What The Duck?!

At first, you might think it is a plot from a zombie movie: that undead animals are coming for you.
But it turns out that Australia's animals aren't just dangerous when they're alive — they can be deadly even when they're dead.
Ann Jones is joined by science reporter Belinda Smith to examine why snakes can still bite up to 45 minutes after death and are potentially dangerous for years.
Think we're lying? Belinda found a guy whose great aunt (and her dog) were killed by a decapitated snake!
So if a snake could commit multiple murders from beyond the grave, what other animals are going to get you?
Featuring:
Ray Miller, relative died after being bitten by a dead snake
Dr Christina Zdenek, Australian Reptile Academy
Professor Kylie Pitt, Griffith University
Dr Olaf Meynecke, Griffith University
Len Zell, retired marine scientist and author of Australian Wildlife — Roadkill
Production:
Belinda Smith, ABC Science Reporter/Producer
Ann Jones, Presenter/Producer
Petria Ladgrove, Producer
Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

At first, you might think it is a plot from a zombie movie: that undead animals are coming for you.
But it turns out that Australia's animals aren't just dangerous when they're alive — they can be deadly even when they're dead.
Ann Jones is joined by science reporter Belinda Smith to examine why snakes can still bite up to 45 minutes after death and are potentially dangerous for years.
Think we're lying? Belinda found a guy whose great aunt (and her dog) were killed by a decapitated snake!
So if a snake could commit multiple murders from beyond the grave, what other animals are going to get you?
Featuring:
Ray Miller, relative died after being bitten by a dead snake
Dr Christina Zdenek, Australian Reptile Academy
Professor Kylie Pitt, Griffith University
Dr Olaf Meynecke, Griffith University
Len Zell, retired marine scientist and author of Australian Wildlife — Roadkill
Production:
Belinda Smith, ABC Science Reporter/Producer
Ann Jones, Presenter/Producer
Petria Ladgrove, Producer
Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Bush rats are not black rats — that's the first thing you need to know.
Ann Jones is joined by ABC Top 5 scientist Dr Patrick Finnerty to understand why researchers are going around sniffing bush rats — and how it might help reintroduce them to Sydney's nature reserves.
Find out more about the Top 5 science media residency here.
Featuring:
Dr Patrick Finnerty, conservation ecologist at the University of Sydney
Professor Peter Banks, conservation ecologist at the University of Sydney
Associate Professor Thomas Newsome, conservation ecologist at the University of Sydney
Mareshell Wauchope, PhD student at University of Sydney
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Eora and Kulin Nations.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Marion Anstis pursued her love of tadpoles and frogs on afternoons and weekends, writing papers for scientific journals despite not studying zoology at university.
When she retired from her job as a music teacher, she finally had the time to pack her campervan and travel the country, chasing wet seasons and documenting the frogs she found.
The result of that fastidious research venture is her PhD and the froggy bible, Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia.
In 2022 her contribution to the field was recognised with the genus Anstisia named after her, a group of frogs that lay their eggs on the ground.
Featuring:
Dr Marion Anstis, herpetologist and author
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

From the rolling hills of country Ireland to rolling waves beneath her boat docked in Hobart, Dr Diane Purcell has explored the most extreme places algae survive.
She's also explored the prospect of its survival away from Earth when she worked at NASA studying extremophiles.
Some of Diane's earliest research was looking at algae behaviour when it's kind of sleep deprived, and algae that will eat so much it will literally explode!
She's also dealt with the ebb and flow of research work by moving to Darwin and working as a high school science teacher.
Featuring:
Dr Diane Purcell, Project Manager of the Remediation Section, Science and Technical Branch, at the Environment Protection Authority
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.