iPom

Pair of sunglasses on backwards usually does it. I noticed a bit of agro behaviour from a magpie yesterday whilst in the village...

manxfamily

I take it your not scared of spiders, or you are just really brave!! I am terrified of seeing one in the house, not only that the first day we moved into our rental I saw the biggest cockroach, I was a mess!!! The pest guy has been but still catching a glimpse of the odd one and there not little by any means!!! :scared:

I don't think I have slept since I moved in, the wine and beer helps but you can't drink and drive

JaneandJim

Jim had his head split open by a magpie on Karana Downs Golf Club a couple of years ago. It aimed directly at the little gap in the back of his cap. He saw the "Beware of magpie sign" afterwards.

A snake dropped off the back of my car at my feet on the first day of term last year. It wooshed off onto the underside of the car so I had to drive it to school.

Jane

jayr

Hopefully you'll be used to them in time for the summer. We get cockroaches coming up in the drains in our bathroom. The alrgest I have ever seen (maybe 4 inches) was in the garage of the house the day we moved in.

When (or if) the summer rains come it seems all the wildlife moves indoors. A couple of years back we had roaches under the fridge, moths in the pantry, ants living inside the coffee table, giant huntsman in the bedroom.

I think I've only ever seen one live redback though I presume they are just inches away as I sit in the backyard.

I'm more concerned about being stung on the foot by an ant or standing on bindis than I am about spiders and snakes.

jayr

Friend of mine was eating a snag outdoors. Kookaburra swooped down to take it and pierced right through his lip!

iPom

I am scared of them, but I also know that I have to live here and part of living here is getting on with the wildlife. I didn't sleep well for a while either but I actually put a torch by my bed so if I get up in the night, I'm confident I can walk through the house without being scared of treading on anything. Might help you to do that.
I vacuum in all the right places and keep an eye out. Other than that, live and let live.

Cockroaches are a pain but you can deal with them by getting baits that they go through and take a bacteria back to the nest (I hate the word 'nest' when we're talking about roaches) which kills off the whole lot. You need to change the baits regularly otherwise they lose their effectiveness.
You can get outdoor spray too which you can put around all entry points.
Clear around your house of leaf litter too. Roaches like it as it provides good cover. Rake well and brush the area. Put baits under your house if you think there's a prob there too.
Don't have a log pile too close to the house.
Keep your brushes and garden implements up and out of the way in a shed.
Don't put damp mops away - dry it out first.
Put bait under your dishwasher, oven and fridge.
Don't leave food sources out in your kitchen and dry up all water and if you're really paranoid, leave your plugs in overnight, because they come up the drains.

And once you've done all that, come to the point that you've done everything you possibly can and try to come to terms with it. You need to learn to be pragmatic otherwise you're never going to sleep again and that's no way to enjoy life is it? Didn't you come for improved quality of life?

The longer you're here, the more you'll relax and just bash the ones you see over the head.

iPom

That's a point. Don't leave your windows open in your car once you're out of it. And if you have, do check that your sun visor hasn't got a spider behind it. Driving my MIL's car a couple of years back and one dropped down from behind it, into my lap. I was all over the road.

JaneandJim

Ow.

iPom

The reassuring statistic is that you're only ever one metre away from a spider in Australia at any one time ever.

manxfamily

Thanks for the advice, I am sure I will get used to it, like you said quality of life is paramount.

Apart from the beasties I do love the Aussie life I wouldn't even contemplate going back to the Isle of Man, its only been 5 weeks so things will only get better and better.

jayr

You mean it's following me?

iPom

I've been here since Easter. I am now brave and getting better each day. You'll be ok. It's a mental switch over from living in the uk I am sure. If you think we never have to think about anything there apart from wasp stings (which is what a spider bite feels like, btw) to living here where we have to consider the beasties. (more people die of wasp and bee stings in UK than spider in Aus) Some people can't ever switch over I think, to feeling that comfort but most do. You'll be ok... just give it time and you'll realise in a couple of months that when you're sure of your environment, you'll start to chill a bit.
You're in a brand new environment - it's natural to feel uncomfortable with it... That's your instinct protecting you.

iPom

Absolutely. All the time.

jayr

I just turned around and a large huntsman quickly hid. It was wearing sunglasses (4 pairs) so it's either disguising itself or preparing for magpie swooping.

iPom

Are you sure it's not an American spyder?


The FBI have just opened an office in Sydney.