Hello All. my Wife and I are seriously considering starting the process that would eventually lead to us emigrating to Australia. One of the main concerns that I have at this time is the sheer number of things that are venomous, poisonous and generally very bad for your health. We have identified Melbourne, Sydney or Perth as potential locations for relocation. So i guess I just want to know about the experiences of people who have made the move who have Kids as I have a 4 Year old son. Is it a worry, has anyone had scares and how hard is it to adjust to sharing your space with these things. I mean, I ask you, a bloody poisonous Platypus.....A Platypus...

Thanks in advance

Hi and welcome to B.E

You will find plenty of people who are terrified of spiders and snakes making the move to Australia.
Yes they are there but on the whole if you're careful you should be ok. Millions of people live in Australia quite happily.

Unlike Asher who wasn't careful and got bitten by a whitetail

Now kapri, that's not very nice!

kuklkahn, if you have a look through the barbie, you will find several threads about spiders etc currently but also using the search facility will bring you plenty more!
If it is a genuine phobia then help is available but otherwise, I reckon it can't be too bad or people just wouldn't live there!
Welcome to BE & good luck!

Within about 4 days you will have forgotten about any noxious bugs and be paranoid about letting your little chap out without his sun hat and spf 30 sunscreen! The creepy crawlies are very minor in comparison! I've been here 29 years and never seen a platypus other than in the zoo so they really shouldnt feature in your paranoia. I have been bitten by a bull ant - in the bush and seen all of 6 snakes - in the bush. DS2 was bitten by a spider once and we ended up in hospital but that is about all for 100 years combined living here. The odds are better that you would win the lottery!

You will of course be fed up with the flies in no time flat but they dont bite (usually, unless you are up in the High Country of the Snowies when the March flies are out) and the mozzies which do.

I have such a phobia of spiders that I check around the door frame before I walk out of a morning (I'm still in the UK!)

When I applied for Oz every1 thought I was mad cos I am sooooo bad.

I visited my sister last Oct in Perth & cos I was so scared she went into the garage & caught a redback in a jar for me to see, once I saw it I was ok & no joking actually pegged the washing out & brought it back in of a night without even thinking about them. The huntsman is a different kettle of fish tho! lol... Their not poisonous but are really big they cant run tho cos their legs are too long! Its quite funny to watch them.

I believe the funnel web spiders only live in Sydney (that's what i've been told anyway) so i'm staying away from there....lol

If you treat your house & garden every 3 months you probably wont even see any My sister has 3 young children & they are out in the garden all the time & dont worry about them.

It hasn't put me off going at all, although I dont like the spiders in the UK & their not poisonous!!!!

Hope you feel a bit better now

Ummm... unfortunately not!

Well done for getting over your phobias though, it's not easy.

Re the OP - As others have said, you will forget to be paranoid very quickly - although you should keep being careful: gloves for gardening, boots for bush walking, look at things before you pick them up in the garage/shed. I find Mortein is my closest ally in my anti-bug campaign! (Very effective bug-killer spray)
Also it really helps to be able to identify different kinds, to appreciate the pretty ones whilst knowing that they are not poisonous - I consider them my friends, as they eat flies!

(Re snakes, was at a demo the other day in the local mall and apparently even the most dangerous one, which they said was the Eastern brown, will usually slither away if you just stand still. Plus it can't bite through jeans! And the others really don't want a fight, so just don't pick one with them!)

we emigrated a year ago to coolum beach on sunshine coast and before we went all we got off friends was "what about the long journey" and "what about all the spiders and snakes"!!! well i can tell you so far we have seen one snake that was dead and i am not so worried about the spiders as the flies and mozzies! i never even thought about mozzies over here!! little buggers they are and pesky flies:curse:!! so bring lots of spray!!

Yeh. I know what you mean about the flies! :curse:

Been in Melbourne 8 years now & never seen a poisonous or any other kind of platypus, or a redback spider or a snake.

Ok have to go & take my guide dog for a walk.

lol.....that was funny!!

I have been out here 12 years and spent 10 of those years in the bush in southern NSW on a small rural property (40 acres). I have seen about 4 live snakes (Brown and Red Belly Blacks) and my dogs have killed about a dozen of the browns and one or two red belly blacks.

The brown snakes have killed two of my lovely dogs and the red belly blacks have bitten two but we managed to get the dogs to the vets in time to save them. The dogs were Jack Russells and they do go hunting for them. On both occasions when the the dogs were killed, it was in our garden whilst we were at work. We came home to find them dead but they did manage to kill the snake. (Small consolation).

spiders, well they are everywhere. I check for red back spiders under outside chairs before sitting just as a precaution. Funnel web spiders are around but i dont worry them and they leave me alone. Huntsman can get very big and look nasty but they dont harm you . Leave them be and they will catch the flies for you.

That aside, Australia is a great place to be. I would highly recommend it.

Good luck

Barney

We came 18 months age with 6 kids, but now we're down to only 2. The others were eaten by snakes, sharks and spiders. If we're here much longer we'll be totally child free.

Well guys, thanks for all your replies, it is much appreciated. It appears that I may be unable to emigrate anyway as while my skills are in demand are are listed on the SOL (IT Manager) it appears that as I do not have a university education, I have to demonstrate 8 years of experience in my profession (ITIL Service Manager) of which I have 6 or 4 dependant upon whether the ACS will acknowledge my first 2 years experience as being relevant. Ho Hum. Looks like it is the joy that is the UK for the foreseeable....