Australians Are Sharing Stories About Venomous Bites And I'm Actually Horrified

"I woke up to my mum screaming and pointing at a half-squashed spider the size of a dinner plate."

When you live in Australia, chances are you've heard the warnings when dealing with our wildlife. In fact, most Aussies grow up learning survival skills to keep themselves safe from our harsh weather and venomous creatures.

20th Century Studios / Wikia

Thankfully, I've never been bitten by anything venomous. Still, I've always been super curious about other people's experiences — and apparently, so has Reddit user u/freelance_jason, who asked, "Have you ever been bitten by a venomous creature? What happened?" in this thread. 

Here are some of the most interesting responses.

1. "A redback — and not much really. My finger hurt and got swollen."

Flickr: wollombi / Via flic.kr

"I Googled it. I was camping and my kids were asleep, so I figured I would seek medical help if I got nauseous or had more symptoms that weren’t localised to the bite site, but I was fine. By the next day, it was a mix of sore and itchy. The day after that, it was just itchy. Sprayed the absolute fucking shit out of our camper trailer though because I have small children."

—u/TJ-1466

2. "I was bitten twice on the fingers by a red bellied black snake a couple of years ago whilst on a job."

Flickr: texaus1 / Via flic.kr

"It was completely my own fault, mind you. I had a python in one hand and was chatting to the caller when I noticed their beagle pup searching for something in the grass. I saw a flash of black scales and immediately yanked the dog away and grabbed the snake completely wrong. It panicked and nailed me twice, so I put both snakes in their own bag and wrapped up my arm with a compression bandage.

Half an hour later, the ambulance had me at the hospital. My hand was throbbing, and I felt like an idiot, but otherwise I was fine. They kept me under observation for about six hours to monitor my condition. My hand was swollen, and I couldn't flex it properly. The pain was tight and dull, probably about a 5 out of 10 on the pain scale. Eventually, the symptoms receded, and they sent me home. I slept a little uncomfortably that night, but woke up the next day good as new. I didn't need anti-venom."

—u/GentlemanReptile

3. "Spider. Cleaned it up, put some Betadine on it, kept going."

Flickr: mollivan_jon / Via flic.kr

—u/AlamutJones

4. "I was bitten by a redback spider on top of my left foot."

Flickr: jonnybastard / Via flic.kr

"There was no effect from the venom, but I contracted cellulitis. It required four huge antibiotic tablets and two penicillin injections into my backside every day for two weeks. I couldn't wear a belt for a month!"

—u/ComplexImportance794

5. "My hubby was stung by a scorpion while we were out hiking."

Hameda Nafiz / BuzzFeed

"The pain was pretty bad, we used our binocular strap to form a type of compression bandage. Every time he tried to take it off, the pain started to radiate up his arm immediately. Took several hours for the effect to wear off. He rang his local medical centre, and they didn’t even know there were scorpions in the area, let alone how to treat it! He no longer picks up interesting pieces of metal while we’re out hiking."

—u/kirrkieterri

6. "I was bitten by a snake on the foot in my mid-teens."

Flickr: cskk / Via flic.kr

"We had just moved to another part of the country, and we were very ‘snake unaware.’ I accidentally stood on a baby snake (brown in colour), and of course, it bit me. I spent the night in the hospital getting blood tested every hour to check if I had been envenomated. I was fine, but the night in the hospital was no fun. Also had a python bite to my face, but that’s another story."

—u/gtatz

7. "Not bitten, but I stepped on a bullrout about five years ago swimming in a creek while camping."

Flickr: dark_morelia / Via flic.kr

"For those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting a bullrout, it's like the stonefish's little freshwater cousin, just a blob shaped fish with spines sticking out that hides around rocks and logs. I was in incredible pain for about two hours and then nothing."

—u/yabloodypelican

8. "I was bitten by a scorpion."

Flickr: ogcodes / Via flic.kr

"Nothing happened — though he may have been starting to feel drunk as I drenched him in fly spray. Seriously, arachnids are wrong!"

—u/Hasenbraten13

9. "I was at work picking up some wooden sleepers and put my arm on a centipede I didn't see."

Flickr: neilspicys / Via flic.kr

"I experienced sharp pain, then a burning itch at bite site. Then I went to the pub for some liquid refreshments."

—u/fracturedfordays

10. "Not me, but my uncle got bitten by an eastern brown snake about 15 years ago."

Flickr: 31031835@N08 / Via flic.kr

"He would have been close to 70 at the time, so it genuinely fucked him up. He was rushed to hospital and was sick for a good month or two after. My memory is a bit sketchy because I was a kid, but I remember it had been ages and being told, 'Uncle Max is still crook from the snake,' and my mum told me it very nearly killed him. It's pretty rare for things to go that badly though. Put it this way, he was on the news, so if it's newsworthy, it's at least slightly unusual."

—u/locustpursuit

11. "I was bitten by a white tail spider when I was a teen."

Flickr: mgg310 / Via flic.kr

"I was vomiting and dizzy, then had leg cramps, which resulted in a blistering type of scab. I had to go to the doctor for a fortnight to get the scab treated, but I've experienced no long-term problems."

—u/MayflowerBob7654

12. "I actually don't know what jellyfish it was, though I was told it was a newly hatched group of box jellies, so absolutely teeny-tiny jellies. I remember them being smaller than thumbnail size."

Flickr: character / Via flic.kr

"I got marks over my entire body save for where my swimsuit was, but I didn't really react too much until I got out of the water, and then I just started feeling pain. Just...pain. Nothing else. Not even a location for it — just PAIN EVERYWHERE. My uncle didn't think to tell the lifeguards or anything; he just shoved me in a hot water shower at home, then cold water, then hot. The pain didn't stop.

A few days later, I was more or less okay, though still marked up and in pain. Possibly couldn't have been box jellies, but I did look like I'd been hit by thread-like whips. My parents are the 'walk off that broken leg, sunshine' type, so I never got treated."

—u/AnnoyedOwlbear

13. "Mine is a soft story, but painful."

Flickr: robertwhyte / Via flic.kr

"I was walking through the bush and brushed through a branch that was covered in green ants. They bit me about two to three times from memory. It felt like hot laser acid bullets, but nothing permanent."

—u/ScruffyMo_onkey

14. "A huntsman spider that crawled into bed with me. While sleeping, I rolled on top of it and squashed half of it's legs."

Flickr: goosmurf / Via flic.kr

"It escaped, but not before biting me three times. I woke up to my mum screaming and pointing at a half-squashed spider the size of a dinner plate, because it had dragged itself up the wall near the light switch. We got a jar and trapped it, but it was basically dead at that point. I didn't realise that I had been bitten until I was taking a shower and felt lethargic to the point I was dizzy and had to lie down. 

My mum found me lying down shivering in the shower with three puncture wounds — one on my lower back, one near my groin and one on my thigh, which was massively inflamed. Mum rang the doctor and informed them of what had happened, and they suggested bed rest and ice around the bite wounds and pain killers. They also suggested that if it got worse, I should take a trip to the hospital. 

My symptoms for the two weeks after that included pins and needles around the bite sites, sore joints like when you have the flu and a constant throbbing headache."

—u/Ouch78

15. And finally, "I’ve been bitten twice by white tailed spiders."

Flickr: johnsyweb / Via flic.kr

"The first time was when I was 10 on the elbow (it was in my bedding). My elbow swelled up to twice the size, and I needed antibiotics. The second time, I was 21 and bitten on the index finger. I ended up in hospital with cellulitis. My finger is deformed to this day — it’s significantly larger than my other index finger, and the nail changed shape. It feels stiff when it rains. It has absolutely no effect, other than a cool story to tell when people notice it."

—u/Mermaidreaming

Have you been bitten by any venomous creatures before? Let us know in the comments below!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.