Antivenin and Econ 101

We initially didn't quite believe the top-shelf venom prices quotes in this 1995 piece about Caucasian vipers. Upwards of $1,000 per gram just struck as too high, given the relative abundance of the most desirable species. But sure enough, the latest price list from the Kentucky Reptile Zoo proved our skepticism misplaced; a gram's worth of poison from the fangs of an Eastern coral snake will, indeed, run your a thousand bucks. A similar quantity of venom from a Mexican bearded lizard, by...