On 2013-08-15 11:32:36 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme said:

On Thu, 15 Aug 2013 10:38:03 +0100, Sacha wrote:
snip

I stood on a spiked anemone once and I could not walk after. My wife
had to pull all the spines out with tweezers. It hurt but didn't suck
my blood!

Steve

By 'spiked', do you mean a sea urchin, which is a rather more fearsome
beast. It's what the French call 'oursin'. I'm thinking of those little
blood-red blobs of jelly that cling to rocks but aren't spiny. When
covered with sea water they have little fronds that wave to and fro.
If you trod on a sea urchin, you have my sympathy. I knew someone who
knelt on one in Corsica, refused first-aid treatment and so had about
two weeks of applying ointment and waiting for the spines to emerge and
be pulled out. Nasty!

There are lots of anemone species with spikes. Sea urchins are another
little hazard for those people, like me, who aren't too careful. It
was Corsica where I got spiked as well. The sea urchin spikes are
barbed to make things more difficult and some are poison tipped. They
taste nice though!

Steve

I'm going to take your word on the latter! I've never seen the
attraction but admit to being squeamish.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk