Pine Cone

So, I'm not scared of spiders and bugs. We get white tails in NZ and they don't bother me personally....I'll happily chuck them out of the window while most people I know go running out of the room screaming and return with a can of bug spray. Overkill IMO

However, I'm slightly more concerned about the poisonous and biting nasties and am wondering whether there is a very real danger to my children who are too young to understand caution, or are the perception of bites and stings worse than the reality in everyday life.

So are spiders etc a problem in Aussie homes in cities or only in the sticks? If these are a threat, how do you deal with it? Someone here in Christchurch mentioned to me that they don't like chemicals in their home so instead they got the outside of their house sprayed twice a year when they lived in Oz, but they couldn't remember how much it cost.

Also when you moved to Oz, how did you educate yourself about what's dangerous and whats not. Did you carry around a guidebook, or did you find yourself googling everything? What about teaching children? Are there any sort of educational programmes either in schools/playgroups or open to the general public.

Lastly, are there any areas of the country which are worse than others for poisonous and biting nasties?

James516

You'll be fine. No more than 30% of kids die before the age of 5 in Oz from snakes, spiders, crocs, sharks etc so the odds are on your side.

jothefw

We're in the sticks and we wouldn't notice them in our everyday life.

We get white tips, red backs and huntsman. Apparently there's snakes, browns and tiger but I think it's probably 3 years since I've seen one, although you'll occasionally see them on the road, sunbathing!

We spray the outside of our house, about every 6-9 mths and we do it ourselves.

Don't get me wrong, when we first moved over I was checking nightly under the kids bedding etc but reality is that you begin to "know" where they are more likely to be. ie Redbacks like the underside of trough lids etc - these aren't high traffic areas for my little boys fingers!

Pine Cone

DeadVim

Indeed, it's just a natural weeding-out process to ensure that all adults are the toughest Oz can produce.

Apart from the cricket team.

fish.01

Losing to the poms and then putting up with their excessive gloating when they win something is part of the advanced course - Ponting will soon be part of our elite

DeadVim

Now there is a man who should have met more stingrays as a kid ... but if he did then the current cause for amusement would not be happening ... so ...

Alfresco

Be more worried about anything driving a Ford Falcon or Holden with low profile tyres on.





Sorry if I offend anyone here.

Pollyana

Has anyone noticed less geckoes this year? Landlord is too tight to fit flyscreens, but the last couple of years I've had no problems with flies/moths etc as I've had several tame geckoes doing the housekeeping overnight This year I only have one distinctly weedy gecko roaming the place and he really isn't the same high standard as last years staff!
I just wondered if its a local thing or if other people have noticed a gecko-population downturn......?

Safin

They must have headed north Polly, Ours are more frequent and mammoth sized this year. And thats in 2 different hosues

Pollyana

That's it then, they've all gone north on holiday

ozzieeagle

I would honestly say you wont have a problem. The only issue we ever get is with White tails, around late autumn usually, and thats in clothing left on the floor. We've probably had 4 or 5 encounters with them in 20 years... no known bites. Lets put it this way, you tend to remember the encounter, and stop leaving your clothes on the floor for a while... then you forget, which means you wake up and think... Oh Sheet my jeans are on the floor and give them a bit of a shake and a look, which is when you tend to rarely find them.... The Encounters only seem to happen in Autumn though. We tend to baygon the room with surface spray when that happens.

I will admit you do occasionally end up with some kind of unspecified insect bite, which could be a unusually bad reaction to a mosquito, or a real spider bite. (or other mystery insect ?) We've only ever had swelling and the odd blister reaction, along with a bit of pain.... probably once every 3 - 5 years for that one.... maybe less

Wasp and Bee stings are really a lot worse and probably more common.

Alfresco

We have loads still.

LINZI

We hardly saw any creepy crawlies in Mackay Queensland but since being here in Maitland New South Wales a fair few !!
We spray inside and outside of the house. We just look up on the internet if we see something new.

ProudVIC

One of the worst insects that are commonly found in the south east of the country are the bull ants, particularly the 'jumpjacks'.

There are a certain amount of people who die from severe allergic reactions to stings from these ants, I think it's something like 60 a year from memory, so really they're a far worse danger than any snakes and spiders are.

Many people, in Victoria and Tasmania in particular, have been stung at some stage. I've been stung a handful of times in my life and they cause your heart to race, you feel dizzy, break out in a bit of a cold sweat and generally feel a bit sick for an hour or so. Many people break out in hives and some people get an anaphylactic reaction that can kill.

Aside from these ants, most people really don't have too many problems with any other sort of insect or animal, no more than just a nuisance anyway.