Tourist Accidentally Picks Up One Of The Deadliest Animals On The Planet
TikTok is full of videos in which users are seen interacting with the natural world around them. Some of these videos are quite nerve-racking to watch, especially for viewers who can immediately spot the danger that the TikTok user clearly is unaware of.
Case and point is a viral video featuring a TikTok tourist who is blissfully unaware that they are handling a highly dangerous and venomous octopus.
This video is a perfect example of how close someone came to being an unfortunate victim of "f**k around and find out." In the since-deleted video, TikTok user @katapillah is hanging out at the beach when they decide to pick up and handle a small little octopus.
While it might seem like a cute and wholesome moment, the woman was ignorant of the fact that they were essentially playing Russian roulette with a blue-ringed octopus - one of the deadliest animals to exist on the planet!
Just how deadly is this species of octopus? Well, according to the Natural History Museum, it might be small but it contains enough venom to kill up to 26 humans in within minutes. Yikes! Just to understand how lucky the TikTok user was that nothing happened, hundreds of people were commenting on the video, sharing their thoughts before the user deleted it.
One person commented, "All Aussies just gulped and shook their heads."
While someone else wrote, "Once in a lifetime experience."
A third person gave this advice, "Don't waste any more money on lottery tickets because you just used up 2x lifetimes of luck."
A fourth weighed in with this tidbit of knowledge, saying, "They're not dangerous until the rings turn blue."
And yes, this is true that the blue pigment will appear when the animal is alarmed or under attack, but why risk it? Just leave it alone.
Anastasia is an American ex-pat living in Ireland. When she's not writing she can be found wandering the Irish countryside in search of inspiration. You can follow her writing adventures on Twitter @AnastasiaArell5 or Instagram @writeranastasia26