A lot of people look at the funny old duck billed platypus and think its cute. Then silly tourists go up to it in the water to try and touch it, or get a closer look.
That is bad.
The male platypus has spurs on its back legs that latch onto you. In humans, the vemon is non-lethal, but my god you'll wish you were dead.
The spurs and venom target the nerves, causing excruciating pain. The pain can't be helped with painkillers or even morphine because of the way it attacks the nerves, there are a couple of things that can help but they're unorthodox, no painkillers or anything, and I don't remember them off hand.
I'm not talking about an ache, I'm talking about seeing a middle aged farmer, tough bloke, screaming on a hospital bed as the pain began to extend from his leg to his groin. Even when the pain is helped with whatever it is that actually works with this venom, it dosen't take it away completely.
So, a lot of pain for a few hours? A mistake, but you'll get over it, right?
Wrong.
The pain lasts for closer to a week, and develops into hyperalgesia (increased sensitivity to pain) that can lasts weeks or even months.
Never, EVER, go near a platypus, or platypus infested waters.
Author notes
Google it, any pages on platypus will tell you about it. It's a shame tourists don't do their homework.
A contest entry
- Fact vs Fiction by Tattboyspet.
450 points, ended April 8, 2008, 16 entries
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Comments
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Wow!
Funny I thought the Platypus was an extinct sea creature. Jeez shows how much I know! Good thing I'm not a tourist.
...And I will check out any new waters I may swim in from now on.
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sheesh! I take it that they are indigenous to your area? I, on the other hand have never seen one up close (only in pictures) but they do look adorable. In my opinion people should only be touching domesticated animals anyway! Leave the wild to be wild and this nonsense of them having to shoot lions because they attacked a tourist that got out of his car to take a better picture of them is just that - NONSENSE! YOU are the one that is invading THEIR territory - why should they be punished???? ~frown~
lol - okay, I'm not going to get into what I think of animals and people, suffice to say that the more I get to know of people the more I really like animals
thank you for your entry
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