TraceyW

O.k, I admit, I am seriously scared of the spiders/snakes over in Oz... this is not helped when I read threads about thudding spiders on duvets and deadly snakes slithering around the lawn!!

I have two young kiddies and I am scared stupid they will be out in the garden and get bitten. They aren't too familiar with deadly beasties in the back yard!

How realistic a problem is this? I have contacts in northern Perth and they've never seen a snake ( a couple of ex-snakes on the road side) and only a couple of spiders in the 10 years they've lived there.

Do the people who have written on the thread about spiders and snakes live in the bushland or close to marshes??

Has anyone, in the last 20 years or so, actually died as a result of a bite from these beasts? Surely if it was that bad.... no bugger would live there... let alone want to emigrate there!!!!

Caroline G

Where are you thinking of going in Oz?

TraceyW

Anywhere the spiders and snakes aren't!!!

Probably Perth but Adelaide is in the running too.

Also hubby has come up with NZ, so basically we are not completely sure yet.

Why, do you know something about more people being bitten in certain areas????

Tracey

jayr

I live close to creek and bush and have never seen a snake on the loose. I think I've only seen one redback. I know they are out there, but in nearly a year I still haven't seen any. I actaully am now eagerly(ish) awaiting my first snake encounter. You will soooo get used to it that you won't care within three months.

MrsDagboy

Australia is inundated with snakes & spiders, nowhere is safe! Its a big like the Medusa thing whenever you look under the house or in the crawl space, snakes everywhere .......

And the spiders weave huge massive webs across your doors to the outside, so when you walk out of the house you get caught up in them & then they drop on your head & bite you if you arent quick enough to hit them.

And we havent even started telling you about the flies & the poisonous jellyfish/stonefish/blueringed octopus in the water yet!

downunderpom

Mind you, it does have its positive side - if you need a skipping rope you just pick up three (fairly long) snakes off the street, and stick the fangs of one into the tail of another....

Spiders are useful, too. I just borrow a few of those door-wide webs and use those instead of tarps on my trailer....

RichS

I live in Sydney. The chances of seeing a snake here are pretty slim (in the more urban areas).
We have had redbacks round the house (outside I mean) - I'm not bothered by them, and the kids are just told not to touch spiders.
The funnel web is a worry, but not in very dry areas as it won't live longer than 90 minutes away from the damp. We live in sandy soiled area near the beach.
From day to day I don't ever ever think about these things. It really isn't worth it.
Perth will probably have a higher chance of a snake encounter. Adelaide I believe less so.

jayr

Mrs D, you ARE in an amusing mood today! I understand your frsutrations, put a different name to your posts today and you'd be called a Whinging Pom by the Land of Milk and Honey brigade - i.e. those who think Australia is fantastic after a two week holiday in 1989 and despite going through an immigration process are still asking whether sweets are on sale in Australia or believe it would be much better if only there was an Asda and all the biting things weren't here!

PeteY

I found huntsman spiders useful as paperweights, and used a stumpy lizard as a loofa...

Pollyana

Asda? You mean there isn't one? No wonder I'm hungry, I've spent 10 days looking for an Asda, seems I've been wasting my time.........is there somewhere else that sells food?

I love that, Downunderpom....wonderful image it conjures up!!!!

MrsDagboy

Nope Polly, the only way to get food to Australia (because its, as yet, an undeveloped nation, just ask jayr ) is by slow boat via China, so by the time things get here, the wheats full of weevils, the chooks have gone off the lay & the cows dried up.

So no bread & dripping for YOU!

ziggy

I have lived in Perth along the coastal towns and cities. Also in Melbourne city too.

I have seen maybe 2 snakes in my life. One was a baby dugite outdoors, and the other was at my primary school (didnt actually see this one, it was the excitement of the school that day, the gardener killed it and burnt it in the incinerator)

Seen heaps of Daddy Long Leg spiders, and maybe 2 redbacks outdoors, and a heap of unknown spiders outdoors too. But you dont go touching them or poking them, just smash them with a shoe!

And just cos you cant see them, doesnt mean they are not there!!

jayr

Salt beef rations and a nip of rum is what they eat here and scurvy is rife due to lack of vitamin C on the long voyage on the good ship Qantas!

downunderpom

You mean you're not into the bushtucker yet??!! SHAME on you!

Jirrupin

Hi Tracey these figures might help place your mind at rest.

Snake Bites:
Each year in Australia approximately 2,000 people are bitten. Of these 200 require antivenom treatment and one bite proves fatal. Actually in this country one to two fatalities is average. In the 22 years to December 2001, 37 deaths have, in part, been attributed to snakebite in Australia.

Box Jellyfish:
60 deaths from box jellyfish in tropical Australia over the last century. Ratio ofstings to fatalities is about 10 to 1.

Funnel web Spider:
Prior to the introduction of Sydney funnel web antivenom in 1980, there had been 13 known fatalities associated with bites from this spider. Since the antivenom has been in use, no deaths have been recorded, and time spent by bite victims in hospital has been greatly reduced.

Shark attack:
A study has found sharks killed more people in Australia last year than anywhere else in the world. A report (2001) released by the International Shark Attack File has also found Australia had the second-highest number of attacks. Seventy-nine shark attacks, 10 of them fatal, were reported around the world last year, the highest number in the four decades records have been kept.

Of the fatal attacks, three occurred in Australia, two in Tanzania, and one each in Fiji, Japan, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and the United States. The file of shark attacks since 1958 is compiled at the University of Florida. Last year, the United States had 51 attacks, followed by Australia with seven, South Africa with five, and the Bahamas with four.

Human Deaths in Australia Between 1980-1990, Inclusive (from Stevens & Paxton, 1992)

Activity Total Deaths Average/Year

Crocodile Attacks 8 *** 0.7

Shark Attacks 11 ** 1

Lightning Strikes 19 * 1.7

Bee Stings 20 * 1.8

Scuba Diving Accidents 88 **** 8

Drownings/Submersions 3367 * 306

Motor Vehicle Accidents 32772 * 2979


I hope this puts any concerns in perspective