# So what bit you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447 "2002-05-29T21:33:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/1 "2002-05-29T21:33:01Z")
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)…] ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/2 "2002-05-29T21:36:16Z")
Mike Tyson… ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/3 "2002-05-29T23:02:23Z")
Let’s see… Mosquitos Fleas Bee and one P.I.T.A. cat I’m allergic to the cat. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rutabegger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9de0a6/32.png) [@Rutabegger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rutabegger)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/4 "2002-05-29T23:20:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scout1222 \* > \*\*Let’s see… > > Bee > \*\* 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/5 "2002-05-29T23:52:13Z")
Mosquitos Fleas Spiders One of those big white parrot-type birds Hamster Puppy Child Cat Rooster Horse ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/6 "2002-05-29T23:55:19Z")
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 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/7 "2002-05-29T23:58:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\* > [ul] > [li]a cricket[/li][/ul] > \*\* Crickets bite? Sheri ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/8 "2002-05-30T00:52:07Z")
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](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 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/9 "2002-05-30T00:58:33Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/10 "2002-05-30T01:09:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/11 "2002-05-30T02:19:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-bit-you/111447/12 "2002-05-30T03:00:12Z")
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.