kiwichild

Yeh Geckos are cute. Would love to have a couple as pets

Pollyana

it becomes second nature to shake clothes out, and tap your boots before you put them on, but you WILL cope. Believe me, I'm no great spider lover, and I hated leaving it in the bathroom not knowing where it would go...... but it lives here, its harmless, and it eats them roaches. Wait till you've met them, you'll love anything that kills them.

First one of those I met landed on my keyboard,in the dark one night. Bondipom had them breeding in his keyboard. They ARE scum. 6 inch long flying sods!

And yes, redback bites can kill, but I don't think anyone has died for ,many years, and there are lots of anti-venom things available. Just get treatment quick.

kiwichild

Just look at it this way: 20 million people live here and very few die or are otherwise seriously inconvenienced by these things.

Paul and Chloe

Just to help the therapy along I managed to find this...

http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_sp...parassidae.htm

Where was it you were thinking of moving too...

ub40fan

"The thing to do is remember they are harmless, just big, and they eat things that are nasty - like roaches."

If this is the case, get me a dozen spiders, any sort - don't care, really really can't cope with roaches. It's the fact that they can fly that freaks me out big time. I lived in Hong Kong for 3 1/2 yars and they still scared the hell out of me when we saw one at Christmas in Perth. Spiders don't worry me now and I used to have palpitations at money spiders!!

At the age of 5 my oldest knew where we kept the "spider polish", Baygon to you and me, and used to fetch it regularly for me on hearing my strangled screams and a shout of his name!!

Oh well, at least roaches can't bite you, or can they?, not that I plan on getting close enough to find out.

ooh just thinking about them gives me goosebumps. Going to have to do something nice now to take my mind of the subject. Hmm where did my copy of Arachnopobia go?.........

kiwichild

Those pics are enough to send potential migrant to NZ instead!

Pollyana

Exactly. That yappy dog down the road that barks from 9pm to 3am every other night causes me far more grief than any spider (So far!)

Pollyana

Not been bitten by one but they carry germs etc, and they fly at you, into your face, just like the Hong Kong ones. Make me jittery, and they do still make me scream unlike spiders. We have 3 cans of roach surface-spray in the house so I can grab one wherever I am. I admit it, I hate them, and its largely cos they are so germridden.

kiwichild

My understanding is flies carry far more germs than roaches. Incidentally in all my life in NZ I never once saw a cockroach.

Pollyana

Maybe they are banned from there, like St Patrick banned snakes from Ireland?

ub40fan

Maybe I need to rethink my destination then, or perhaps wear a hat with a net on it all the time. Hmm, that could be an improvement. Won't bother me what I look like, cos I won't be the one looking at it. Hee Hee

JayDeee

MMM do you get the flies over east like up here in Gero, We have thousands of the bastards. they are ALMOST more anoying than wasps were in the UK.

Honestly whe in the Uk I was really realy scared of spiders and I realy am not anymore, there are much more annoying insects to worry about like Flying roaches, they realy are scary,the the crawling or should I say scurrying cockroach, they are the worse closely followed by the mossies/sandflies who feast on you day and nighth no matter how much spray you put on or how many candles you light (my legs look fabulous from the scars and scabs) then the flies

spiders kill all of the above so they have to be your friends

Kala

kiwichild

No snakes there either. he must have paid a visit on his holidays or something and decided to clean it up as well

and now for a soothing, refreshing cuppa vanilla tea

Pollyana

Flies aren't as bad here as they are said to be over in the West (thank goodness).
I am now off to bed, and have drunk too much wine cos of celebrating finding a new house (hopefully with no roaches) - so the best pic I can find is in a post of Dolly Daydreams on this thread....

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272532

wish they looked that friendly!

kiwichild

Im in Perth and while I don't mind daddy long legs the rest I cant handle(cos they can bite).

Older places seem to have more of a cockroach problem. I can never get rid of the buggers (mainly the small german ones), no matter how often i spray or put cockroach bombs down.

I did hear an old remedy for them, must try it I heard it works well.

Mix half flour and half plaster of paris with a little water and leave around where they hangout, in little trays.
Another hint: keep a few slices of cucumber under you sink/in cupboards till it dries out. then replace. Apparently they cant stand it.