pabloako

Has anyone been bitten by a nasty thing?

We fly out to Oz in a couple of weeks and I will be armed with my 'Dangerous Creatures Of Australia' book. Has anyone been bitten by spiders, snakes, ants, people...?

What are the common ones to look out for?
Does anyone have any photo's of the little monsters?

PeteY

I think brisbane seems to be a bit of a safe haven when it comes to nasties.

Redbacks....you do get them, but nowhere near as common as furthur down south and west. They prefer an arid environment.

Whitetails....Again....you do get them, but they prefer the cooler climate down south.

Sydney funnels.....rare this far north, more common in central/southern NSW

Northern tree funnels......you do get them more commonly in bris area, but generally don't like people or houses. I expect most on here hav'nt seen one.

Bluebottles (portugese Man O War) You do get them occasionally on the beaches....more common down south.

Salties......not this far south.

Box jellies/Stingers.....Not this far south.


The only thing bris seems to get quite a few of are snakes. Now i've never lived in Bris, so i can't really say how commonly you see them. Most snakes are pretty timid however, so if you see one, leave it be and it probably won't chase u round the garden. There are a few exceptions to this rule though, like king browns (which ar'nt common in urban areas anyway), and tigers, which you rarely see outside of taz.

pete.

tinaj

I knew there was another good reason why I was heading this way!!

Where do you get that Nasties of Aus book from then?

mr mover

8 inch long green and gold centerpede ,it got in my sleeping bag ,and i rolled on it, very painful burning feeling, swelling around bite, and a bit of nausea for a couple of hours.. but apart from that no Worries........... MM

Simone

My dad was bitten while he was sleeping by 'something' while we were on a short holiday in Cape Levique (in the middle of nowhere, in the Kimberley's, WA).
We were staying in a holiday cabin with open windows/doors. He went straight to the person in charge there(don't think it was a doctor, not sure) and he thought it was either a scorpion or a snake!! Luckily my dad wasn't poisoned! And we never found out what it was.......

BUT: we lived in Oz for nine years, including city/country/outback/desert and that was all any of us was bitten by.
I have seen a few snakes(tiger, brown, other), redbacks and nearly stepped on an octopuss once, don't know if it was dangerous.
And of course we had Huntsman spiders in our house, but they just look scary!

Anyway, hope I'm not putting anyone off! I'm not putting myself off, but I know there's not really anything to worry about! But you do have to be carefull, but that's all.

reevsie

bitten by something nasty...mmm....the wife last night!!!

sally1968

Yes!!!!

When I was a toddler (about 2 I think) I was bitten on the botty by a red back!!:scared:

Luckily it was only a baby one so (obviously! ) I'm still here to tell the tale.

Sally

Ceri

I've never been bitten by a spider (been here 6 years and have plenty of contact with them), ants yes (they just sting that's all).. those big black ones sting the most.. feels like a sharp needle to me.

There are lots of redbacks (and various other spiders) here in Brisbane. Last house I was in I always removing their (redbacks)webs in the garage, spraying them. The house I'm in now I haven't seen one yet.
White tails - I 've never seen one in all my time in Aus (I've lived both in Newcastle NSW and here in Brisbane)
Wolf spiders - I've got hundreds where I live now (well it seems like hundreds ! guaranteed each night I will see one in the house) , and yet for the past 6 years in Aus I've never seen them before. I'm always chucking them out of the house.

I suppose it's where you live.. Ie concrete jungle, or bushland, semi rural etc.. not what state/city you live in.

Huntsmen - very common where I live (but not nasty) ... I leave them be. they will run away when you put your hand next to them, I can vouch for that.

There are plenty of spider sites on the net . Or when you get here, just walk into a bookshop there are heaps of books on spiders and snakes available
here

If your sensible you should not have a prob... kids are different, they are more curious than adults and are more likely to pick up a snake or a spider - very young children.

Both myself and Hubby are totally different when it comes to precautions. Me I always shake shoes out before putting them on, I don't even have to think about it. Hubby never checks his shoes.. I keep telling him that one day there's going to be a spider in one of them, and also leaves his clothes on the floor (arggh!) . Both of us have never been bitten.
I'm the one who "picks" up spiders (when I mean pick, capture them in a glass to chuck outside), Hubby never bothers, he leaves it to me.. I'm sure he's a bit scared of them but won't admit it (he sort of jumps like a girl when he sees one lol) . So I have more contact with spiders than hubby. I've never been bitten.

I never walk bare footed across grass like you see a lot of people doing here. If I'm nipping outside I slip on a pair of flip flops (I hate the word thongs)
Most people will never see a snake (you'd be surprised at the amount of Australians who haven't seen one)
Most people will never see a dangerous spider (bar the odd redback)

It depends where you will be living.. if you live next to bush, be prepared for a few spiders and snakes. If you live in the city, or in a suburban housing estate.. ie with not much bush, you'll be lucky to see a snake.
Most common big spider you'll come across in the Brisbane region - is the Huntsman, nothing to be scared of.

Then you have the other spiders l(the web builders) like the orb -they stay outside.. again nothing to be scared of.

Snakes.. we've had a few, but we are next to bushland. nothing to be scared of... the majority of people who get bitten by snakes are people who have attacked the snake.. ie with a garden rake etc (most snakes will not attack you if you leave them alone.. they will slither out of your way) , the other few are bushwalkers who have put their floor (edit.. I mean foot! lol. god I talk weird.. I just noticed my mistake) directly on top of the snake. The death adder is one which will not move out of your way, it sits below leaf litter and you can basically put your foot right on top of it (PS I've never come across a death adder)

Don't worry about it.. Just buy a few books when you get here, identification guides. You may never see anything dangerous - it depends on your lifestyle, where you'll be living and what you do in your spare time.


cheers

P.S It's only the female redback that is the dangerous one - the male's fangs are too small to do any real damage - it can't penetrate your skin (the male is tiny)

dotty

Redbacks are very common on Sun Coast and in Brisbane. We lost a tennis ball down the gutter, you know those little white pipes that let the excess water out into the street, they have hundreds of redbacks living in them. Plus seen plenty in garage situations, they live in the junk, just spray every three months and it kills them.

You do hear of the odd spider bite or snake bite, but its not a problem if you are near a hospital, they have anti venom potions nowdays, just try to get a look at what bit you.

We see probably half a dozen snakes a year at home, sand dunes at Kawana and Mooloolaba make me look carefully, I had no idea snakes hung out there till I saw a 5 foot black one.

Cant say after a few years you really think about it, you just take a look into boots, wood piles before you prod around.

Last time all this stuff came up, I asked my husband to remove the two huntsman spiders that live in our upper level, he just refused saying why kill something that eats mozzies that carry disease. So still have a 4 inch huntsman and its partner living up there.

Far more disgusting are the 2 inch cockies that get in the old houses here, and flies, well they would drive me out of OZ no doubt at all.

PeteY

We stayed in Susans uncles house, which is on Sunshine beach, and i was GOBSMACKED at the size and speed of the cockroaches. 2inches? Seemed more like 6 lol

He says he has had the pest people in a few times, but they can't do much about it as he has cats and they get attracted to the smell of the catfood? Its a very clean house so i guess most people in the area have the same problem?