Australian Zoo is asking residents to catch the world’s most venomous spider: the deadly Sydney Funnel-Web

It’s spring in the land Down Under, and an Australian zoo has issued a mission to any adult brave enough to follow through: Catch a lethal Sydney funnel-web spider.

While this quest may scare away arachnophobes, public donations of funnel webs are mission critical for Australian Reptile Park— the only place in Australia that milks the Sydney funnel web, one of the world’s deadliest spiders, to create a life-saving antivenom.

The rainy weather and rising temperatures of spring are kicking off the Greater Sydney region’s funnel web season, sending male spiders scurrying across the country in search of mates. In a field demonstration videospider keeper Emma Teni explains how to safely collect a Sydney funnel web’s egg sac – as well as the mother tending her babies.

“To safely collect her, you need a jar she can’t climb out of and a long spoon she can’t climb up,” Teni says, just before scooping the spider into a cup.

The creatures cannot climb up plastic or glass, according to one declaration from the zoo. Brave spider collectors can then bring the animal to one of the zoos delivery locations.

The Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) is one of at least 36 species of funnel-web spiders that live throughout Australia. The spiders are named for the shape of their webs, which emerge from their sheltered burrows under rocks and logs, creating silken trip lines that alert the spiders to prey, mates or danger. While several species are known for their toxicity, the male is Atrax robustus are probably responsible for all 13 recorded deaths from funnel webs, as well as numerous other life-threatening bites.

But since the invention of funnel-web antivenom in 1981, there have been zero fatalities from a Sydney funnel-web spider bite, according to University of Melbourne‘s School of Biomedical Sciences. Since then, the Australian Reptile Park’s venom milking program has helped produce doses of the life-saving serum.

Now the program contains more than 2,000 spiders are milked according to a fixed schedule. But to keep these numbers up, they depend on donations from the public. In particular, catching funnel-web egg sacs is indispensable for the initiative. Producing a vial of antivenom requires nearly 150 spiders, and each egg sac can carry 50 to 150 spiders.

In January, the park received quite a large donation: a 7.9-centimeter spider, aptly named Hercules, larger than a baseball and the largest male Sydney funnel web ever collected.

Milking one of the world’s deadliest spiders requires extreme focus and a delicate hand. With a glass pipette mounted on a small vacuum, spider holders cause a spider to stand up and expose its fangs in a defensive position. Small drops of venom quickly form on the fangs, and the keeper quickly sucks the venom through the pipette. After milking is finished, the venom is frozen until it is sent to Seqirisa pharmaceutical company that helps create the antidote.

“The milked poison is then injected – in very small but increasing doses – into rabbits, which over time produce antibodies against the poison,” as Christian Thorsberg wrote for Smithsonian magazine following the discovery of Hercules earlier this year.

Seqiris researchers then collect the antibodies from the rabbits’ blood and send them to hospitals across Australia. The treatment is crucial for that about 30 to 40 people which is annually bitten by Sydney funnel-web spiders.

If bitten, it Australian Reptile Park says to stay calm, apply a pressure immobilization bandage, call 911 and go to the hospital immediately. The zoo advises residents to check their homes and yards for common funnel-web hiding places, such as yard waste, garages, leaves, piles of laundry and shoes left outside.

“It is important that Australians know how to handle funnel-web spiders safely and are familiar with the correct first aid measures,” Teni said in the statement. “We rely on the public for donations of spiders and we want to make sure everyone stays safe during the collection process, especially when conditions are so favorable this year.”