PSA: A mantis shrimp can punch you so hard it rips right through your boots
Video shows a fisher catching a mantis shrimp and it punching him so hard it draws blood
After years spent foolishly underestimating the power of shrimp to do much other than fill our bellies with their delicious water-bug meat, we’ve been shocked out of our complacency by a video of one punching a fisherman so hard it draws blood.
The clip in question, posted by fishing YouTuber Mr. Markus and described in the notes as “That one time I got my ass kicked by a shrimp,” gives us a first-person look at what a mantis can do to a person if not handled carefully enough. Markus draws it up on his line, surprised by what he’s caught, then, just after he’s cut it free, the mantis shrimp gives his bootie-covered foot the old one-two.
“That thing just grabbed onto me and smashed my foot,” he explains, somehow not jumping out of the boat that’s now been firmly claimed by the shrimp. “Wow, he just punched through my brand new booties.”
Markus then uncovers his foot to show off where he got hit by an attack sometimes compared to a .22 caliber gunshot. Driving right through the fishing bootie he was wearing, the shrimp managed to cut a good-sized gash into his foot. “You’re crazy, dude,” he says to the shrimp lying below him. “That does not feel good at all!”