SPIDERS come out on top, with dogs nipping at their heels - but when it comes to all things that bite, you probably would have thought you were safe from rabbits.

Paramedics have compiled a list of every bite they have treated across NSW since the start of summer, responding to more than 1100 calls for help - an average of 12 a day.

Everything from toxic caterpillars to bites from some of the world's deadliest snakes, spiders and marine creatures have needed attention as the wet weather drove ground-dwellers from their subterranean homes and provided ideal conditions for others to flourish.

February was the busiest month, with calls to 83 spider bites, 39 bee stings and 30 snake bites.

While beach weather was less than ideal, that didn't stop stingrays injuring 43 people over the three months from December, compared to 38 people who called paramedics after being stung by bluebottles, well down on past years.

Dog bites are a perennial problem with 145 people treated, seven were stuck by catfish barbs and 10 were stung by scorpions.

But even some of the most unassuming critters bared their claws, teeth or stingers. Five people were treated after being kicked by cows, two girls suffered injuries after being attacked by kangaroos at Batemans Bay and Glen Innes and a one-year-old girl was bitten by a rabbit at Merewether, in Newcastle.

Paramedics were also called when a 15-year-old boy was injured by a crab at Caringbah, in Sydney's south, a 20-year-old man who came off second best in an altercation with a possum at Nelson Bay and a man, 52, who was attacked by a goanna at Batar Creek on the mid-north coast.

A 32-year-old man called after a leech latched on to him for three days at Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains.

But the run-ins with nature were not reserved for the beach or the wilderness with a 23-year-old woman calling paramedics after being attacked by bed bugs in Surry Hills.

Australian Museum naturalist Martyn Robinson said the summer's big wet forced many ground-dwelling species, including various spiders, to seek higher ground while other insects were busy "cramming" their whole breeding season into short bursts of good weather.

Eight-year-old Bailey Jackson was in his backyard at Wyong when a red-bellied black snake fell out of a shirt on the clothesline and landed on him, biting his foot. He spent the night of January 8 in hospital.

Mum Rachael Jackson said the snake probably slithered up the clothesline looking for sunshine and warmth because the ground had been wet in the morning.

Paramedic David Morris said bites and stings from small animals and insects were very common.

"In healthy adults they are rarely dangerous," he said.

"Vary rarely the lips mouth or throat may swell. If you have any of these signs call triple-0 immediately," he said.

Originally published as Ants, bees and ferocious rabbits