Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

You would need a lot on a skewer to make it worthwhile though. Maybe if I tried it it would put me off eating for a while and maybe help the weight loss campaign!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

The fear is far greater then the reality, no one has been killed by a spider bite in OZ since the 1950's , 2 or 3 people are killed by snakes a year and in most of these case the people caused the snake to attack by trying to pick up the snake or kill it themselves. Another 5 people are killed by sharks and crocs and year, another 2 or 3 by box jellyfish. All the deadly creatures in OZ kill around 10 people a year out of a population of 20 million.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Thanks for this bit of info. I feel a bit better now. My husband did tell me this but I thought he was making it up, he also added that more people get killed my faulty toasters than spiders, snakes, sharks, crocs, put together, and that I am not afraid of the toaster :D

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Of a population of 20 million around 10 people in OZ are killed by all the deadly creatures combined, crocs,sharks,jellyfish snakes etc. compared to 2,000 killed in road accidents and 600 drowning.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Think that puts it into perspective doesn't it.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Had our first Huntsman this morning...
Saw a big shadow behind the curtain, I thought it can either be a big cockroach(have had a few of those, not many) or a Huntsman....
Had to go to work, so left Pascal to sort it out.
I said leave it, but then, you never know where it'll end up and give you a fright... he wanted to vaccuum it (he hates squishing things, catches everything else by putting a glass over them)

(so first Huntsman in 8 or so months. But have had a few whitetails, and redbacks mainly outside. And about 5 big cockroaches in total. So all in all not to bad!)

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Yip, that does put it in perspective, but car deaths and drowning are a hazard in the UK too.

What should really make you wet yourself is a picture of:

THE SUN :scared:

http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/scidisc...06287_w150.jpg

But for some reason, we all love it, and hate the stingy bitey things :confused:

Cheers,
JTL

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Or, I read once that more people die each year in the UK from either domestic dog attacks or bee/wasp stings than the total amount of deaths from Sharks, Crocs and Spiders combined in Australia!

Andrew

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

OK, here's some useful tick info taken from "Better Homes and Gardens" March 2005 (Condensed of course)....
Tick poisioning - not something animals develop an immunity too, they will become more vulnerable with subsequent attacks.
*Symptoms*
dogs - "weakness in hind legs rapidly followed by laboured breathing, continual salivation, vomitting and then total collapse."
cats - loss of voice, strange meow, leg weakness.

What to do-
Locate and remove tick immediately:
Get some tweezers abd grasp the tick close to the base, flip onto its back and pull. The venom can still affect your pet for 24hours... go straight to a vet fpr further treatment, best check there aren't any other ticks.

Use "Frontline Plus" fortnightly, but nothing is 100% effective. Check your animal daily, start at head and search all over, particularly round the ears, mouth, nostrils and under collar.
Clip longhaired dogs.
Don't use kerosene, bad folk remedy.
Cut grass short, keep bandicoots off property. Ticks can be carried on your clothes when you visit bush.
Thanks Dr Harry :)

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

And for all those living in SE queensland who are worrying about the huntsman, keep an eye out for this fella.

Sydney funnel web spider

"The Sydney funnel web spider is mostly found near Sydney (from Newastle to Nowra and as far west as lithgow but sightings have been reported as far north as Brisbane. Related species are found along the eastern coast of New South Wales. The Australian Museum has some some general info on their web site."

http://www.outback-info.de/spider/spider.htm

You don't want to meet him on a dark night!!!!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

http://www.termite.com/spiders/Funnel-Web-Spider.shtml

http://www.termite.com/images/funnelwebfemale150.gifhttp://www.termite.com/images/funnelwebmaleani.gif
BEWARE: THE WORLD'S DEADLIEST SPIDER

The male Sydney Funnel-Web Spider is the world's most deadly spider.

Both the male and female Sydney Funnel-Web Spider carry atraxotoxin, the world's most dangerous toxin to humans as produced in the animal kingdom.

The male Sydney Funnel-Web Spider is six times more toxic than the female, and it is he whom is most often encountered by humans, during their intrepid search for a female to reproduce.

The Blue Mountains Funnel-Web and Northern Tree Funnel-Web Spiders are also highly venomous.

Area of distribution

The Sydney Funnel-Web Spider is a ground dweller commonly found in areas of moist soils along much of the eastern coastal area of New South Wales, Victoria and in certain areas of South Australia.

The Blue Mountains Funnel-Web Spider is found mainly in the Blue Mountains area, as far west as Orange and Bathurst and occasionally in the Sydney basin.

The Northern Tree Funnel-Web Spider is found in south-eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales as far south as the Hunter Valley.

Danger time

The mature male funnel-web spider will wander around during hot humid nights, looking for a mate. Invariably after mating when he is totally exhausted the female bites him and sucks all the nourishment from his body leaving him an empty shell.

The male is highly aggressive when disturbed or cornered and is able to inflict multiple strikes, with its "flick-knife" hardened fangs.

You may also find funnel-web spiders wandering around the garden or in your home after heavy rain or nearby construction earthworks.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

I have to tell you guys... ROOKSIE...... last night me & jonah_daddy sat in front of the pc & read this thread from beginning to end...... my god we were practically rolling around on the floor laughing!!!!:D

I am one of the devout spider "haters" of the world... ok I admit it I am scared sh**less!!!!! Never less I loved this post although that bl**dy picture from DollyDayDream scared the living sh*t out of me! LOL:scared:

Fantastic!

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Im not quite sure what ive started but im beginnng to think devons not so bad after all. scariest creature i encountered this morning was a snail!!! just about sums it up doesnt it really!!!! :rolleyes:

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

Actually I am sure I read somewhere that more people are killed per year in Oz from Bee/Wasp stings than from spider/snake bites! Nice to see another lurvely creature us brits introduced to Oz...the English Wasp.

Re: The Migrants Guide to Emigrating and Settling in Australia
 

We have paper wasps here. The first time I was stung by one I think the shock took over, I thought I was dying. Then Mrs JTL got a few stings, then my mum got a few, then I got another and realised they are more like nettle stings than REAL british wasp stings, they feel warm for about half an hour then fade.

No big deal. Its more the shock that gets you, rather than the pain of the sting,

Cheers,
JTL