Anyone who has stepped on even the smallest stingray knows it can be as creepy as it can be painful.
So imagine how a person might react if the stingray is the size of a blanket and is stepped on inadvertently in shallow water.
The accompanying footage, shared this week by Trapman Australia from New South Wales, shows two young waders transformed into panic mode the moment they felt the squishy stingray flesh beneath their feet.
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In a separate post, Trapman Australia explained the origins of the scene, which played out "a few years back" at Horseshoe Bay Beach in Bermagui.
Trapman had spotted the giant stingray via drone. He recalled:
"I panned away to show the area I was
filming in, then back to the big stingray as it was making a beeline to a couple kids that were catching waves.
"Both boys had their backs towards the beach as they were looking for the next wave to catch. Just as they caught the wave, the big stingray was right there! All three getting a big shock!"
As Trapman noted, the stingray "instinctively swung its barbed tail at one of the boys, just missing him.”
Thankfully, the kids were not physically harmed and the stingray seemed uninjured.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Young waders step on massive stingray, react accordingly
