So what bit you?

While idly scratching a mosquito bite (yes, mommmmmmmmmm, I know, “keep yer mitts off it or it won’t heal!!”), I got to thinking: “What critters have I been bitten, stung or otherwise attacked by?”

For me:
[ul]
[li]mosquitos (duh!)[/li][li]a screech-owl[/li][li]a dachshund[/li][li]a swan[/li][li]a peacock[/li][li]spiders (many, in fact)[/li][li]a cricket[/li][li]an African Grey parrot[/li][/ul]

Except for the spiders, no real ill-effects (just some swelling around my eyes).

So what has bitten you? And what, of those, are you allergic to?

[This poll brought to you by down-time at work (and one helluvan itch)…]

Mike Tyson…

Let’s see…

Mosquitos
Fleas
Bee
and one P.I.T.A. cat

I’m allergic to the cat. :wink:

Sorry, pet peeve! I’m sure you’re very sweet, but even a very confused bee would only lick you very gently.

Bee’s sting. (That’s the other end of the body.)

Mosquitos
Fleas
Spiders
One of those big white parrot-type birds
Hamster
Puppy
Child
Cat
Rooster
Horse

Hmmm, now let’s see.

[ul]
[li]mosquitos [/li][li]sand flies[/li][li]fleas[/li][li]dogs[/li][li]a horse[/li][li]a spider[/li][li]a fish[/li][li]Mr Goo[/li][/ul]

That about covers it :smiley:

Crickets bite?
Sheri

Hmmm…Lessee…

Invertebrates:
Several species of crustacean
Octopus ( unpleasant )
Jellyfish
Fleas
Ticks ( two species )
Spiders ( two or three species )
Mosquitos
Midges
Biting Flies ( Tabanus punctifer - A more appropriate name I can scarcely imagine )
Bearded Fly
Honeybee
Bumblebee
Yellow-Jacket
Paper Wasp
Chiggers
Scorpion ( Uroctonus mordax - no biggie )

Mammals:
Puli ( no one’s fault, including the dog, we startled each other badly - I’m fond of this dog )
Toy Poodle ( this, on the other hand, was the fault of that foul-tempered yappy beast )
California Meadow Vole ( vicious little guys and no mistake :smiley: )

Amphibians:
Arboreal Salamander ( actually drew a teensy bit of blood )
Black-bellied Salamander ( a tenacious little character )

Birds:
Chesnut-Backed Chickadee ( feisty as all get out )
Purple Finch ( this one hurt for such a little bird - big, seed-crushing bill )
Brewer’s Blackbirds ( several times - thwacked on the head by dive-bombing nesters - less painful than surprising - feels like someone snapping their fingers into the top of your head )
Chicken ( pecked )

Reptiles ( Lizards ):
Western Fence Lizards ( more times than I can count )
Northern Alligator Lizards ( ditto )
Southern Alligator Lizards ( ditto that ditto - Alligator Lizards are “fun” because they clamp down and you can hang them in mid-air from your hand :wink: )
Side-Blotched Lizards
Long-Nosed Leopard Lizards
Desert Iguana ( not the same as the ones people keep for pets that can deliver a real mother of a bite )
others I’m no doubt not recalling

Reptiles( Snakes ):
More bites than I can count from a variety of species, mostly various Rat ( Elaphe ) and Garter ( Thamnophis ) snakes. But others as well ( Racers, Kingsnakes, etc. )

The piece de resistance? A Chinese King Rat Snake ( aka Chinese Keeled Rat Snake, Stinking Goddess - Elaphe carinata ) popped me in the eye. Hit me open-mouthed and his teeth penetrated the corner of my eyelid and the sclera of my eye. Must be a pretty-well vascularized area - I bled like a stuck pig. Also it turned the sclera dark red-black for several days, causing the wags at work to dub me ‘snake-eyes’ :D. The culprit:

http://www.ratsnakes.com/Ecarinata.html

Handsome animal, but I don’t recommend them as pets. They’re a wee bit pissy ;).

But at that I know many people who have taken many far worse bites ( or stings ) than me. For example my dad, who stepped on a stingray in the Sea of Cortez, much to his distress. Or my roomate who got hit in a chine by a wild ten-foot Boa, which he said was like getting a face full of roofing nails. Or his brother who has had three of four Rattlesnake bites.

  • Tamerlane

Oh and Backswimmers ( Notonectids ), Toebiters ( Belostomatids ) and big Jerusalem Crickets ( they kick AND bite ). Probably a lot more I’ll remember over the next hour or two but will spare you the details of :).

  • Tamerlane

Well, I haven t been quite the punching bag for the Animal Kingdom that Tamerlane has (thankfully).

• Mosquitos
• Yellowjacket
• Spiders
• Ants
• Fleas
• Tick
• Horsefly
• Dogs
• Cats
• Cockroach (yes, they can)
• Jellyfish
• Parrot
• Bluejay (well, pecked - does that count?)

That’s all I can remember right now. I’ve had close calls with snakes, scorpions, asps, centipedes, wasps and a rabid chipmunk. And something bit me in the ocean once, but I don’t think I ever figured out what it was.

Oh yeah, add on:
[ul]
[li]Northern Mockingbird (got too close to a nest of babies and BAM!, right in the back of the head! Essohbee, it hurt like hell!)[/li][li]Horseflies[/li][li]my cat[/li][li]my cockatiel[/li][li]Two of my special ed students[/li][li]FIRE ANTS!!![/li][/ul]

And I just this evening found a tick from when I was camping this weekend. Ewwwwwww.

A couple of dogs, cats and hamsters have taken chunks out of me. Lots of ants, horseflies, fleas and mosquitoes. And believe it or not, I’ve been bitten by vicious, man-eating Florida cockroaches. No spiders yet - I’m verrry cautious around anything with four times more legs than me.