# What has bitten you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 18, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486 "2005-05-18T22:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/41 "2005-05-19T16:43:22Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > [A bearded dragon.](http://www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/azdragon.html) Coulda been worse had [he](http://www.airmassive.com/img/041904_killbillv2_liu.jpg) plucked your eye clean out of its socket. ---
**Author:** ![poeticyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@poeticyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poeticyde)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/42 "2005-05-19T17:50:20Z")
Pretty much every sort of blood-sucking insect: mosquitoes, horseflies, deerflies, ticks, fleas, chiggers. And a few non-bloodsuckers: ants, beetles, earwigs, caterpillars, a locust once, a dragonfly once. Spiders: Countless house spiders, wolf spiders, garden spides, once by a brown recluse (not fun!) and once by a daddy longlegs (yes I know everyone in the world says they can’t bite humans, but damnit, this one bit me and it HURT!). Snakes: Countless garter snakes, bull snakes, king snakes, rat snakes, a baby python once. The worst was a garter snake that slipped up my sleave and bit my in the soft skin where your elbow bends and then twisted!!! OUCH! Turtles: a Red-eared slider, a box turtle, and one I never identified. I have come _very_ close to being bitten by a snapper, and once by an Alligator Snapping turtle. Lizards: Iguanas, skinks, fence lizards, horned toads, geckos, anoles, a glass snake, and a baby caimen, and a ton I never identified. Birds: A rooster, geese, countless ducks, robins, jays, parakeets, a cockateel, and a woodpecker once. Rodents: Hamsters, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, rats, rabbits, squirrels…I am a rodent chewing post, it seems. Various other mammalia: Cats, dogs, a horse, a goat, a donkey. There may be others I can’t remember. Humans: Girls, guys, children, babies. I seem to attract teeth/pincers/mandibles, what can I say? ---
**Author:** ![poeticyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@poeticyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poeticyde)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/43 "2005-05-19T17:51:40Z")
> [@poeticyde](#): > > Turtles: a Red-eared slider, a box turtle, and one I never identified. I have come _very_ close to being bitten by a snapper, and once by an Alligator Snapping turtle. Damned me for not previewing… I meant for the coming very close to being bitten to cover both the standard snapping turtle and its larger, uglier cousin. I have never been bitten by either. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/44 "2005-05-19T18:17:22Z")
> [@poeticyde](#): > > Pretty much every sort of blood-sucking insect: mosquitoes, horseflies, deerflies, ticks, fleas, chiggers. > > And a few non-bloodsuckers: ants, beetles, earwigs, caterpillars, a locust once, a dragonfly once. > > Spiders: Countless house spiders, wolf spiders, garden spides, once by a brown recluse (not fun!) and once by a daddy longlegs (yes I know everyone in the world says they can’t bite humans, but damnit, this one bit me and it HURT!). > > Snakes: Countless garter snakes, bull snakes, king snakes, rat snakes, a baby python once. The worst was a garter snake that slipped up my sleave and bit my in the soft skin where your elbow bends and then twisted!!! OUCH! > > Turtles: a Red-eared slider, a box turtle, and one I never identified. I have come _very_ close to being bitten by a snapper, and once by an Alligator Snapping turtle. > > Lizards: Iguanas, skinks, fence lizards, horned toads, geckos, anoles, a glass snake, and a baby caimen, and a ton I never identified. > > Birds: A rooster, geese, countless ducks, robins, jays, parakeets, a cockateel, and a woodpecker once. > > Rodents: Hamsters, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, rats, rabbits, squirrels…I am a rodent chewing post, it seems. > > Various other mammalia: Cats, dogs, a horse, a goat, a donkey. There may be others I can’t remember. > > Humans: Girls, guys, children, babies. > > I seem to attract teeth/pincers/mandibles, what can I say? You’ve been bitten my all these things? The 12 insect seems reasonable. Then, you’ve been bitten by 5 different kinds of spiders, 5 different snakes, 3 turtles, 8 different lizards, 8 different birds, 7 rodents, 5 other things not counting humans, at least 4 more bites from people. Not counting repeats you’ve been bitten 59 times by members of the animal kingdom. Do you work in a zoo? Every area of the zoo? Are you remarkably absent-minded while working with animals in your zoo or is it common for a zoo keeper to be repeatedly bitten by eveything they come in contact with? Are you sure you haven’t been bitten by a venus flytrap too? ---
**Author:** ![poeticyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@poeticyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poeticyde)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/45 "2005-05-19T18:27:51Z")
LOL never by a venus flytrap! I grew up in the country, and had an absolute fascination with animals as a child, and parents who were never really around. I was kind of like “The Crocodile Hunter”, always trying to catch and study everything I could…and that led to getting bitten a lot. Most the critters probably wouldnt have bitten me, if I hadn’t been turning them upside down and around to study them, and thusly scaring the tar out of them. And my childhood ambition _was_ to be either a herpetologist or a zoologist. 🙂 ---
**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 19, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/46 "2005-05-19T19:40:47Z")
> [@poeticyde](#): > > I have come _very_ close to being bitten by a snapper, and once by an Alligator Snapping turtle. I can’t even look at a picture of an Alligator Snapping Turtle, without breaking out in a cold sweat. I had a very close encounter with one as a child. I was climbing on the bank of a creek, when I noticed the rock 2’ away, had the ugliest face I’d ever seen, then it moved. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/47 "2005-05-19T19:53:19Z")
- Various bloodsuckin’ bugs - Goat - Human, in the fun and unfun ways - Cats - Dog - Hedgehog - Mouse Only the bugs and the hedgehog really drew blood when they bit me. It’s been years, but I still wish I’d squashed the kindergartener who bit me - I was just standing there taking a deep breath, for Og’s sake. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/48 "2005-05-19T20:30:22Z")
How the hell to you get a robin to bite you? I’ve had Canadian Jays take food from my hand (I’ve had them aggressively pursue me while hiking in ME, NH, and VT, always for handouts), but they weren’t interested in biting me, just my gorp. I never got near a Blue Jay. I won’t call bullshit quite yet, but somebody better be working for the animal rescue league or something. ---
**Author:** ![poeticyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@poeticyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poeticyde)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/49 "2005-05-19T20:41:42Z")
Dont mess with bird’s nests was a lesson I had to learn the hard way 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/50 "2005-05-19T20:51:39Z")
Ahh, the maternal instinct effect! Very resourceful. In a sick sort of way. ---
**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 19, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/51 "2005-05-19T21:01:49Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > How the hell to you get a robin to bite you? I’ve had Canadian Jays take food from my hand (I’ve had them aggressively pursue me while hiking in ME, NH, and VT, always for handouts), but they weren’t interested in biting me, just my gorp. I never got near a Blue Jay. I won’t call bullshit quite yet, but somebody better be working for the animal rescue league or something. The ones around here are pure evil. I haven’t been bitten, but they’ve swooped down and scratched my face. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/52 "2005-05-19T21:07:53Z")
I forgot about the ferret in my junior-high science class. He can be added to my list. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/53 "2005-05-19T21:18:26Z")
Bugs Spiders Humans (2, both little boys…both times my back, too. little brats) Kittens Cats Baby Mice Rabbit Puppy Chipmunk (when Elfie was 11, she learned that animals taken from cats are **not** grateful) Ferrets (3) …and do you consider Ducks capable of biting? They don’t have teeth, so it’s more like being gummed by a baby human. ---
**Author:** ![Nurobath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Nurobath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nurobath)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/54 "2005-05-19T22:31:11Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > …and do you consider Ducks capable of biting? They don’t have teeth, so it’s more like being gummed by a baby human. Well, it’s with the mouth (bill) and there are serrations on that thing…technically I guess I would have to call it a pinch more than anything else. They have some seriously strong jaw muscles though. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/55 "2005-05-19T22:55:02Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > The ones around here are pure evil. I haven’t been bitten, but they’ve swooped down and scratched my face. Err…which ones? The robins or either variety of jay? “One day, when the red, red robin came bob, bob, bobbing along, he decided that instead of heralding Spring with a lovely song, he was going to peck Mabel’s eyes out…” ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/56 "2005-05-19T23:00:01Z")
I have been bitten by just about every animal I can think of. One of the hazards of my profession. Luckily, the majority have been minor. Even the alligator, whose mouth was duct-taped shut yet he still cut me with a tooth as he swung his head. Interesting aside: my only serious bite (hospitalization and some surgery) was inflicted by a … Golden Retriever! ---
**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 19, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/57 "2005-05-19T23:18:32Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Err…which ones? The robins or either variety of jay? > > “One day, when the red, red robin came bob, bob, bobbing along, he decided that instead of heralding Spring with a lovely song, he was going to peck Mabel’s eyes out…” Robins. If a Blue Jay just looks at me, I’ll run back in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/58 "2005-05-19T23:22:46Z")
I’ve been bitten by all the standard household mammals & neighborhood insects but most recently I was bitten by a [Racoon kit](http://www.briantague.com/Images/Wildlife/Mammals/RaccoonKit-589-9-100%A9.jpg). Cute little bugger, his mouth swung open a full 180-degrees to reveal a mouth full of little needles. He chewed on my hand and then peed on me to add insult to injury. All this for trying to save the little bugger’s life when he was caught in a fence. I had to go through a bunch of doctor’s office visits & co-pays to get lots and lots of rabies shots so I figure there’s a Raccoon out there who’s life is worth $75. Should’ve gotten my leather work gloves first. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/59 "2005-05-19T23:39:35Z")
As for me, all the usual (insects, kitties, puppies, geese, chicken, ducks, snakes, racoons, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, goats, etc.). My brother, on the other hand, once got bitten by a black bear. How cool is that? The (not all that exciting) story: he was helping a guy produce a pamphlet for a bear hunting outfit and needed a picture of a bear… off to the woods with a few dogs to chase bears around! They located a bear and managed to chase it up a tree. My brother dashes forward under the tree to get a picture, and aims the camera upwards just in time to see the bear dropping down on him from about 20 feet. The bear landed partially on him, knocking him down, and proceeded to chomp him good on the ankle before it ran off. :eek: The teeth didn’t get through his boot, fortunately, but he did have some gnarly bruises for a couple of days. The kicker is that the dummy didn’t have the presence of mind to get a picture of the bear dropping down on him! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486/60 "2005-05-19T23:41:01Z")
> [@poeticyde](#): > > And my childhood ambition _was_ to be either a herpetologist or a zoologist. 🙂 Sounds to me like your childhood ambition was to sacrifice your body as a source of food to the entire animal kingdom 😉 I’m still waiting for **bouv** to come back and explain how he ended up being bitten by a mofokin’ **bear!!**. I assume it wasn’t [this specimen](http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/bearhunt.asp) or he wouldn’t be around to tell the tale (warning: disturbing image in link). As for my list it is blissfully short, either animals just like me or I don’t put enough effort into pissing them off like **poeticyde** Ant (not sure of the type but it was black and in North Africa, hurt like hell). Crab (when I was very young, I blame this incident for my fear of all things bearing an exo-skeleton) I think that’s it actually and neither of those broke the skin, we are quite short on bitey things here in England. I have been bitten by somethings when I have been asleep so it’s hard to say exactly what, most likely mosquitoes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-bitten-you/304486.md?page=4)