Snakes...

[MarkCDodd]

You forget how deadly and how many there are when you have lived with them all your life.

But sometimes things happen to remind you.

My daughter took the dogs for a walk and swim at one of the nearby water retarding basins.

Another dog, a Golden Retriever, was diving into the water and chasing a stick thrown by its owner.

It suddenly gave a yelp and paddled to the side of the pond and started nibbling at its leg. It then collapsed and died in less than a minute.

It had been bitten by either a Tiger or Brown snake that had been crossing the water. Could have been a Copper Head but I haven't seen them around here for a while.

Unless you have an alergic reaction, an adult with a properly applied pressure bandage should have at least an hour to get antivenom.

Every hospital has a supply.

But I have heard of dogs dying very quickly like this.

Now she is scared to take the dogs for a walk in the bushland near us but as I have explained to her, the snakes are there in great numbers but will make themselves scarce if you are going at walking pace.

It is when somebody runs into the longer grass or surprises them in some way that they bite.

I have had to walk around Tiger snakes that were too stubborn to move off the path but as long as you walk at a normal pace and keep your eyes open there is not a problem.

She also rides horses a lot through the bush and never had one bitten.

She has probably walked within a meter of hundreds of deadly snakes over the years and never known it so why worry about them now?

[Rob]

Now i loved Australia when i was there.If it wasn't so far away i'd love to live there but i had terrible trouble with constipation during my stay.
My cousin Em told me about the deadly venomous spiders that hide under the toilet seat!! One bite and you will die!!

[MarkCDodd]

Red Backs spiders bite about 1500 Australians each year. It has been about 20 years since the last person died.

Thier bit really hurts so its not as if they give you a sneaky nibble and you drop dead.

Red Backs are the Australian cousin of the American Black Widow but a lot more toxic.

They are all over the palce and when I was moving my daughter's computer desk last week a huge one came crawling from underneath.

I just captured her and put her outside.

Funnel Web spiders are worse.

Most people bitten by those huge things are putting on their shoes or socks or other clothing that the spider has crawled into.

Huge fangs dripping with venom....yuck.

But once again, nobody has died since 1981 when the anti-venom was introduced.

No anti-venom and you are a goner though....

Only a couple of creatures in Australia scare me.

The Blue Ringed Octopus is one.

Super deadly and I knew nothing about them till I caught one in my bucket whilst collecting things out of rock pools as a seven year old.

Being kids we were amused by the flashing blue colour when we pocked it with our finger.

When an adult saw what we had he grabbed my bucket off me and started yelling at us for being stupid little %$#&&##&.

Turns out it has one of the top three toxins in the world and no anti venom.

Box Jellyfish are enough to stop me swimming in the sea anywhere in Queensland.

Even though they have special nets to stop them and make some beaches "safe".

Apparently one of the most painfull things in the world is one of their stings and healthy adults have been known to die within minutes.

No thanks.

[mikleed]

And we Emigrate to Australia ? ? ? ?

[snoopysue]

And we Emigrate to Australia ? ? ? ?

Apparently!

[Antie Em]

My niece who lives in Perth one day had a snake climbing the steps to the patio - Bruiser their phsyco cat killed it.

[snoopysue]

I now know why I like living in Northern Europe - no poisonous snakes, no nasty spiders, only very minor earthquakes every ten years or so, ditto really bad hurricanes, never too hot, not often too cold, severe floods aren't too common, and usually predictable, not too many wars etc etc

Need I go on....?

[SRD]

And we Emigrate to Australia ? ? ? ?

I thought we transported them

[MarkCDodd]

During the floods one woman had to climb a tree and sit there for many hours before being rescued.

When asked if she was scared she said, "Not until all the spiders and snakes decided it was a good spot to be as well. I spent most of my time convicing them to find thier own tree!"

Really, the Aussie creepy crawlies are not a problem as long as you educate yourself on their habitats and habits.

The closest I have come to dying at the hands of a beastie was a wild boar that refused to die no matter how many times I shot it with my Fox gun from up the tree it chased me up.

Those things have no problems goring you to death and eating you.

Had to wait for my brother to run back to the car and get a bigger gun.

Also got a horrible disease from a bush tick bite which can kill you and does kill quite a few pets further north.

My dad got necrosis (where your tissue dies and rots away, a bit like gangrene) from a spider bite but even some English spiders can cause that.

The last few people eaten by crocodiles ignored the warning signs.

Those who get attacked by sharks are just unlucky and nearly always surfers or scuba divers.

Far more chance of getting killed driving a kilometer down the road than by any of these creatures so why worry about them.

[dianel]

We should all emigrate to New Zealand where there are no venomous snakes or spiders. And it's beautiful there.

With all the warm, wet weather we've been having, the mosquitoes are horrific, but I've been given a wonderful present!
It's like a small tennis racquet with a metal grid instead of strings which can be electified by batteries in the handle - a mobile mosquito zapper. You wave it around and get the little blighters with a loud Zap! So SATISFYING!!!
My Tai Chi master says I'll never make a good Buddhist, but I say that if they were bad enough in a previous life to come back as a mosquito, they deserve everything they get!

[SRD]

Far more chance of getting killed driving a kilometer down the road than by any of these creatures so why worry about them.

Doesn't say much for Aussie drivers.

[grangers14]

LOL SRD!

[quote="dianel"]With all the warm, wet weather we've been having, the mosquitoes are horrific, but I've been given a wonderful present!
It's like a small tennis racquet with a metal grid instead of strings which can be electified by batteries in the handle - a mobile mosquito zapper. You wave it around and get the little blighters with a loud Zap! So SATISFYING!!!
quote]

We have one of them Di!
The kids love running round the conservatory chasing flies! Too tiring for me but I do keep it handy if theres one pestering me and wave it about!
My husband hates flies, loves the racket, I think being on the rig where there are none hates them more!

One of my best friends moved to New Zealand and love it there.

Mark, I would just be so scared!
Jo

[snoopysue]

Far more chance of getting killed driving a kilometer down the road than by any of these creatures so why worry about them.

Doesn't say much for Aussie drivers.

especially if it's in the outback!

[mikleed]

God knows why my Great Aunt emigrated to Broken Hill in the 19th. cent.? No antidotes then I bet !
Mike.

[MarkCDodd]

You got me curious as to how many coroners reports there were claiming snake bites as the cause of death....

I can see plenty up until the 1950's and then only a trickle after that.

I can see plenty of people falling off horses, getting flattened by trees and other "country living" hazards.

So I suppose it was just another hazard they learned to live with.