UKDave

My wife is rather worried about the seemingly large number of deadly creatures roaming free throughout the land,and just how often she may be bumping into one of them.
Can anyone relax her fears (or make them worse)?

rday

check this out,we've had hours of fun with this thread

http://britishexpats.com/forums/show...light=beasties

Mandy Bale

Hi,

We've been living near Sydney now for 4 months and we are yet to see any dangerous spiders or snakes. Most of the spiders we see are the normal house spiders/daddy longleg type (which aparantly eat the Redbacks so we like those!), and the huge garden spiders which are harmless. Just got to remember to check before you stick your hand in the letter box or in any other hole!!

We've had the odd cockroach in the house, which totally freaked me out, (cereal is now kept in Tupperware type containers!) but nothing a size 7 trainer couldn't sort out!!!

Mandy

dotty

I know this subject is posted a lot. However most aussies are living in housing estates not in the Bush. The main horror in suburbia is the redback spider which does love human junk in garages etc. So spray a couple of times a year and get rid of all junk piles. Snakes are often seen in Queensland but as far as I know only two types try toattack you the rest simply want to hide. I doubt if as many as two people a year would die from a snake bite. Anti.venom also available. Spider death is rare, that Funnelweb is in NSW but we were camping there and info indicated about one death average a year. Probably in other words, the Nasties in Australia actually kill less people than red buses do in London. Dont worry. Stingers and jelly fish on beaches would certainly cause more deaths but still in single figures per annum. Check types of stingers in areas you live, (mainly a problem in the hotter climes). Drowning I would say is a big killer here, people just dont understand the beaches. The water is very dangerous, only ever swim in a patrolled area. If you see a snake quietly walk away. Its odd to think that thousands of people die from Sun Cancer related illness a year but its the one or two deaths a year from "Nasties" that is actually scaring people. If you want to be safe in Australia check out Sun Safety and Beach Safety, they are far more likely to kill than any old snake. Strange but very true.

Johnny Boy

It amazes me how much bad press our cute cuddly little huntsman gets. I haven't seen
anyone mention anything about our "bird-eating spider" (aka "whistling spider"). Now
THAT is a spider! About the size of a large rodent, with a similar look to a
tarantula (but obviously much bigger), and get this - they bark! Like a small dog!
Even outback-hardened Queenslanders get the willys when they discover one of these on
the bathroom wall!

Gotta love this place! John

"rday" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > check this out,we've had hours of fun with this thread
    >
    > http://britishexpats.com/forums/show...=79966&highli-
    > ght=beasties
    >
    >
    >
    > --

rday

eeeeeek
rday

wannabee sheila

Hi
We travelled around for 12 months and only came across the odd huntsman (huge and hairy but harmless) and a few squashed snakes. We also did rainforest walks and didn't see anything scary, But IT probably saw us and ran a mile.:scared:

UKDave

Thanks for all the info.
I think my wife just has to realise that size doesn't matter!!!

Anon E Mouse

Go see Steve Irwin's Crocodile Hunt for a real *nice* spider "Geeze, look at this beaut...Now thats a spider, fangs bigger than any Oz snake....Just check out that venom on the stick, WHOOO!!!"

Crap story, fantastic otherwise....

Mouse
P.S. Dont you just love Steve? He da man!

tipper

you should worry more about biker gangs it seams, humans are far more scarry than insects and spiders.
good job im a biker ha ha .
tipper.

Chris

"UKDave" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My wife is rather worried about the seemingly large number of deadly creatures
    > roaming free throughout the land,and just how often she may be bumping into one of
    > them. Can anyone relax her fears (or make them worse)?

Average life expectancy is a good place to start.

Chris