Woman Bonds With Poisonous Eel During Strange Encounter [Video]

You don’t always hear about someone bonding with a lethal animal, but that’s exactly what happened when Valerie Taylor unexpectedly makes friends with a spotted moray eel.

In a video posted by the Central Florida Aquarium Society, Taylor narrates her very unexpected encounter with the eel.

“She never ever was friendly. I offered a fish, and she wasn’t friendly. This is year, to year, to year. One day, I’m lying outside chatting away to this eel and she came out.”

The video then shows the eel coming out of her home. Instead of protecting herself instinctively and possibly attacking Valerie, the eel decided to befriend the woman.

“She didn’t just come out; she swam around me, she swam between my legs; she nuzzled my face. I thought, ‘this is amazing.’ After that we have been great face, and now when she sees me coming, this ‘thing’ comes out across the sand, and she swims over to me, and hugs and loves. There’s no doubt in my mind that eel really likes me.”

For those that want to try and disrupt an eel in its natural environment, please do not follow by example. This was a remarkable encounter because it’s very rare.

In a study written by Marco Lichtenberger for Conscientious Aquarist, a bite by a moray eel can be deadly because of the intense pain of the bite and the spread of an initial wound. According to Marco’s finding mucous toxins are produced by the moray eel. One of those toxins allows an eel to destroy a person’s red blood cells.

In closing, Valerie Taylor is one lucky woman, which makes this video such a surreal sight to see.