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
)
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
)
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.