Australia's Deadliest. Thanks for the Fosters beer and the Body Bag.

reply to post by mr-lizard


I love Brysons book on OZ! He describes the very place where I live as Eden on earth. I highly recomend this book for people wanting to read up on this wonderful sunburnt land.

reply to post by Burginthorn

Now this next part you will not believe. But its true, and if anyone here is an expert on the matter they will verify. Tiger snakes can JUMP! And I mean jump, as in air time, 5 feet off the ground!

I didn't know that,you sure it was a Tiger? yikes, now they jump at us. lol I love our beasties, they're here to remind us that humans really arent the be all on planet earth!


[edit on 5-10-2009 by zazzafrazz]

I love Brysons book on OZ! He describes the very place where I live as Eden on earth. I highly recomend this book for people wanting to read up on this wonderful sunburnt land.

Eden on earth??

This thread is giving me the willies..

Don't you guys have any bunny rabbits or something over there??

Originally posted by Chovy
reply to post by zazzafrazz

 

Well I was thinking about visiting austrailia, untill you scared the crap out of me. You know information like this might keep tourists away right?

Sure it's great to know what to avoid, but theres alot to avoid in austraila.

LOL Im starting to think that maybe thats seems like my motive, keep you all away!
But no, as I said, Ihave only had one friend bitten. The land dwellers hide, and the water dwellers we know which season and when to avoid them
Put it this way,
I swim in the beach almost daily, and I've never even had a blue bottle sting.

OOOoHHH!! Blue Bottles. How could we forget blue bottles!!!! Whilst no killer they hurt like hell when they sting you. I ve seen the whole beach covered in them when blown in. They come in swarms....lol
OK Ill stop scaring you now and start to post our Koalas n stuff.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b78fae009bef.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 5-10-2009 by zazzafrazz]

reply to post by JustMike

And to the OP: thanks for the thread, mate! If you get over to Prague let me know and I'll shout you one, okay?

I love Prague and will hold you to that! But tell me they import anything better than fosters lol!

reply to post by silver tongue devil

Um yeah. Can you just send all the cool Aussies to the States instead?

Been to a Hollywood awards ceremony lately?

reply to post by zazzafrazz


I'll star and flag you just for not posting a pic of that damn spider!!! LOL! I abhor spiders and spiders with fangs??? That's just pure insanity right there!

Great thread though, and I'm glad you included Steve. I love what he stood for and his death really got to me, but at least he died doing what he loved.

Honestly, still would have given you S&F, even if you had posted the spider, but I appreciate that you left it out! HA HA!

Great info on some amazing animals though!

Originally posted by tribewilder
Don't you guys have any bunny rabbits or something over there??

I've read that they do. Hundreds of Millions of the buggers. Another present from the old-country

[edit on 5-10-2009 by CRB86]

Originally posted by whatukno
Awesome thread zazz.

Other than that it was the rocks you had to watch out for.


But for your Aussie entertainment here is the American mountain man reaction to Austrailian wildlife.

The box jellyfish Ok here we have a gelatinous glob of goo that will kill you. Thanks for that god. What the hell is this thing? So forget swimming.

Salt Water Crocodile Not only will the jellyfish come and sting your ass, but then some giant mutant lizard is going to come, bite you, drag you down, roll you over a few dozen times, THEN eat you.

Blue Ring Octopus Ok someone tell me again why anyone goes in the water around Australia?

Stonefish Ok not only are your deadly marine wildlife freaking obvious but here's one that hides as a freaking rock!

Red back spider Ok this I can understand, spiders bad.

Brown Snake Ok a camouflaged snake. GREAT!

Tiger Snake It's not bad enough that it's a freaking snake but it's a mutant snake that is bread with a freaking TIGER!

Great White Shark Ok now I am convinced that all surfers and beachgoers in Australia are suicidal.

Funnelweb Spider I am amazed that anyone survives in Australia.

What have I learned today?

Australia is deadly and the only reason they promote tourism is to kill stupid people.

[edit on 10/5/2009 by whatukno]

OK that made me spit my coffee laughing. As I said I swim daily, never been bit.LOL
I should send these reactions to tourism Australa so they know what NOT to do for their next campaign.

Originally posted by CRB86

Originally posted by tribewilder
Don't you guys have any bunny rabbits or something over there??

I've read that they do. Hundreds of Millions of the buggers. Another present from the old-country

[edit on 5-10-2009 by CRB86]

Actually Rabbits are one of the number one pests introduced by stupid people to OZ, they have decimated the land for natural creatures, they are quite despised nothing fluffy about them!

reply to post by Pr0t0

"Because cone snails are slow-moving, they use a venomous harpoon in order to capture faster-moving prey such as fish. The venom of a few larger species is powerful enough to kill a human being."

Ah the cone shell, is one ofthe worst!!!! thanks for posting.

Foster's: Australian for tastes funny. haha

I really enjoyed this. Thank you.



[edit on 5-10-2009 by Dirk Gently]

Originally posted by OzWeatherman
Actually whote tail bites do not necessairly cause amputation of limbs. In fact the amputatuion of limbs from a white tail spider is extremely rare.

Its rare for anyone to get anything more than a painful red spot on their skin

And zazz, I would be more afarid of funnel webs rather than the white tail

I was bitten by a White Tail spider on my stomach (in bed!!!) in Christchurch New Zealand.
They've been here for a while and are the only spider (here) that I will willingly kill, though they are hard suckers. I've found boiling water to be the best. If you stamp on them they can just unfold themselves, the little buggers.
I had an itchy stomach for about 6 months, a spot about 3 cm x 8 cm raised about 3mm and now that area is sensitive to metals (belt buckles, jeans domes etc) and I can develop a rash.

I would be way more fearful of a Funnelweb spider though. I've heard they can pierce your toenail with their fangs

Oh, and congratulations on the Cricket you underarm buggers

[edit on 5-10-2009 by aorAki]

[edit on 5-10-2009 by aorAki]

reply to post by aorAki

I would be way more fearful of a Funnelweb spider though. I've heard they can pierce your toenail with their fangs

They can actually pierce a shoe soul (not like a thick sneaker soul) But never ever tread on a funnel web to kill it, cause you can get bitten that way, Hold the shoe on the end of a broom and squish.
OK sorry I know I shouldnt be telling people how to kill, but as Ive said from the start, childhood isssssuuuueeess with spiders esp funnels.

Originally posted by aorAki
Oh, and congratulations on the Cricket you underarm buggers

[edit on 5-10-2009 by aorAki]

I know that comment wont mean a lot to most people here, but i Lol'd

reply to post by believer81

god I love our killer animals. I just dont like finding them in my bedroom. Hmm.. the last one was a centipede that ran across my foot.

Yes our centrepeedes and millipedes are also venoumous...lol

Centipedes are venomous. Their two front legs have been modified into pincers to inject venom into prey, such as insects, slugs, worms and occasionally small lizards. Their venom is not especially toxic to humans. A sting usually results in only minor pain and swelling. In fact, centipedes are eaten in some cultures and are an important protein source. Poisons A poison is a toxic substance that must be eaten or absorbed through the skin to take effect. Bugs only use poisons for self-defence. They use it to either make themselves distasteful to a predator or to make the predator sick. Some poisonous bugs manufacture their poison inside their bodies, while others eat poisonous plants to obtain the required chemicals. Touching a poisonous bug may cause human skin to blister.

*****If the bug is ingested, it may cause death*******

Millipedes are poisonous. They are herbivores, or plant-eaters, and don't have venomous fangs. They cannot hurt you if you pick them up and handle them, but you would get very sick if you ate one. Some millipedes are capable of producing a toxic fluid, but generally the only effect of this fluid is an offensive smell.

museumvictoria.com.au...

[edit on 5-10-2009 by zazzafrazz]

Originally posted by zazzafrazz
reply to post by JustMike

 

And to the OP: thanks for the thread, mate! If you get over to Prague let me know and I'll shout you one, okay?

I love Prague and will hold you to that! But tell me they import anything better than fosters lol!

Well we have imports but why bother with them? The Czechs brew great beer. They've been at it a long time. Our oldest breweries date back to the 13th century. But even some of the more modern ones are pretty good, like Pilsener (from Plzen) and Budjeovice Budvar (from Ceska Budjeovice) -- copied in the US as Budweiser. Oh -- and prices... at our local pubs it's around 18 to 20 Czech Crowns for a half-litre of beer on tap. (One AUD is around 15 crowns. One USD about 17. So, a little over a dollar for a big glass.)

Beer is cheaper than soft drink in the pubs here. Not kidding.

Back on subject... No dangerous spiders here and only one dangerous snake. (An adder that's rather rare.) But back in Oz, the things that I really could never stand were the centipedes.

These are not just cute little things with lots of little legs that while away their time churning through mulch in the garden. Oh, no. These are HUMONGOUS, ornery, orange and brown striped things with bodies as wide as your little finger (at least) and three times as long, and which attack anything within range with their curved-dagger fangs that would do Alien justice and which drip venom as they open and close in their bright red heads while their huge antennae wave about as they try to track you.

I'd rather not post a pic. Some of you might be eating. Or planning to sleep eventually. But if you'd like to see a mug shot of one then just click on this link to a CSIRO web page with a pic of a centipede -- fangs-on.

Now, I did warn you...

By the way, they aren't deadly poisonous to humans. That's what scientists tell us and so it must be true. Doesn't mean you won't wind up in hospital if one bites you though. But it's not the venom. It's just the sheer horror of having a 10-inch-long multi-coloured multi-legged thing sinking it massive fangs into you. I knew a kid at school who had one of these sweet predators of bugs run up his leg and bite him on the thigh.

Screams. Panic. Collapse. Shock. Ambulance. Hospital.

I never saw him again, actually. Don't know why. I guess he went to another school. In another part of the country, most likely.

But just for a little light relief, if anyone wants to read about some true joys of the non-Australian bug world (so you know that not all the bad bugs are "Down Under"), then check out this non-ATS thread entitled The Five Most Horrifying Bugs in the World

Warning: some "f-words" are used in the descriptions, and in addition the videos are a bit graphic and hence might not suitable for minors or people who are eating or planning to sleep eventually. If you are put off by f-words or would rather not know what joys of mother nature may yet be laying in wait to drop onto you from a tree, then don't read the linked page.

Otherwise... enjoy!

Regards,

Mike

Edit. I forgot to include "ambulance".

I shall now have a drink...


[edit on 5/10/09 by JustMike]

reply to post by CRB86

Oz sounds crazy though. Is there another country with as much stuff that can kill you? No wonder we used it as a prison for 200 years!

You cheeky minx.
Oh it was a penal colony for a few dacdes...not the last 200 years..PPffft.
We have alot of aussies with no convict heritage, I mean alot, most in fact are immigrant heritage. Like my folks
Limey Poms!

[edit on 5-10-2009 by zazzafrazz]

reply to post by JustMike



See this is strange evolotion, why does a creature need a thousand legs
can't it slide or just use 2 like the rest of us. I'll allow it 8 legs max, but nore more.

I was bitten by one a large bullant in the bush one day and that stung for quite a while for me anyway. I remember visiting Tassie around the lake near that large mountain (forget what it's called now) and was attacked by these darn large flies biting me all the time, had to get away from them quick smart, stopped me from lookin around.

There are those ants and sand flies that give you a bit of a peck too, their annoying for me.

Of course our fruit bats (as my mum calls them) if you get bitten by one of them your in trouble as they carry rabbies. Wild life volunteers have to get a shot first for that.

Plenty of times I have been driving in the car only to find one of those big huntsman crawling across the windscreen, they can get huge as you know and they can jump too, but it is the white tail and wolfs that worry me because they venom can be necrotizing.

We also have the ticks down here as well. One of them got into a friend's hair and started boring into their skull. Another friend had problem with their ear and went to the doctor only for him to find a little spider roaming around in there.

Country people born and bred get somewhat undeterred by a lot when they really should. I remember someone getting bit by a redback and said ah don't worry about it, I'll be alright until someone noticed his pupils enlarging and his pulse racing then took him to hospital.

Any more................I forget now.