Steve Irwin Dies...
Out of context: Reply #21
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- de4k0
sad loss, a guy with more passion than most.
I thought stingrays were placid creatures...?
ahh right thanks wiki
'Dasyatids do not attack aggressively, or even actively defend themselves. When threatened their primary reaction is to swim away. However, when they are attacked by predators or stepped on, the barbed stinger in their tail is mechanically whipped up, usually into the offending foot; it is also possible, although less likely, to be stung "accidentally" by brushing against the stinger. Contact with the stinger causes local trauma (from the cut itself), pain and swelling from the venom, and possible infection from parts of the stinger left in the wound, as well as from seawater entering the wound. It is possible for ray stings to be fatal if they sever major arteries in the chest or pelvic regions, or if the wounds are improperly treated. Their stingers are normally ineffective against their main predator, sharks.'