Question: What was your most dangerous experiment to save wildlife?

Joanna Bagniewska answered on 12 Jun 2016:

When we design our experiments, we need to make sure that they are as safe as possible – there is no use in taking silly risks. Having said that, I have been silly a few times during my work. For instance, when I was a student, I spent some time working in Australia; we were trying to see how roads affect the numbers of wombats that live in the area. A few days after I arrived, I saw a very pretty spider – I scooped it up on a leaf to take a better look and take a picture, and then let it go. When I looked it up in a guide book later, it turned out that I held a redback spider, the most deadly spider in Australia. On one hand, I should have known better; on the other, the spider was so pretty…