🦂Nature: what to watch out for

🐟 Greater weever

The most dangerous fish in the Black Sea. It buries itself in the sand in the shallows with only its eyes and venomous dorsal fin showing. Standing on one is the usual way people get hurt.

What to do: put the wound in **the hottest water you can stand** for 30–90 minutes — heat breaks the venom down. Remove spine fragments with tweezers and wash with soap. Take a painkiller. See a doctor — always.

🥏 Stingray

Not aggressive; it lies on the bottom. The danger is the venomous barb on its tail if you step on it. The pain is severe and fades over 6–48 hours, sometimes with weakness and nausea.

What to do: rinse with **salt** water, remove any barb fragments, immobilise the limb and go straight to a doctor.

🎐 Jellyfish

Barrel jellyfish and moon jellyfish. Not lethal, but the sting hurts and some people react allergically.

What to do: get out of the water, remove the tentacles, rinse with **sea** water and apply cold. **Do not rinse with fresh water** — it makes the sting worse. Urine and sand do not help; they spread the venom.

🐡 Scorpionfish

Spiny and venomous, hiding among rocks. The sting is painful, and treatment is the same as for a weever: hot water and a doctor.

🐍 Snakes

Georgia has 24 species of snake, four of them venomous: the blunt-nosed viper and the Caucasus, steppe and nose-horned vipers. The blunt-nosed viper is the dangerous one; untreated, its bite can kill. Snakes are practically absent from the city — you meet them in the mountains, on trails and in tall grass.

Season:

April to late October

What to do: do not try to suck out the venom, do not cut the wound, do not apply a tourniquet and do not drink alcohol. Immobilise the limb below heart level, stay calm and **get to hospital as fast as you can** — you need antivenom.

🦂 Scorpions

They live in Adjara and do get into ground-floor flats. The sting is not lethal but it hurts, and the spot takes a long time to heal.

What to do: wash it, apply cold, take a painkiller and an antihistamine. See a doctor if the person stung is a child or elderly, or if swelling and weakness are increasing.

🐕 Street dogs

There are many in the city, tagged in the ear to show they are neutered and vaccinated. They are usually friendly to people but aggressive with each other, and a pack may follow you. They are most of a problem at night and in numbers.

Do not hand-feed on the street and do not approach puppies — the mother will defend them. If a pack surrounds you: do not run, do not make eye contact, walk away calmly.

🕷 Ticks and midges

Ticks are active from spring to autumn — check yourself and your children after walking through grass. In summer tiny midges are a nuisance, especially near water at dusk.