MORE than 50 people have required treatment at East Surrey Hospital this year – for injuries caused by animals.
And the number of injuries inflicted by an array of creatures is rising.
So far this year, 51 people have been treated for animal injuries – compared to 32 in the whole of 2012.
Figures released to the Surrey Mirror, following a Freedom of Information request, show that from October 2010 to last Tuesday, 134 people required a visit to the hospital after an animal escapade.
Injuries in that time ranged from an open wound to someone's lower leg caused by a marine animal, to two people being bitten or crushed by reptiles.
The animals causing the highest number of injuries – 51 – have been "non-venomous insects and arthropods".
Wildlife expert and Tilgate Nature Centre manager Simon Woodard said: "Arthropods are defined as an invertebrate insect or crustacean, so that could include bed bugs, ladybirds – they can give a nasty bite – and spiders."
The creatures causing the second highest number of admissions were "other mammals". "These could include injuries to farmers," Simon suggested. "Farming is a high-risk industry. Livestock, cattle and pigs can be quite dangerous.
"They are big animals and there are a number of farmers killed each year by cows."
Regarding the injuries caused by reptiles, Simon said: "If someone was crushed, it sounds like they had a snake and let it go round them a bit too long.
"People keep pythons and boa constrictors and they are the ones that get long, and if someone was silly enough to put one around their neck or their arm, that can be really dangerous."
He added: "The higher number of injuries could be a weather thing. With the warm summer there were more insects like bees and wasps around, so there was more potential for stinging."
