I hate to say it, but that was a really dumb thing to do! As I read the first section, I knew what coming, but still couldn't believe you were dumb enough to actually do it! Sorry.
Yeah, 3xAA batts is only 4.5v, but there are voltage multipliers and/or inductors in there that can boost the voltage to well into the thousands. Current is kept to a minimum - just enough to hurt a lot and other nastiness, but generally not enough to kill. Trivia: did you know it only takes 0.15A to kill?
Anyway, I now know what your avatar truly means. If I had the power, I would change your name to "sparky" temporarily.
