22 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident

You have likely eaten a bug at some point in your life. And when someone says something “tastes like cardboard,” you likely understand exactly what they mean. 

However, a few unfortunate souls have had something unpleasant meet their taste buds. They’ve shared their experiences in the comments section of this Reddit question: “What’s something you’ve tasted that most humans have not?” 

This list features firsthand accounts of people ingesting elephant carcasses, ladybug secretions, possum meat, and rat droppings. Some are a bit nasty, so proceed with caution. 

But if you’re a fan of weird stories that can get graphic, enjoy scrolling through this list.

22 PHOTOS

#1

I was injured in a rocket attack in Afghanistan. I remember lying in the dirt and my ear felt weird, like a swimmer's ear. I have sensitive ears, so I stuck my finger in my ear to try to drain it, only to have my finger come away with a thick syrupy substance. It was dark, so I couldn't see what it was, and my nose was broken and bleeding. I decided, f**k it, I licked it. It tasted mildly sweet.

It was cerebrospinal fluid. From my brain.

#2

A ladybug flew into my mouth when I was riding my bike as a kid. Ladybugs secrete a yellow bitter goop when they get eaten as a "f**k you, don't eat me" mechanism, so that happened. Had to run inside and rinse out my mouth, which didn't help.

Edit: Wow, there are a lot of ladybug tasters in here. My people ✊️.

#3

Bronze Age cremated human bones.
Had my coffee cup standing right next to the tub I was cleaning them after excavation. Scrubbed the sediment off of it with a toothbrush and it sputtered together with tiny fractions of the bones all around and also in that coffee.
The last sip felt a little coarse and on the bottom of the cup were still white particles between the sand and coffee grounds.

#4

Used a glass of water to put cig butts in when I smoked. Woke up in the middle of the night desperate for a drink and swallowed 2 chugs before I realised what was going on. It tastes even worse than you might expect.

Edit it seems from the comments many more people than I expected have drunk cig butt juice!

#5

Moose burgers. I was a little kid, and my god, it was delicious. We were guests, and I embarrassed my parents by asking if I could have another. (They thought people would think they were starving me. Not so … it was just a damn tasty burger.).

#6

My breast milk.

#7

18 Molar Sulphuric Acid

Back in the day, you sucked things into a pipet. Sometimes I sucked too hard. This time I got a mouth full of acid. I tasted sweet for two weeks.

#8

The inside of my mouth got burned so bad it blistered my gums and tongue so bad everything boiled up and shed eventually. Healing sucked because when I talked, I’d accidentally bite down and pop a blister…. tasted like pus. Hated that time of my life lol.

#9

Rat s**t. I used to have pet rats when I was in the uni, and I was carrying one of them from one dorm to another. He left a few droppings in my jacket pocket he was in (it was a short walk so I just put him in my roomy pocket).

I didn't notice, and a few weeks later I forgot about it all, put some nuts in the same pocket, and started eating them until one of them tasted weird.

#10

Possum was common in rural NZ back in the '70s/'80s it’s disgusting I was 4 and still remember the taste.

#11

Literal bull s**t, straight from a bull. It's not what you think. I mean, it's not what I would think, with that first sentence, but it's every bit true.

I was riding in a pasture of heifers, looking for why they'd been freaking out, when I saw one in the middle stand up, suddenly half again the size of every other bovine in the area. Oh.

One of the young bulls somehow got out of a nearby barn and paddock overnight. So I nudged my horse forward to see if I'd lead him out, or chase him out, or maybe I'd need another cowboy if he was feeling obstinant. He wasn't.

He turned and ran, so it was the chase option, then. No big deal, we do that all the time. So I let my horse do work while I hang out on top and just minimize my awkward mass offset. I was riding a trained horse, so it already knew exactly what to do.

It's called "cutting" when you herd one animal away from the others. None of this aside from the chase is germaine to the story, but it's interesting.

As we were following the bull, who was sprinting away, I watched a giant, healthy-looking s**t erupt from this idiot's a**s just as he bucked and kicked both feet back in a young bull's expression of primal joy. He kicked directly through his massive s**t, launching chunks of it directly into my face. It blasted my hat clean off.

My mouth had been open. My eyes had been open. My shirt collar was open. Everything had s**t in it. Everything I had. I found s**t in my pants pockets. My horse was covered in it.

That's one of the rare times I was unhorsed. Completely thrown. In my shock, I just lost focus and ended up on my back, retching up toward the sky. Pretty sure I swallowed some. I had to f*****g chew it just to spit it out.

Had to walk back about 1/4 mile, too. The horse just kept after the bull. They were grazing near each other when I got back to the paddock.

Disturbingly sweet. I didn't expect that. Highly unpleasant.

I've never before or since heard my Dad laugh like that. I thought he was going to die from it. It's the only time I ever saw the man cry.

#12

Elephant