I read a whole bunch of stories about the snakes, spiders, and scary things in Australia and my wife is completely freaked out about moving there...can anyone on this forum tell me about an experience where they were actually bit by a snake or spider and how it turned out? Do people die or get seriously injured? I'm doubtful, but it may put my wife's mind at ease to find out that the hype is overblown.

My husband's cousin was bitten by a brown snake a few years back when she was pregnant with her second child. She was lucky as the bite was through jeans and it only just broke the skin. Both she and child were completely fine, and she even jokes now that her daughter can speak parseltongue.

She's the only person I know personally who's experienced this, and my husband comes from a large(ish) family spread across the country (many in rural areas).

have a read of this mate
http://www.outback-australia-travel-...us_snakes.html

That's a great article. Thanks for sharing it. I loved it. I am going to print it out and make my wife read it...Parceltoungue...that's a good one...I'm gonna use it with the kids.

I was bitten by a red back, twice on the back of both legs. Felt a bit unwell and my legs were so swollen that I thought that my skin was actually going to burst, It was painful but not the worst thing I have ever felt.

Just had to take antihistamines and rest for a couple of days. The hospital told me that the spider had most probably been a baby because if it had been an adult with that many bites, I may have been in a little more trouble, but it was never likely to kill me, just quite sick.

I hate spiders with a fiery passion though.

Hi
Your wife sounds like me 12 months ago..
Presumably if she is worried you wont be renting a house in acerage straight away...
We live in a suburb of brisbane - in 7 months we have had one smallish huntsman in - imagine how many spiders you see inside in the uk in 7 months!!! I have seen a few out and about but not bothering me- you get used to large orb spiders in trees as they never move & seem to have disappeared in the cooler weather(though i dont walk far at night!!!) houses are sprayed and check yours has been before you move in.. I have not yet seen a redback??!!??
As for snakes we have seen one dead on up mount warning... Again i presume you wont be actively walking through long grass & bush.
I think anyone who is phobic will like me take active precaution - i feel far better about it all now and would even rent a house backing onto a nature reserve.
As for those bloomin ant bites & sandflies..... They are a force to be reckonned with

You're in the US right? So, I've read a whole bunch of stories about people being mugged at gunpoint, carjacked, and serial killers in US and am completely freaked out about going there. Can you tell me about your experience with this?


Same thing mate. It's rare you're going to run into a carjacker/mugger/serial killer in the US and just as rare you're going to be killed by a snake or spider here.

Take note of the dry bite thing. Most snakes will try to get away. They often do a dry bite as a warning. They don't want to waste their expensive venom on something they can't eat. Even with venom death is not certain. For example with a copperhead you have a 11% death rate if not treated.

So far in 7 years I've seen 1 copperhead, 1 tiger and 1 unknown (the car in front ran over it) outside of a zoo.

With spiders, redbacks are not much to worry about. Not sure about Sydney Funnel Webs.

Box jellyfish sound really scary but we don't get those down here.

The thing that you will most likely get bitten by is a bull-ant. They are usually aggressive and will come for you regardless of your size.

Never even seen a snake in 6 years let alone been bitten by one.

My youngest was bitten by a whitetail spider. Nasty ulcerated bite which took a few weeks to go away, she felt OK in herself though.

Dorothy-

The question was mainly for my wife. I am not worried about it in the least bit, but she keeps bringing it up...all of those cable TV shows on dangerous animals has affected her I assume. I just wanted to throw it out there and see what responses I got...the link posted earlier was terrific. I don't understand this type of phobia very well, but clearly people get freaked out about it and real information/experiences help put worries to rest. Thanks for your input.

Just show her this. It might put her at ease

I was knobbled by something whilst trimming some bushes at home. The bite was about 15 mm across so assuming it was a snake, never saw it. Hurt like a bastard and my forearm was swollen for a few days, stupidly i did'nt go to hospital but thankfully i was ok...

A friend of a friend stopped to help a brown snake that had been run over, it turned and bit him...he was in a very bad way for a while after that....

Be careful not to draw conclusions from the stories in this thread as the selection bias is clear. Those that are strong survive to tell you that the spiders and snakes won't kill you. The weak perish, alone and miles from help, and we never hear their stories...

No I'm just kidding. The spiders and snakes won't kill you. No really, its all good. Really.

Australians love to terrify foreigners with tails of the deadly creatures that live on this continent. We see a few snakes every year, but they usually quickly run off to get away from humans. There are a few simple rules that you live by, especially in rural areas or in bush/parks in metro areas. We have bush at the end of the road, so there are dugites around in our area, but they tend to stay in the bush and not venture into gardens. Areas with swamps, lakes or rivers are more likely to get tiger snakes. None of us have been bitten by a snake, not even my OH who has spent most of his life in Perth.

Of the 4 of us, I am the only one to have been bitten by a spider (redback) on the back of my leg. It was sore and swollen for several days, but I didn't need the anti-venom, even though I have allergic reactions to insect bites. I am an Olympic standard arachnophobe and always have been. We get the outside of the house treated to deter spiders from crossing the threshold. Again, there are some simple rules to follow to avoid redback bites, especially for outside items such as furniture, toys, sandpits, etc.

Yup, I've been bitten by a spider, in the groin of all places ... it happened when I went for a leak in the bushes. It was rather nasty and took a while to completely go.

Oh, in Oz? No, this was in the UK ...

We see plenty of snakes around here, you learn to be alert (the country needs lerts) and live with them.

We also had a load of Redback spiders in the shed but they were soon dealt with inhumanly ...

To say there is no danger isn't true but I'd say there was more risk of mortal harm on the commute given local driving standards.