NZ has some nasties, too: Below-the-belt bite sends backpacker packing

[depakid]

A katipo spider.
-------

A Canadian tourist's nude swim and nap at a New Zealand beach ended badly when he woke with a swollen penis after apparently being bitten by a poisonous spider.

The 22-year-old man woke from his post-swim nap to find his penis swollen and painful and bearing a red mark, a report in the New Zealand Medical Journal said.

By the time he got to hospital in the far north of the country, his penis was severely swollen, his blood pressure high and his heart racing.

Chest pains and other symptoms developed and it was assumed he had been bitten by a katipo, an uncommon beach-loving spider whose bite is sometimes fatal.

The spider is related to Australia's redback and North America's black widow.

The man was treated with anti-venom and his condition improved although he suffered from heart inflammation and required a total of 16 days in hospital before being released.

"It was a rather nasty, ill-placed bite," said Doctor Nigel Harrison of Whangarei Hospital.

More: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/14/2899594.htm?section=justin

[mike_c]

1. a pair of these would have saved him lots of treatment....

:rofl:

edit: on second thought, maybe not....

[foxfeet]

2. One of life's genuine "Oh, shit!" moments.

At least he didn't try to blame his girlfriend.

Edit: spelling. Duh.

[TheMadMonk]

3. Old aussie song.

THE REDBACK ON THE TOILET SEAT
by Slim Newton

There was a redback on the toilet seat
When I was there last night.
I didn't see him in the dark,
But boy I felt his bite.

I jumped high up into the air
And when I hit the ground,
That crafty redback spider
Wasn't nowhere to be found.

I rushed into the missus,
Told her just where I'd been bit.
She grabbed a cut-throat razor-blade
And I nearly took a fit.

I said, "Just forget what's on your mind
And call a doctor please,
'Cause I got a feeling that your cure
Is worse than the disease."

There was a redback on the toilet seat
When I was there last night.
I didn't see him in the dark,
But boy I felt his bite.

And now I'm here in hospital
A sad and sorry sight,
And I curse the redback spider
On the toilet seat last night.

I can't lie down, I can't sit up
And I don't know what to do,
And all the nurses think it's funny
But that's not my point of view.

I tell you its embarassing,
And that's to say the least,
That I'm too sick to eat a bit
While that spider had a feast.

And when I get back home again
I tell you what I'll do,
I'll make that redback suffer
For the pain I'm going through.

I've had so many needles
That I'm looking like a sieve,
And I promise you that spider
Hasn't very long to live.

There was a redback on the toilet seat
When I was there last night.
I didn't see him in the dark,
But boy I felt his bite.

But now I'm here in hospital
A sad and sorry sight,
And I curse the redback spider
On the toilet seat last night.

[BrightKnight]

4. All of my backpacking outer clothes are treated with Permethrin.

I would rather wear a DoD flea collar than get Lyme Disease or a bite like that.

Obviously in this guy's case it would not help.