STUNG by a BULLET ANT!

That really shuts you down. It really felt like a bullet. It was instantaneous, almost even before it stung me. It was absolutely riveting. There were huge waves and crescendos of burning pain—a tsunami of pain coming out of my finger. The tsunami would crash as they do on the beach, then recede a little bit, then crash again. It wasn't just two or three of these waves. It continued for around 12 hours. Crash. Recede. Crash. It was absolutely excruciating. There wasn't much I could do except be aware of it and groan. But I didn't lose the ant. I was dedicated enough that I got it into the jar.

The pain radiated out from the finger. I'd hold my arm out and the one that got stung was shaking and trembling. No matter what I tried to do to stop the shaking, it didn't work. That told me that the sting and the pain did have a systemic effect, although it's localized. It doesn't affect your heart or lungs. The indigenous people get stung a dozen or more times during the puberty rites, and none of them suffer longterm effects. It's a local pain reaction.