Yet again, we have another example of why people should not interact with wildlife. Far too often, people forget that wildlife is well...wild. We have seen it with tourists getting too close to bison at Yellowstone or with people trying to save wild raccoons. Now, we have tourists picking up potentially harmful marine life. That's right, a British tourist is lucky to be alive after a seemingly innocent interaction with wildlife.
British Tourist Is Lucky To Be Alive After Wildlife Interaction
The LadBible shared the story of British tourist Andy McConnell's close encounter with death. McConnel was just enjoying his. holiday, sharing regular video updates of his travels. However, after sharing a particular video on a beach, his followers explained how he made a near-fatal error. He is currently travelling in the Philippines and recently shared a video on Instagram of his encounter with a 'baby octopus.'
In the video, the British tourist holds the octopus in his hands and comments on its marvelous blue coloring. What poor Andy didn't know was that he was handling one of the world's deadliest creatures. That 'baby octopus' he was handling was a blue-ringed octopus. The Natural History Museum shares that "Blue-ringed octopuses are a group of highly venomous cephalopods."
Additionally, that blue coloring that the British tourist loved so much was actually a bad sign. The museum also shared that "blue-ringed octopuses only show theirs [meaning their blue color] when they feel threatened." Therefore, this little guy was clearly showing he was not a fan of being held.
The Internet Reacts
The danger from this creature comes with its bite. The Natural History Museum shares that there is "Symbiotic bacteria in blue-ringed octopus salivary glands produce tetrodotoxin (TTX)." It is that subtance that is a potent neurotoxin. Furthrmore, that neurotoxin blocks "the transmission of nerve impulses." TTX is also found in animals such as pufferfish.
After this British tourist posted the video online, seemingly unaware of the danger, locals let him know that he is lucky to be alive. Here are some of the comments left under the video.
- "Omg he just escaped a Darwin Award. That is terrifying for any Australian to watch. Go play with a salt water croc - it's safer."
- 'Omg I was holding my breath that entire time my heart skipped a few too many beats."
- "That's why tourists need to learn more about our animals that would have killed him he's very lucky that it didn't."
- "Wow what kind of parents take their children on holidays without knowing the basic safety of the country imagine if we all went to America and had children cuddling the bears."
