Australia's Wildlife

Mackman

Has anyone thats over here in Ozzy-land ever sat down and pondered about how dangerous this country is? Just from nature im talking about here.
I recently read Bill Bryson's book "Down Under", and it was after reading it that i actually thought about it. There are so many animals and insects that can seriously injure/kill you. 9/10 of the most venomous snakes in the world are here. Off the top of my head:

Red Back Spiders, Funnel Web Spiders, White tail Spiders, Red Belly Black snake, King Brown snake, taipan snakes, crocodiles, blue ringed octopus (which incidently has enough venom in 1 bite to kill 100 people, something mad like that), all manner of jelly-fish, including the most deadly one, the box jelly-fish, great wite sharks, reef sharks, tiger sharks, stone fish.
kangaroo's are known to have kicked people with their hind legs, ripping open their stomachs with their claws, emu's peck your eyes out because their attracted to the shinyness :eek:

Now ive been here almost a year, and all ive seen is a red belly black snake, a red back and a white tail. So for people reading this who are thinking of coming over to Oz, im not trying to scare ye, its a really great place. in the cities you very rarely come accross anything. The odd spider is all.

It just amazes me that so many dangerous species reside on this continent.
So has anyone any hairy storys of encounters with the local flauna?

kittex

Living in rural WA and have seen all sorts or dangerous creatures - scorpions (in my garden), those bungarras that bite (in my school), king brown snake (thankfully not close - drove over it on the road out of town) and the shed is so full of redbacks I don't want to go in! I have (touch wood) not seen a snake up close yet but have reports of there being one in my garden while I was at work.
The indigenous kids here are mad - if they see a king brown they just whip it up and throw it somewhere.

mandrake04

Forget all the Typical creatures snakes, croc, spiders etc

If you are talking about dangerous animals in the bush I would say Wild Pig would be the most dangerous, Most other animals will only attack if cornered but if you accidently walked into the path of a wild boar and it will charge you you are in the sh!t. They are tough you could try putting a few .22 in em (inc head shot) but that might make em even madder... best have a .308 to do the job correct.


On the other hand anything that is in the sea/water in North QLD is not good, the worst is the Irukandji it about the size of your thumb nail and the sting can (rarely) kill... I have been told that if the sting didnt kill you outright the pain can last for up 2 weeks and you will wish it had killed you it that bad.

I had a friend bitten by a wolf spider and he had to go to hospital and get a large ulcer cut out of his arm about the size of a 50c coin, heard Red back will make you real sick... funnel web spider are not that common. I dont know anyone who has seen one.

I have seen Red Belly Snake and common browns in the Blue mountains.

watna

/shudders after reading the OP and is very thankful I'm in NZ, not Aus!

Mahatma coat

Ah its not THAT Bad

Mackman

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Ah its not THAT Bad

Nah its not, unless you venture out of the cities and into the bush you probably wont encounter anything. Still, there are still general precautions that everyone has to abide by, e.g. wearing gloves when working in the garden, dont stick bare hands in dark corners of the shed/under piles of wood etc.

m83

Great book op! Halfway through it at the moment, some crazy stuff out in them there bushes alright!

Jumpy

I have cut the head off a red belly black that was sliding down our driveway towards me (lucky I had a shovel, although I dont think it could help the direction it was travelling as the driveway was very steep).
A tiger snake killed our dog (dog killed it as well, hero dog that she was).
I have been bitten by two spiders (both unidentified because they were fast little feckers, only one made me feel a little sick)
We also had a huntsman as big as my hand that used to live in the house. He was called "Cyril".

Jumpy

mandrake04 wrote: »

funnel web spider are not that common.

Yes they are when you border the National park.
Found them dead in the dogs drinking water all the time. They dont hurt animals for some reason, the venom only really affects humans badly apparently.

Jumpy

Mahatma coat wrote: »

Ah its not THAT Bad

You didnt tell them about your encounter with the drop bear. Those things are just plain deadly.

Jumpy

A site all you guys should read and be aware of.

http://www.dropbearaware.com/

shamblertine

Would there be many spiders coming into apartments/houses if you lived in the big cities like Syndey and Melbourne? If so is there anything you can do to prevent them coming in, likes sprays or anything?

I wouldn't have a clue if a particular spider is dangerous or not so hopefully there are things I can do to prevent any coming into my place in the first place.

And if you do happen to see a dangerous spider in your apartment, what should you do?

Mackman

shamblertine wrote: »

Would there be many spiders coming into apartments/houses if you lived in the big cities like Syndey and Melbourne? If so is there anything you can do to prevent them coming in, likes sprays or anything?

I wouldn't have a clue if a particular spider is dangerous or not so hopefully there are things I can do to prevent any coming into my place in the first place.

It depends on where the apartment/house is? what the sealing is like etc.
Yeah there are barrier sprays that you can get to stop bugs and spiders getting in. I dont know what sydney and melbourne are like, but here in perth all you'd get is the odd red back.

shamblertine wrote: »

And if you do happen to see a dangerous spider in your apartment, what should you do?

Kill it.

NikNakOoo

Ha, ha... drop bears. Gold.

Poor doggie.

I had the joy of a white tail infestation in my house in Melbourne's 'burbs... 30 whitetails in a month was getting beyond a joke (and I'm arachnaphobic, so it wasn't an amusing joke to say the least!) Luckily there are many pest control companies that'll zap the house... but that only lasts 6 months and can take a few weeks till you start noticing any lack of insects.

Best to google spiders so you know what they look like. Written explanations just aren't the same.

I found that white tails like to crawl on the ceiling, which can be a pain when you want to kill them. I had developed a knack of spraying them with insect spray till they dropped and then smashing them with my thong (flip flop.) But make sure you're quick, as the spray will make them angry and they'll run all over the place before eventually dying. (I didn't trust that the were dead unless I saw them squished.)

Ahhh... one thing I love about Ireland.

shamblertine

Mackman wrote: »

It depends on where the apartment/house is? what the sealing is like etc.
Yeah there are barrier sprays that you can get to stop bugs and spiders getting in. I dont know what sydney and melbourne are like, but here in perth all you'd get is the odd red back.



Kill it.

Cheers man, I am mostly looking at places in the CBD of Melbourne so hopefully there won't be many about that area of the city. I don't mind killing smaller spiders but bit of a fear of the massive ones, can you kill them with spray?

Jumpy

shamblertine wrote: »

Cheers man, I am mostly looking at places in the CBD of Melbourne so hopefully there won't be many about that area of the city. I don't mind killing smaller spiders but bit of a fear of the massive ones, can you kill them with spray?

Yes. You can get spray for spiders.

The massive ones wont hurt you though. They are just harmless Huntsmans, a bit of a nip at the most.

Chart is here for anyone who wants to read up.

http://www.spiders.com.au/

universe777

shamblertine wrote: »

Cheers man, I am mostly looking at places in the CBD of Melbourne so hopefully there won't be many about that area of the city. I don't mind killing smaller spiders but bit of a fear of the massive ones, can you kill them with spray?

We could be neighbours... I am staying in Southbank for the 1st month (leaving in 3 weeks), then moving to Docklands afterwards.
I should hope I don't see any spiders high up in an apartment block..

I was reading that spiders don't like Cedarwood, people leave pieces of cedar wood around the house or spray stuff with cedar oil products.

The Sweeper

I've a garden full of redback spiders, huntsmen tour the house at night and there are whitetails that come in and hide around the place. My cats are pretty good spider spotters though, so I don't get taken unawares... much.

We do have snakes - tiger snakes and king browns. Just avoid them and they'll avoid you. I have also thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the sea in Austalia and Tasmania - you're more at risk from drowning than you are of sharks or jellyfish tbh.

The_B_Man

pfft, ya big girls! Spiders arent scary! Look at this cute fella:
Cute baby spider having his afternoon snack

heres a list of spider in Oz.
List of spiders in Australia

watna

The Sweeper wrote: »

I've a garden full of redback spiders, huntsmen tour the house at night and there are whitetails that come in and hide around the place. My cats are pretty good spider spotters though, so I don't get taken unawares... much.

We do have snakes - tiger snakes and king browns. Just avoid them and they'll avoid you. I have also thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the sea in Austalia and Tasmania - you're more at risk from drowning than you are of sharks or jellyfish tbh.

Do you worry about the cats being bitten? Our cat loves to hunt and eat spiders and other insects and I'd be afraid a spider would get him.

Apparently there are 3 venomous spiders in NZ but they're not really very venomous at all and two of them came from Aus http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/spiders-and-other-arachnids/5. What is it about Australia that produced such toxic creatures?

The Sweeper

I try to take the spider off them and hoover it up but usually, to be honest they've stunned it with the impact of one paw and they lose interest when it's dead.

uglyjohn

Jumpy wrote: »

Found them dead in the dogs drinking water all the time. They dont hurt animals for some reason, the venom only really affects humans badly apparently.

Be careful with that. they take a long time to drown and have been known to "play dead" and bide their time. nasty little fvckers.

two quotes

The funnel web is often drawn to water and can stay submerged for several hours. They will often play dead after being taken out of a pool to give there prey a false sense of security.

from here: http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/atrax-robustus-the-deadly-sydney-funnel-web-spider/


Wandering funnel-webs spiders often fall into backyard swimming pools and they can stay alive for hours. They can't swim but they can trap a small bubble of air in hairs around the abdomen, which aids both breathing and floating, so it should not be assumed that a spider on a pool bottom has drowned. As they gradually get waterlogged, their buoyancy decreases and they eventually sink and drown. Funnel-webs have been known to survive 24-30 hours under water.

from here: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Funnel-web-Spiders-group

Maire2009

I saw a programme about Funnel Web Spiders where they put one into a pool and he sank to the bottom and looked to be dead but he wasn't.

It seems they are invading Sydney at the moment:

"Insect experts have warned that Sydney is being invaded by funnel-webs, considered one of the world's most aggressive and poisonous spiders."

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/deadly-funnelweb-spiders-invading-sydney-14644923.html#ixzz0daosZ5UJ

Redbacks seem pretty common, I've come across a good few. They hide in the cracks in some swimming pools but if the pools are sprayed its not a worry.

The redbacks are meant to make you feel like **** but no long term damage. Just reading up on the whitetails lately and it seems that these tails of flesh eating venom aren't true, anyone know?

The Mossies can also be trouble. I've met two guys who have had Ross River disease. One was laid low for a few weeks - had no energy but once he got over it he was okay, the other guy still gets symptoms despite getting the actually RR fever years ago.

On a side note apparently the common Daddy Long Legs is the most poisonous but thankfully they can't inject their venom into us

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

me and a few friends are renting a camper van and touring Australia for a few weeks this summer ive no problem with animals i have a snake and a lizard myself but should we be scared? a camper van wont exactly be a fortress? haha

The_B_Man

^^ nah thats bollox. urban legend. daddy long legs arent venomous at all.

Also, redbacks are very common in WA. i had a pet one in our bathroom in a pot plant. used to feed him flies evrey time i went to the jacks. they hide in work boots a lot and a lot of people who have been bitten have been bitten when they put their feet into the boots!!!!

apparently the white tail is dodgy. it can bite you and rot your skin and in some cases the surgeons will have to chop off a limb to stop it spreading! thats only after a good while without being treated tho. apparently the symptoms can return a year leter or so and your skin will start to rot again in the same spot!! its insane!!

m@cc@

Maire2009 wrote: »

On a side note apparently the common Daddy Long Legs is the most poisonous but thankfully they can't inject their venom into us

I'd love to know where these myths start. There are 3 species of arachnids called Daddy Long Legs. One is poisonous (not the common one) and it can bite you but it's nothing worse that a short-lived mild burning sensation. (That's probably more than you needed to know but still..)

Maire2009

The_B_Man wrote: »

^^ nah thats bollox. urban legend. daddy long legs arent venomous at all.

Also, redbacks are very common in WA. i had a pet one in our bathroom in a pot plant. used to feed him flies evrey time i went to the jacks. they hide in work boots a lot and a lot of people who have been bitten have been bitten when they put their feet into the boots!!!!

apparently the white tail is dodgy. it can bite you and rot your skin and in some cases the surgeons will have to chop off a limb to stop it spreading! thats only after a good while without being treated tho. apparently the symptoms can return a year leter or so and your skin will start to rot again in the same spot!! its insane!!

Ha ha B Man lately I thought it was the other way around, that the stories of the white tails venom was bollox but that the daddy long legs one was true

In the same programme about the Funnel Webs it had a part about the damage the white tails have done and if that is true they are bad little critters. One woman had to have a load of skin grafts done, it had rotted away her flesh - she had got bitten out doing the gardening.

Another dude just got a rash but it reappeared every few months.

I was living in a timber house for a while and cockroaches and spiders were getting in everywhere (and those little lizard things) feel safer in my brick house with fly guards ha ha although they will still get in if they want to.

Maire2009

m@cc@ wrote: »

I'd love to know where these myths start. There are 3 species of arachnids called Daddy Long Legs. One is poisonous (not the common one) and it can bite you but it's nothing worse that a short-lived mild burning sensation. (That's probably more than you needed to know but still..)

Robbed from Wikiepdia:

There is an urban legend stating that daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but that their chelicerae (fangs) are either too small or too weak to puncture human skin; the same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly, also called "daddy long-legs" in some locales. Indeed, pholcid spiders do have a short fang structure (called uncate). However, brown recluse spiders also have uncate fang structure, but are able to deliver medically significant bites. Either pholcid venom is not toxic to humans or there is a musculature difference between the two arachnids, with recluses, being hunting spiders, possessing stronger muscles for fang penetration.[5]
In 2004, the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (Season 1, Episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0.25 mm (average human skin thickness varies from about 0.5mm to 4mm), the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans. Additionally, recent research by Alan Van Dyke has shown that pholcid venom is actually relatively weak in its effects on insects as well.[6].
According to the University of California at Riverside, the daddy long-legs spider has never harmed a human and there is no evidence that they are venomous to humans.[7]
The urban legend ostensibly stems from the fact that the daddy long-legs spider is known to prey upon deadly venomous spiders, such as the redback, a member of the black widow genus Latrodectus.[8] By extrapolation, it was thought that if the daddy long-legs spider could regularly kill a spider capable of delivering fatal bites to humans, then it must be more venomous, and the uncate fangs were accused of prohibiting it from killing people.[9] In reality, it is merely quicker than the redback

I know Wikipedia shouldn't be quoted but this seems about right, I feel stooooopid now

m@cc@

All this talk of Daddy Long Legs has Christy Moore in my head.

NikNakOoo

Maire2009 wrote: »

Just reading up on the whitetails lately and it seems that these tails of flesh eating venom aren't true, anyone know?

My understanding is that it is the bacteria on their fangs that are the cause, not their venom. But I'm no expert.

watna

Actually, that might be true. A friend of mine got bitten by a whitetail (according to her doctor) on Kapiti Island just off Wellington. She got a huge blister on her foot where she was bitten and had to take really strong antibiotics for it, so the bacteria must be a factor.

Jumpy

Its not the bacteria, the venom causes very mild necrosis (localised skin death), which can get infected due to the dead tissue.
As far as I know, the Wolf spider bite does the same thing.
All the pictures you see around the internet are actually of a brown recluse bite in the USA. Even those are still unproven that its anything to do with the venom itself. I would assume they let a minor bite get infected.

Jumpy

The_B_Man wrote: »

pfft, ya big girls! Spiders arent scary! Look at this cute fella:
Cute baby spider having his afternoon snack

heres a list of spider in Oz.
List of spiders in Australia

Thats a finch, a teency little bird, the spider got lucky and the photographer made the spider look bigger than it was from a closeup.