Even though there may be more seasonally appropriate Mental Flooses to link, I chose this one: The Animal Most Likely to Kill You in Each State | Mental Floss It escaped my noticed when presented 2018 Jan. This most peculiar thing seems to be "bitten or crushed by larger reptiles" in Illinois and Missouri. Are those states home to unusually large numbers of alligators or crocodiles? Or are they unusually safe in terms of other animals? Further down that page, see globally dangerous animals. Mosquitoes and humans would seem obvious, but notice snails. For their gifts beyond 'schisto', see this: Snail-borne parasitic diseases: an update on global epidemiological distribution, transmission interruption and control methods | Infectious Diseases of Poverty | Full Text Or don't. No comfort and joy there, for people who splash about in dangerous waters.
OK, I went to the original link Man vs Beast: The Odds of Dying by an Animal Where You Live... found this quote. "Surprisingly, your chance of being crushed or bitten by reptiles is highest in Missouri and Illinois. " but no further explanation. Yeah, want to know what reptile large enough to crush a human being lives in Illinois?
I have not been able to take it much further. CDC wonder website indicates 15 such fatalities in IL and 11 in MO, over a time frame I did not note. It seems instead to be a lack of other animal mortality causes. Somehow IL and MO folks seem to avoid driving into deer, or getting sufficiently mauled by dogs.
Well, I went to CDC site and did the search myself. When I searched underlying cause of death during 1999-2017 by states using "The death caused by ICD-10 code >W59 (Bitten or crushed by other reptiles)" as search criteria, you get only Illinois and Missouri in the results. This means, other states have less than 10 deaths caused by the Bitten or crushed by other reptiles. So it's not just because of a lack of other animal mortality causes in those two states, they are much higher in the incidents of death caused by Bitten or crushed by other reptiles compared to other states.
In fact, if I do search with >W54 (Bitten or struck by dog), I get Illinois (18), Missouri (10). Those numbers are higher than many other states not included in the result table. or do the search with >W55 (Bitten or struck by other mammals), I get Illinois (17), Missouri (29). Again, the numbers are higher than in many other states.
I've taken to using CTRL- (Ctrl and minus keys) to shrink images to get about to get them to fit within a single screen capture.
In other countries, I believe these represent animals directly attacking people. But in the U.S., I suspect it is more a matter of deer 'attacking' fast moving cars, with people being collateral damage. And the U.S. has the world's highest population of fast moving cars.
I would hope at the last CDC data are not "fake". The interpretation by the writer of news was maybe dubious. That being said, the question still remains what reptiles caused more than 10 deaths in Illinois and Missouri???
Those who also went to CDC already know they have a category 'floor' of 10 deaths. If less it is not reported. Privacy concerns (which sounds a bit off to me). So, only 2 states had enough alligator or croc attacks. FL folks must be more accustomed to that particular hazard. Anyway, IL and MO had more deaths by dog (so I remember) but whoever made the (low) info graphic just like the idea of including a different symbol or icon. Actually I'd have thought mental floss ports things a bit more carefully, but... Anyway, see a large crocigator, and plan your exit strategy. In any state.
I believe that legitimate researchers can coordinate with the CDC to get the suppressed figures below that floor. The CDC isn't going to put them on up on the uncontrolled public portals where just anyone can ignore privacy rules. But not all 'researchers' putting out stories with media kits bother to ask. And that missed step may cause selection bias. I've seen multiple headlines from folks studying connections between certain types of policies and certain injuries, but didn't ask for the missing figures. And this data suppression floor ends up excluding too many jurisdictions with desirably low injury rates from the comparison, very likely skewing the offered conclusions. At minimum, these excluded areas could be included into relevant larger aggregations, but doing so would require contacting and working with the CDC. In my region, planning should include photos and videos and prompt contact with news media to make the best of one's 15 minutes of fame. No one has ever seen a crocigator in the wild here. Or at least, no one lived to tell or even left behind any physical evidence of their disappearance.
Not that people don't have alligators, but it was more likely some other large reptile 'pet'. Guy I knew in college had a pair of reticulated pythons large enough to knock over a full floor to ceiling china cabinet. Read about a 6 foot constricter killing a 12 year old in his sleep, so the snakes don't have to be headline big to be dangerous. Then the death might not have to be instant to count. Komodo dragons aren't the only monitor lizard, or reptile, with an infectious bite. I'm actualy more curious as to what exactly is a dog strike. Stray jumping into a jet engine? Any dog attack made by a boxer?
I am amenable to the notion that large reptile/herptile could be other than crocigator. But not Komodo - nobody takes those as pets. SRSLY. Snakes as pets are given heat lamps and all the food they care to eat. They grow quickly. Snapping turtles can (and do) reduce keepers' finger counts. More than that, I suppose not. == I lack a sensible fear of large random dogs, having known too many friendly ones.
Nile and Savannah monitors are, or were, has I have been out of the field for some time, common in the pet trade. The former can get reach 7 feet. Other, sizeable monitor species have been available. I don't think any can be said to have a clean bite. Ronald Huff who was eaten by his pet monitor lizards 'was killed by the 6ft creatures when a BITE became infected' Tegus also have a powerful bite, and are aggressive. Though mainly a herbivore, large iguanas shouldn't be trifled with. Their tails and claws have left people disfigured. They and other lizards may actually be venomous. Lizards' poisonous secret is revealed | New Scientist
