Killers snakes,spiders and all things Aus

Spunk84

Just thought a throw out a question. Whilst working either for your 2nd visa or normal day to day outings, have you come across Aus deadliest or worse been bite ? Friend of mind is working on a farm and he was telling me some stories of snake bites and spiders

PirateShampoo

Come across Brown snakes all the time up Darwin. Once u use ur head and dont go trying to poke the thing ul be grand. They have no intrest in attacking u unless provoked.

Im more scared of Sand flies, mozzys and bed bugs to be honest.

Spunk84

PirateShampoo wrote: »

Come across Brown snakes all the time up Darwin. Once u use ur head and dont go trying to poke the thing ul be grand. They have no intrest in attacking u unless provoked.

Im more scared of Sand flies, mozzys and bed bugs to be honest.

bed bugz:eek: what bed bugz

PirateShampoo

Ul know them when u get a hostel infested with them. I got hammered by the in Elks back psckers in Darwin

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug

Nick Diamond

Yeah i came across a few brown snakes up in Ayr (near bowen/townsville etc).. Loadsa huntsmen too, they're ugly bastards! Haven't really come across to many 'killer spiders' though....laodsa toads!

Man bed bugs are by far my most hated 'insect'

jackbhoy

The whole thing is overblown, more people die every year from bee stings than spider/snake bites combined.

The most dangerous creatures I've come across are p1ssed Collingwood fans, or to give them their latin name feralus boganas....

hussey

Drop bears are also savage
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Drop-Bear
They are essentially wild Koalas who drop from trees and attack people

Mellor

There's loads everywhere, even close to main cities if you are working in areas with decent levels of vegetation.
It's not like you are fightign them off thought.

Hells Belle

We were in Qld in April and we saw more wildlife in Brisbane city parks than we did in rural Sunshine Coast. There's this park called Roma Park and there are tons of those orb weaver spiders high above your head. Actually very pretty, they were on the street lights all over South Bank too.

I saw one white tail on the Sunshine Coast who fell from the ceiling on to my plate, and sadly he didn't make it!! The only other wildlife we saw there were birds, lizards, bats and ants, lots of ants.

The only snake we saw was a python in Australia Zoo in a glass cage. :pac:

The golden rule is "don't stick your hands were you can't see them" and you'll be fine.

skipz

Had a redback fall out of a brick and landed on my hand, didnt cope on until i flicked it off and labourer checked it out.
Also found a scorpion about the size of my thumb crawling up me boss's boot after we dug out a trench, good to see that!

Lived in Kalgoorlie for 7 years and only a snake the 1 time, and it was in a park. If you go looking for the danger you might get lucky!

CatchLight

Very aggressive, followed me down the street.

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Hells Belle

^^^^^

Holy crap :eek: :eek:

Do you run? If it's following you and you stand still it's going to get you oh sweet jeebus, any idea what it is?

I'm seriously creeped out now!

Jumpy

hussey wrote: »

Drop bears are also savage
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Drop-Bear
They are essentially wild Koalas who drop from trees and attack people

Attack is the wrong term. They kill people by breaking their necks with their padded bottoms. If they miss you after the drop they are pretty harmless. Although they will eat you if they succeed.

Jumpy

Hells Belle wrote: »

^^^^^

Holy crap :eek: :eek:

Do you run? If it's following you and you stand still it's going to get you oh sweet jeebus, any idea what it is?

I'm seriously creeped out now!

Western browns arent agressive in that way. More than likey he was just headed in the same direction.

Taipans and Tigers are the only ones that will chase.

Jumpy

Actually thats just a common brown.

Spunk84

you would think people working on fruit farms or near vegetation would be bite all the time

Cooperspale

Dorm rooms in hostels can be hostile places. There's a certain St Kilda hostel that gets woeful infestations of bed bugs every so often. I have seen bites from head to toe on poor souls.

In January, the stingers can bite a bit in Port Phillip bay, nothing like the bluebottles in warmer waters though.

Spiders, the fiercest looking is probably the least harmful... Huntsman, I actually thought it was a toy when I last saw it, in a weekend rental near Wilson's prom. But this changed when his pal hitched a ride back to Melbourne in my bag & scampered across the kitchen floor!!
Red backs live in our back shed and I am not a fan. A friend finds them in their BBQ each spring after winter and I lived in a house in rural NW Victoria, where you shook everything that you used or wore incase they were in there. I was doing a job out there and only in the last
week did someone tell me about the time the king brown took up residence under the fridge for a week, he liked the warmth!
I know people who have gotten nasty spider bites lolling on the grass in Albert park, by not shaking out their gloves from the shed, picnicking by a funnel web in Sydney.

I've received a nasty white tail bite by not having long gloves on. Never have actually met anyone who got bit while on the dunny tho.


Ozi snakes only bite when provoked for the most part. Steer clear and dress
appropriately in long grass etc. Mates in country NSW used to go rabbitting as kids and always came across snakes, none of them were ever bitten.

Beasties are part of Australia, so you have to accept them. Or harden up as Chopper would say, though not quite in those words

ellaq

Redbacks and snakes don't really bother me that much. It is the harmless tartanula that gets me. I hate how they get in the car and I don't know where they are and I have to still drive the kids to school. They are fat hairy pre-historic looking monsters.
Once a huntsman ran across the windscreen when I was driving. I turned on the wipers but a few minutes later he was back. It took a long time for me to get the guts to open that door and get out.
I have killed a few snakes in my time but I have always mistaken them for a twig until I have driven over them.

CatchLight

Hells Belle wrote: »

^^^^^

Holy crap :eek: :eek:

Do you run? If it's following you and you stand still it's going to get you oh sweet jeebus, any idea what it is?

I'm seriously creeped out now!

Hey Hells Belle, no I didn't run, ok I walked very fast. I'm not up on my snakes so I don't know what kind it is. Someone who I showed the picture to said it was a Dugite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugite

I know Jumpy says they aren't aggressive but this guy or gal really was. It was crossing the road going away from me, I whipped out the camera as it was the first time I'd see a snake. He came back across the road again when I hunched down to take a photo. I stood up and backed away and it kept coming. It followed me down the path for maybe 3 or 4 mins, then gave up. The speed they move at is unreal.

Zambia

ellaq wrote: »

Redbacks and snakes don't really bother me that much. It is the harmless tartanula that gets me. I hate how they get in the car and I don't know where they are and I have to still drive the kids to school. They are fat hairy pre-historic looking monsters.
Once a huntsman ran across the windscreen when I was driving. I turned on the wipers but a few minutes later he was back. It took a long time for me to get the guts to open that door and get out.
I have killed a few snakes in my time but I have always mistaken them for a twig until I have driven over them.

I did look at my drivers door Mirror while driving once to see a huntsman staring at me.

Gave me a fright but it crawled of along the driver window to the rear of the car somewhere.

sudzs

hussey wrote: »

Drop bears are also savage
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Drop-Bear
They are essentially wild Koalas who drop from trees and attack people

Wow! Thanks for the warning. That distribution map is very helpful too!

Hells Belle

CatchLight wrote: »

Hey Hells Belle, no I didn't run, ok I walked very fast. I'm not up on my snakes so I don't know what kind it is. Someone who I showed the picture to said it was a Dugite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugite

I know Jumpy says they aren't aggressive but this guy or gal really was. It was crossing the road going away from me, I whipped out the camera as it was the first time I'd see a snake. He came back across the road again when I hunched down to take a photo. I stood up and backed away and it kept coming. It followed me down the path for maybe 3 or 4 mins, then gave up. The speed they move at is unreal.

Thats seriously scary Catchlight, I'll have to man up about snakes or I'll never leave the house. I did a bit of reading on them and most guides said just stand still and they'll leave you alone, yeah like I'd stand still with that behind me.

Jumpy thanks for the info, are you Australian? I can't get over your casualness about a freakin big snake slithering down the road, mad :P

My biggest worry is I have a very curious 4 yr old who likes bothering the local cats. I had to pull him off a massive tom cat he managed to grab by the tail and pull from under a hedge on Sunday. The child just has no fear. If he saw that snake he'd be after it for a hug or to cut his head off, depending on his humour. Boys eh :pac:

Jumpy

CatchLight wrote: »

Hey Hells Belle, no I didn't run, ok I walked very fast. I'm not up on my snakes so I don't know what kind it is. Someone who I showed the picture to said it was a Dugite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugite

I know Jumpy says they aren't aggressive but this guy or gal really was. It was crossing the road going away from me, I whipped out the camera as it was the first time I'd see a snake. He came back across the road again when I hunched down to take a photo. I stood up and backed away and it kept coming. It followed me down the path for maybe 3 or 4 mins, then gave up. The speed they move at is unreal.

No matter what type of brown it was, if it caught you, you would have been screwed.

Browns are pretty much the deadliest of all the aussie snakes.

Jumpy

Hells Belle wrote: »

Thats seriously scary Catchlight, I'll have to man up about snakes or I'll never leave the house. I did a bit of reading on them and most guides said just stand still and they'll leave you alone, yeah like I'd stand still with that behind me.

Jumpy thanks for the info, are you Australian? I can't get over your casualness about a freakin big snake slithering down the road, mad :P

My biggest worry is I have a very curious 4 yr old who likes bothering the local cats. I had to pull him off a massive tom cat he managed to grab by the tail and pull from under a hedge on Sunday. The child just has no fear. If he saw that snake he'd be after it for a hug or to cut his head off, depending on his humour. Boys eh :pac:

Yep, Im Aussie.

We had our dog killed by one of these once.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_snake

Dog killed it after it was bitten though. The thing was under the stairs inside the house.

Dont leave your doors open near the bush in Australia. Always have a screen.

mandrake04

Jumpy wrote: »

No matter what type of brown it was, if it caught you, you would have been screwed.

Browns are pretty much the deadliest of all the aussie snakes.

They are aggressive and pretty common, I found a lopped off head from one not far from home which is in Sydney.

Have been fishing up around Thompson's Lake in Lithgow seen a few Browns around there, also 4WD & camping down in Oberon seen loads. Never had a camera handy enough but got a picture of Red Bellied Black once around inlaws gaff in Wentworth Falls.

Have got this chap living in my back garden



Harmless except he tried to eat the cat

AngryHippie

There are loads of dangerous little cobblywobblys out there, but most of them don't want to be anywhere near you, and in the highly unlikely event that you encounter one, and get bitten, good first aid will buy you plenty of time to get anti-venom and get yourself looked after. Australia has 4 out of the top ten most venomous snakes, but has the best record in the world for treatment of snakebites. encounters are rare enough and usually harmless. fatalities are even more rare. I've been over here for 3 years, I've worked on farms, In the tropics and in mines, al sorts of bushland and I've still only seen two snakes, and they were piss-bolting away from me at the time, just follow good advice, inform yourself and you'll be sweet.
Sharks are a different bloody story....

Princess_N

WHY OH WHY DID I READ THIS!!!!

Mellor

Jumpy wrote: »

Actually thats just a common brown.

Common brown?

Jumpy wrote: »

No matter what type of brown it was, if it caught you, you would have been screwed.

Browns are pretty much the deadliest of all the aussie snakes.

I thought it was the Taipan.
Then the Browns, the eastern brown being the most venomous.

Stud Muffin

Watch out for the magpies this time of year too. Vicious!

Zambia

I agree totally those Collingwood feral feckers

Jimoslimos

March (marsh?) flies are nasty feckers at the wrong season. Nasty nip on them.

Bed bugs are the most insidious creatures though. I hate these more than all the deadly snakes, spiders and sharks put together.

Jumpy

March flies are my nemesis.

I didnt know Australia had a bed bug problem.

Mellor

Jumpy wrote: »

March flies are my nemesis.

I didnt know Australia had a bed bug problem.

Yeah but it would be pretty endemic to hostels and similar.
Constantly flow of people means they spread pretty fast. A place being clean isn't the issue, regualrly cleaned sheets don't get rid of bugs in the mattress.

Often, people think they have been bitten by mossies, but the bites are bed bugs.
I was bitten before but blamed mossies for a while. Now know different.

sudzs

Often, people think they have been bitten by mossies, but the bites are bed bugs.

I've a few bites on my ankles, they're not mossie bites though, not even itchy. I'm thinking now maybe they're bedbugs :eek: I only got them since moving into a new holiday let.

How can I tell if it's bed bugs? And can you see them on the matress if you look hard enough?


It's ok! I've just been looking at the little buggers on Youtube. Puke! Then I checked the bed and pounced on and squashed to death, 2 little pieces of sock fluff!

Jumpy

Sock fluff is a protected species. Reported.

The Sweeper

Jumpy wrote: »

No matter what type of brown it was, if it caught you, you would have been screwed.

That's a pretty hysterical exaggeration.

http://www.anaes.med.usyd.edu.au/venom/snakebite.html

If you're bitten by a snake, stay calm and seek immediate medical attention. Don't worry too much about identifying it either. We had to put signs up on the emergency department doors to stop people bringing the frickin snake onto the ward and going 'THIS is what bit me!'

Yes, mate, if you were trying to hit me with a shovel I'd probably bite you too.

Zambia

Was doing some work in the garden today and saw this pretty decent size Redback. Sorry the photo does not catch the red stripe.

Lush Puppy

Dear sweet Jebus!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
*shudders violently*

I've been trying to de-sensitise myself to the inevitable arachnid element of moving to Aus. Coming from an absolute chronic arachnaphobe reading this thread has worried the intentionally ignorant bones of me. My best friend lives in Melbourne, moved over a year ago, and everytime we chat/skype I need an update on arachnid sightings, stories, encounters etc. She really wants me to come over but is fully aware of how serious my phobia is so I feel she may dumb down the actuality of living in Melbourne along with its legged residents.

I'm considering getting hypnotised. As I suffer from panic attacks I think this is probably in my favour, I'm willing to do anything to make the transition easier!!

Brian201888

Lush Puppy wrote: »

Dear sweet Jebus!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
*shudders violently*

I've been trying to de-sensitise myself to the inevitable arachnid element of moving to Aus. Coming from an absolute chronic arachnaphobe reading this thread has worried the intentionally ignorant bones of me. My best friend lives in Melbourne, moved over a year ago, and everytime we chat/skype I need an update on arachnid sightings, stories, encounters etc. She really wants me to come over but is fully aware of how serious my phobia is so I feel she may dumb down the actuality of living in Melbourne along with its legged residents.

I'm considering getting hypnotised. As I suffer from panic attacks I think this is probably in my favour, I'm willing to do anything to make the transition easier!!

Saw less spiders in 9 months in Melbourne than I'd see back home in Dublin. Big ones aren't dangerous just a bit mad looking, and I think I've come accross about 3 or 4 huntsmen in the 15 or so months I've been here. The little ones can technically kill but the last recorded death from a spider bite is something mental like 1979.

myflipflops

I'll back up what Eoghan said. If you move to Melbourne, you will be fine.

I have seen exactly zero spiders so far. It helps if you live relatively high up in an apartment but the city has very little to frighten you in general.

markymark21

Lush Puppy wrote: »

Dear sweet Jebus!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
*shudders violently*

I've been trying to de-sensitise myself to the inevitable arachnid element of moving to Aus. Coming from an absolute chronic arachnaphobe reading this thread has worried the intentionally ignorant bones of me. My best friend lives in Melbourne, moved over a year ago, and everytime we chat/skype I need an update on arachnid sightings, stories, encounters etc. She really wants me to come over but is fully aware of how serious my phobia is so I feel she may dumb down the actuality of living in Melbourne along with its legged residents.

I'm considering getting hypnotised. As I suffer from panic attacks I think this is probably in my favour, I'm willing to do anything to make the transition easier!!

I've been in Melbourne two months and I've seen nothing. Keep your apartment nice and clean and you won't attract them. I also heard that if you spray your apartment with palm oil (mix a little in with your surface cleaner) they won't come near your house. Apparently they don't like that... so the old wives tale goes!

If all else fails a good size 9 (maybe a 12 for a huntsman ) should do the job!

skipz

You cant trust any of them!
I thought this lad was my mate, we had an agreement that he stayed outside in the garden and lived at the gate and i wouldnt go near him.

That was ok for about 2 weeks until he got into my apartment. It took me ages to catch him in a plastic cup because of his speed and when i did i went to pick him up by the leg's to throw him out the door the fecker bit me:eek::eek::eek:!

I was shocked, i thought Huntsman spiders were gental giants. Anyway he didnt last long after he got the shoe and i think the bite was a dry bite. Nothing really happen only two little dots on my index finger, but i sh1t myself big time. Was onto google like a flash!

I have noticed a increased number of cockroaches now he's gone.


RIP...

zweton

f**k me they are like mini crabs lol

markymark21

There would be no recipical agreement if I seen one of them near the apartment. I don't care how many flies or bugs they keep away.. He's getting mashed.

zweton

haha fact!

BossArky

I haven't seen a single snake or spider in the wild in the two years I've been in Oz (Melb & Per). Hoping it stays that way!

Lush Puppy

Oh my days. That is bloody HUGE!! Its got legs to africa?!? Christ!!!!!

See if the phobia was rational then I could say yeah I don't mind the big hairy buggers because they wont bite or kill me, but death as an eventuality is not a problem, ironically! Even if it is the smaller ones to worry about common sense doesn't come into it. Big/Black/Hairy = New underwear Come to think of it, small/fast/close proximity = New underwear. By desensitising I mean I've forced myself to look at the pictures of the ones you've posted. Some. Not ready for all. I once spent the night in my kitchen because there was a MASSIVE black beast in the hall. Was terrified it would fall on me as I ran to my bedroom. Rationality doesn't even come into it I am a chronic phobic

You seriously haven't seen any in the wild in 2 years?! That's amazing! I love hope stories! If I'm to get 2nd year visa and have to do 3 months seasonal work then I'm afraid I will definitely encounter my arch nemeses. Something I wish I could do but just couldn't without hypnotherapy

Zambia

Are you sacred of even little spiders?

Lush Puppy

Zambia wrote: »

Are you sacred of even little spiders?

Not entirely, but within reason, I mean if I put my index finger to my thumb and make it circular, thats about the diameter I can handle. ie. be able to hoover up without quivering. Any bigger and its panic stations.

Theres a photo above with one beside a coin. He looks a natsy bugger but the size of him wouldn't bother me so much. I'm not appreciative of his company but I'm not speed dialling penneys for a delivery of pants either

aido79

BossArky wrote: »

I haven't seen a single snake or spider in the wild in the two years I've been in Oz (Melb & Per). Hoping it stays that way!

I wouldn't expect to see snakes in the city but to go 2 years over here and not see either a redback or a huntsman is good going. Just yesterday I saw a redback,a black house spider and a tent spider in the space of half an hour while having a beer outside my house.

Lush Puppy

aido79 wrote: »

I wouldn't expect to see snakes in the city but to go 2 years over here and not see either a redback or a huntsman is good going. Just yesterday I saw a redback,a black house spider and a tent spider in the space of half an hour while having a beer outside my house.

I've heard of all these types but how would you describe redback, hunstman, black house and tent spider? Obv can't look up pictures