice in the laboratory, but it lives in remote desert, is shy and has almost never bitten anyone. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/5/) — The eastern brown snake causes more serious bites because it lives near farms and towns where it meets people. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/6/) — The box jellyfish has stinging cells on long tentacles whose venom can stop a person's heart, so tropical beaches put up stinger nets in summer. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/7/) — Vinegar stops the unfired stinging cells of a box jellyfish from firing, so lifeguards carry it, and anyone stung needs urgent medical help. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/8/) — The Sydney funnel-web spider is one of the most dangerous spiders, and males wander in summer looking for mates; since an antivenom was made in 1981 no one is known to have died from a funnel-web bite. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/9/) — The blue-ringed octopus is small enough to sit on a hand but carries venom that can stop breathing, and its blue rings flash only when it is alarmed, as a warning. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/10/) — The stonefish looks exactly like a lumpy stone and has venomous spines along its back, so reef shoes in shallow water protect your feet. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/11/) — Cone snails fire a harpoon-like tooth full of venom into fish, and scientists have made a strong painkiller from one cone snail venom. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/12/) — Male platypuses have a venomous spur on each back ankle; the venom does not kill people but can cause pain that lasts for weeks. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/13/) — Some caterpillars have hairs or spines that sting or cause rashes, so not every animal that hurts is venomous. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/14/) — The redback spider is a cousin of the black widow and hides in dry sheltered places, which is why Australians check under outdoor toilet seats and garden chairs. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/15/) — Sea snakes are very venomous but usually gentle and rarely bite people, and their tails are flat like oars for swimming. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/16/) — More Australians are hurt by horses, cows and bees than by snakes or spiders. - ← previous: [The Australian outback: red kangaroos, emus, thorny devils and runaway camels and toads](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/165-the-australian-outback-kangaroos-emus-thorny-devils-and-runaway-toads/) - next →: [Australia's forests and Tasmania: devils, cassowaries, lyrebirds and cube-shaped droppings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/167-australias-forests-and-tasmania-devils-cassowaries-and-lyrebirds/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)