The stingray? Yep, Bryan Fry knows it well. He's been stung multiple times. Though, speaking from experience, he suggests its name underplays the extreme pain a sting can cause.
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"It should be called a 'give-me-a-gun-and-I'll-shoot-myself-ray'," the veteran venom researcher says.
Not so the Australian death adder. Its venom leads to an almost out-of-body experience with a sense of euphoria overpowering any fear from the fact that the death adder's bite can leave you paralysed. In Fry's case, full-body paralysis put him in hospitalised and on a respirator for eight hours.
So if you want the bites and stings of Australian wildlife rated on a pain scale, Bryan Fry's your guy.
The Queensland University venomologist has been bitten more times than he can count. All in the name of science. He estimates 27 venomous snakes have plunged their fangs into his flesh.
His exposure to snake venom in the laboratory has been so high that he has developed allergies and now has to avoid it. Even breathing fumes from venom that has been freeze-dried and powdered for long-term storage will bring on the sneezes. Being bitten could bring on full-scale anaphylactic shock.