suzyt

Hi does anyone know of a good internet site or a good book that i could use to show my children the sort of animals, snake or toads etc etc that are safe or that should be avoided as i believe children are taught this when they first start start school Australia, so my eldest has missed out on this . Oh and fish.
Thankyou Suzy

Flan

Not sure of any books etc I'm afraid. But my two nephews live in Sydney and are 2 yrs old and 5 yrs old and they both learnt from as young as possible that spiders = ouch! So neither are tempted to touch. Until they are of an age that they can understand things better I would suggest that you make all snakes and spiders out of bounds for children, safer than trying to identify which is which.

Also it's a case of educating them not to put shoes straight on if left outside etc and to shake them out first. The same with toys kept in garages/sheds etc.

Hopefully someone can recommend some materials for you to look at together - sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

suzyt

No i think thats very helpful, and thanks those are things that you take for granted here. Thanks

jonah38

Not sure on book titles but im sure there are loads on the interenet, amazon etc

Watch the 'Deadly Down Under' series, which is currently on uk tv.

I would simply give you the advice we where given when in OZ.

Dont touch anything and dont go poking around like we did as kids in UK.

Without stating the obvious -spiders, snakes, some insects, crocodiles and some sea life in OZ is dangerous. Stingers (jelly fish), blue ringed octopus, stone fish, sea snakes and much more etc.

You will pick it up quite quickly but to be honest you will rarely witness any of these but when we did we just left well alone!

Depending on where you are and where you travel will depend on what you are likely to see and the frequency of seeing it so dont become preoccupied with the little nasties just be aware that they can be there

Flan

Oh another thing - probably a very bad thing to suggest but thought I'd pass it on anyway! If any of my friends see a redback spider (not very often) they kill it. The reason is that if it's alive it is a danger all the time it is in the area especially if you dont know where it is - (particularly with a baby).

Santa

You have got to remember that snakes and spiders are not out on the prowl looking for humans to attack, and on the whole neither are sharks. You could do a lot better than get carried away worrying about the wildlife here. Sure there are some animals that you really dont want to tread on, but how many people in the UK are terrified of adder's..... not many I guess.

Domestic dogs are the members of the family that you need to be concerned about with snakes, thay have a habit of winding them up, and there's only one winner when these two get cross with each other.

Please please if you see a Huntsman ..... dont kill it, they can make you jump a bit but only one of the Huntsman species gets cross enough to bite, and even then it will give you plenty of notice and at worst you may feel sick.
Huntsman seem to like living in cars in the country, I've got one in my ute, god know's where he is, but he keeps himself to himself.

Honetly, you have more chance of being run over than having a bad time with one of these creatures, so dont worry.

lastere

how bout if you find one walking over your face when you're sleeping? is that the australian idea of good neighbor?

Sunbound

OH PLEASE < PLEASE TELL ME THAT DIDN"T HAPPEN TO YOU !!!
Sorry for shouting ... but that i just couldn,t cope with !! Jeez i'm never going to sleep in Australia!!!!!

Ian.C.Williams

I agree they bite and sting you all your life!!! - the children that is !!!!but the spiders and snakes are not a problem if you dont poke around in silly places, was a problem when we arrived but my two "Aussie" kids now dispose of the redbacks as if born here
Ian

kiwinow

It's probably worth getting some pictures of poisonous spiders and harmless ones, but they don't necessarily recommend you try to identify snakes, as they can look quite different in colour and markings to the picture. If you get bitten assume that it was poisonous. I looked up a site to learn how to deal with this and discovered I would've done all the wrong things. You should not wash it or try to suck out the poison, but bandage it firmly carry the victim to the car and get to hospital. I think the school education is ongoing and the kids will very soon learn what's what. I'm still more concerned about my pets, but will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Caroline G

Here's one for spiders http://museumvictoria.com.au/spiders/

I've been watching to see what the other parents do here. I've noticed that they tell their children:

not to poke around stones and rocks in the garden.
walk in the long damp grass esp when the sun is out as the snakes might be sunning themselves.
look out for stone fish and blue ringed octopus in rocky areas at the beach.
bull ants can also give a painful bite (squirt vinegar and water 50/50 mix on bites or soak area in the solution as this neutralises the bite fluid)
Stay away from jelly fish esp the little ones with long tenticles.

Chief1980

I had a black widow walk across my fingers when i lived in California. I didn't know what it was untill after and so didn't panic. She ignored me and went on her merry (deadly) way.

Spiders, snakes etc will leave u alone as long as you leave them alone.

Im telling you, the two legged variety of snake is much more worrying

jonah38

And if your ever up Townsville way then book a few days over on Magnetic Island. Get yourself a quaint little holiday property and watch the Gecco's and spiders crawling up your walls and across the ceiling whilst your in bed.

Dont forget to check your bed first though because your sure to find a nice line of ants carrying their food from A to Z right across your pillow, down the middle of your sheets, down the bed post and across the carpet to the kitchen, and all the way back.

If your lucky then you may have a pool in your garden, that you cant access because there are death adders in the leaves that have not been brushed up.

Or you could go for a swim in the nice clear sea - well atleast it between the large blue plastic nets because the stingers will get you

Just be careful Really

Damson

I would agree with all the advice. Had a bit of a tricky situation when we were in Melbourne at Christmas though. Our kids were off playing with other kids on the beach when bugger me, we looked over just in time to see little un (3 years) tucking into the leg of a starfish (it was dead). He was absolutely fine but it just shows that he would have no compunction about picking up things and eating them on a beach. Thank God there weren't any of the little octopusses around. I also kept seeing jellyfish thingies, and asked an Aussie woman on the beach if they were poisonous or not. I was trying to describe them when she just said 'ah yeh, do they look like little poo's curled up' which was pretty accurate I think! We looked around for a bit on the beach and she picked one up and asked if that was what I meant. She said they were perfectly harmless in fact when she was little, she used to turn them inside out! OhmiGod. She looked so normal too!

Caroline G

I was curious to what those jelly sausages were and whether they were dangerous but no-one seemed to know. I have since found out that they are snail egg masses and aren't at all dangerous or able to sting. Here's a link http://www.southernshores.auz.info/b...ives/feb01.htm
http://images.google.com.au/imgres?i...%3Den%26sa%3DN