TikToker Licks "JellyFish" Without Realizing It's A Deadly Portuguese Man o' War

By Zainab Pervez in Real Life On 12th June 2022
advertisement
Read More

A man has filmed himself poking, holding, and then licking a mysterious “slimy” creature that had washed ashore - completely oblivious to the fact that it could kill him.

advertisement

The TikTok user, alexa_reed2, appeared blissfully unaware that what he was holding was purportedly a bluebottle jellyfish, also known as a Portuguese man o’ war or “floating terror” appearing to be at a beach in Texas.

Scroll down for video

advertisement

Alexa Reed, shared the clip of his encounter with the creature which had washed up on a shore.

Poking it with his bare finger, he tells viewers: "Hey guys I'm at the beach, and look what this is."

“Oh my gosh it’s so cold and so slimy, I’m going to pick it up.”

Follow On Google News

He appears in the footage picking up the jellyfish and saying: "This is a jellyfish, look how long the sting is. I am going to grab it then I am going to lick it. "

advertisement

He then touches the body of the creature with his tongue, jokingly exclaiming: "Ah it stung me, anybody want to pee in my mouth? I got stung by a jellyfish."

advertisement

Shockingly Reed then says: "Let's do it again," before licking the animal for a second time.

The jellyfish-like siphomore is also known as a “floating terror” for its explosive stinging cells and poisonous venom, which can cause serious illness or even death.

The animal is particularly prevalent in Australia, where it is responsible for an average of 10,000 human stings each summer.

Follow On Twitter

This usually causes severe pain, and occasionally the venom can travel to the lymph nodes causing airways blockage, inability to breathe, and cardiac arrest.

It is also possible to cause fever and shock, and in some cases, a sting may even result in death.

Horrified viewers swiftly informed Reed of how foolish he had been.

“My man’s just picked up the deadliest jellyfish with no hesitation,” one fellow TikToker commented.

advertisement

“He obviously didn’t see the ‘TOP 10 MOST DANGEROUS ANIMALS IN THE WORLD!!’ videos,” wrote another.

advertisement

“That’s a Man o’war. They are 10x more dangerous than a jellyfish,” a third pointed out.

“This guy’s playing with his life right now,” a fourth observed.

TikTok added an alert across the video, which reads: "The action in this video could result in serious injury" and removed it.

Those who are stung are encouraged to place the area in hot water and remove any leftover stingers. 

The man's video isn't the first unusual TikTok he has shared, with his profile flooded with other bizarre clips including one of him eating a cockroach and the head of a dead chicken.

He's also seen holding exotic animals and in one terrifying shot a spider crawls out of his mouth.

advertisement

After the video racked up more than 590,000 likes and 18,600 comments, Reed posted a couple of follow-up clips.

advertisement

The first showed him finding “another jellyfish” on the beach, which he then stepped on to make it “pop”, while the second featured him giggling and prodding another venomous creature.

A man walking his dogs in the background can be heard telling him that such actions will “put you in the hospital.”

advertisement

But Reed responded by laughing, asking: “This one?” before poking it again and delightedly exclaiming: “It’s so slimy!”

Apparently, it doesn’t matter how many thousands of warnings some people get – they just don’t want to learn their lesson.