Marty’s photo of the day #2501: You are looking at the rarest snake in the world—the elusive tundra taipan! Scientists didn’t believe that snakes could survive north of the Arctic Circle until I documented it with this photograph, taken less than a mile from the Arctic Ocean.
It is believed that the tundra taipan’s venom actually freezes the blood of its prey (primarily lemmings), making escape impossible. Once the prey is immobilized, the snake simply opens its wide mouth and sucks down the animal like a Fla-Vor-Ice Freeze Pop!