Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Doofus Of The Day #856


Today's award goes to an Australian fisherman.

An Australian man was left bloodied and embarrassed after being "assaulted" by a catfish in Darwin.

. . .

The 45-year-old man said he was fishing with a friend when he caught a 12-inch catfish. Upon pulling the fish in he tried to flick it up onto the bank, however the fish flew towards him and struck him on the left side of his head.

The impact caused the venomous back spine of the fish to lodge into the side of his head. "He writhed in pain and bled profusely while his friend calmly took possession of the prize catch," said police in a statement.

The superintendent said the man was treated at the scene and police officers offered him advice, coinciding with Marine Safety Week in the Northern Territory.

"I am not quite sure he appreciated it," she told ABC.

There's more at the link.

I'm starting to wonder about the Australian wildlife.  They've got six of the twelve most venomous species of snake there . . . and the duckbilled platypus, with poison spurs on its heels . . . and now we learn that Australian catfish are equipped with poison spines.  Please tell me that kangaroos and koala bears aren't concealing poison somewhere, too?  (Oh - and what did his 'friend' do with the fish?  I hope he didn't eat it while his buddy was undergoing treatment . . . )




Peter

13 comments:

Sarthurk said...

Most, if not all catfish have venomous spines. Back in the day, I raised channel cats and a 6 inch cat not only has razor sharp pectoral and dorsal spines, when cut by them, it stings like hell!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, if this man is the Doofus of the Day, what are all those women who manage to get themselves pregnant and abandoned?

Sure, the guy was a little stupid and maybe a little slow in getting out of the way, but who among us has not done something stupid at one time or another?

Lastly, I remember Vestey's Beach. The original Darwin Hospital used to be around there.

Anonymous said...

You know, I've wondered the same thing - just WHY are Australian fauna so extremely dangerous. In the water, you have box jellyfish, salt water crocodile (BIG TOO!), a very small (but very lethal) sea snake, and mollusks with poisonous barbs. On land, you have some very lethal spiders and snakes (very fast!).

I hear Australian infants come out of the womb very reluctantly and look around very quickly ... :^)

Miguel said...

Please tell me that kangaroos and koala bears aren't concealing poison somewhere, too? "

No, but I think they aint' cute an fuzzy either.

http://gunfreezone.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kangaroo.jpg

Anonymous said...

He's going to have to try harder to win a true 'Darwin' award.

PeterW said...

The doofi would be the Police offering gratuitous advice to an injured man, that was only tangentially related to his injury.

bmq215 said...

Yeah, most catfish including many if not all of the ones in the US have venomous spines. It's reportedly similar to a bee sting, although usually a somewhat larger wound.

Anonymous said...

Koalas may easily be confused with the far more dangerous drop bear. There are no known survivors of drop bear attacks.

Stan_qaz said...

Sorry to have to tell you the bad news...


http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22207442

Koala chlamydia: The STD threatening an Australian icon

------------------

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_1101226.htm

Kangaroo disease may hop to humans

Mike_C said...

> Kangaroo disease may hop to humans
Bad news for Tank Girl then.
:-(

C. S. P. Schofield said...

The inspired lunatic responsible for the webcomic A GIRL AND HER FED did a chapter splash-page that was a postcard with the legend "Visit Sunny Australia; fewer snakes than you've heard!"

Yeah. The spider ate them.

Larry said...

It's the drop bears you have to watch out for.

JC said...

There's a reason it's called Darwin.