Question for Australians

[quirkyquerty]

Genuine question- are you not frightened all the time of swimming and meeting a shark, cleaning and meeting a deadly spider, getting the bikes out of the shed and meeting a deadly snake and so on and so forth?

Or is that just certain parts of Australia? It fascinates me!

When I lived on a few acres on the edge of the wilderness, I'd sometimes encounter venomous tiger snakes, but they're quite timid and were easy to chase off my property.

Only thing I'm wary about now are the spiders in my garage and workshop because some of them are redbacks. It's just a matter of being careful.

And to answer the OP properly, yes, huge variances in terms of location. Australia is an enormous country. You'd find a lot more 'nasty' wildlife in a rural area of NE Queensland, for example, than in the city/suburbs or Melbourne or Adelaide.

You hardly see any big spiders in the city, but I was out for a run yesterday and a small snake was crossing the path ahead of me, I just waited for it and kept going.

Where I live has sharks nets, so very few shark attacks.
I did swim up in north qld where I assume they had crocodile nets.

Its not something I think about at all.

Brit living in semi-bushland suburban area of Sydney. There does seem to be a very distorted view of what living in Australia is like! In 17 years of living here, only snakes I've seen have been at Taronga Zoo - unless you are walking in the bush and step on one, you're not likely to see a snake; most of them will move out of the way when they hear you coming.

In terms of spiders, they are around but we choose to live alongside them - we have Huntsman Spiders in the house (they are harmless, don't bother us and are great at keeping the cockroach population down). We also have Redbacks living in a pile of bricks near the garage and a nest of Bull Ants in a corner of the garden. We have a Mouse Spider living near the drain at the side of the house and, as they can live 20 years or so, we feel quite protective of her and have made sure we don't disturb her. I garden without gloves and walk around barefoot.

The only thing I am paranoid about is sharks (thanks to watching Jaws when I was 7!). I know my fear is totally irrational and a shark is unlikely to chomp me, but I never go more than ankle-deep in the water at unpatrolled beaches!

And I do not get our house sprayed annually- do people do that??

Only when I lived in the city. Had to have it sprayed for cockroaches. And then they bought in that pink paste for cockroaches that was less toxic (we’re told) and very effective.

I don’t get my house sprayed where I live now, right on the edge of a national park nor do my kids. (there are no cockroaches) My Sons have looked into having it done for some spiders and said it only works for a while - nowhere near a whole year. And locals say it’s more likely to stir up spiders than anything? None of us have yet had a funnel web in the house and we’ve lived in the epicentre for funnel web spiders for years now . But we do follow the ‘rules’ - check shoes before putting them on, and don’t leave clothing on the floor.

ive only seen one dangerous snake ‘in the wild’ - at a resort in Byron Bay. I left it alone and backed away, and it left me alone.

I used to swim daily out beyond the breakers, and didn’t worry about sharks. I didn’t wear goggles though, because I figured if I saw a shark my heart would probably stop, before the shark could even get close enough to me to take a bite. You’ve got more chance of drowning than being eaten by a shark.

But most of us (here, in the UK and around the world) do something every day that is much more likely to end in an accident, sometimes fatal - sadly. We get into cars. Even the very best drivers can’t account for the drunk, or distracted, or careless driver coming the other way. And it doesn’t stop us driving or being passengers.

No, just take normal care .. those things will not hunt for you.
No walking around in the dark with bare feet from September to May.
No walking around in long grass with bare feet in those same months.
Don't stick your hand where you can't see.
Keep your doors shut or fly wired and windows with fly wire.
Swim at patrolled beaches or stay shallow.
Have some idea of what to do for first aid.

Though I have never ever seen a dangerous spider or a shark.

I have heard of one girl getting bitten by a snake in her garden about fifteen years ago and she went to hospital and was fine.
I have seen snakes crossing roads in country areas.
Friends have seen snakes in their garden and if they are near their house they kill them with a shovel. (It is illegal but most people do that near their house.)

More dogs than people get bitten by snakes because the dogs naturally investigate the snakes.
Dogs have to be treated for snake bite at the vet with anti-venom and a drip to support recovery of their kidneys. If the owner spots symptoms quickly (strange eyes, walking like drunk, and snuggish) they are usually okay.

Honestly the most dangerous animal in Australia is the one that has two legs, drives cars and drinks alcohol.

Not at all. It's really not like that here.

Agree . I’ve lived in Melbourne suburbs for 49 years . I’ve only seen the odd huntsman every now and again in the house . Hardly anything to worry about . Not poisonous at all and certainly not that big compared to some. I’ve hardly ever seen a snake . There is a creek not far from me where once we saw a tiger snake but only once,if I go walking around the creeks in my local area I do not even think of a snake. They are not running around on the roads or on the footpath like some people might think! Holy shit! lol As for sharks , I never swim hardly in the beach so no problem there . But of course those who do need to be vigilant . Once again , it’s certainly not like jaws ! These things are hyped up big time .

South coast of Victoria here. Lots of kangaroos outside of the town areas but they just do their own thing and tend to bolt away if you're close.

I had my 1st spider bite last year, just to freak out the scared people! Not a common thing really. I was sitting on the grass and felt something pierce my leg. I flung it off into the bushes and didn't get a good look at it. Could've been a redback but they don't tend to wander around the lawn.

A few days later a big abscess made an appearance. So anti-biotics then drainage a week after that. The GP said with some spiders it's not the venom but the bacteria on their fangs that gets you. But again, NOT COMMON AT ALL!

Have also been stung by jellyfish a few times but just blue blubbers - they only give you a mild sunburn-like sting. My own fault for swimming in that area at that time of year though.

Lived in Sydney for several years.
No is the answer.

The currents and the waves on the beach? Fuck yes.

Ok I'll admit this would freak out even the hardiest Australian. Cassowary are prehistoric level scary creatures:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3539858/What-s-dinner-Family-forced-run-lives-deadly-cassowary-called-Peanut-wanders-house.html?ito=link_share_article-image-share#i-5c49e0a4abe7bae3

Haha, I love this question!

I'm not frightened, but just aware. I live on acerage in brown snake country so I'm always concious. But I have a good understanding of snakes and long story short, I just make alot if noise when I'm walking outside!

As for ocean dangers, again I'm super aware. I just make sure I swim in between the flags and don't swim in deserted beaches. I'm more worried about rips than sharks.

I'm a Pom, working on an Aussie ship out of Darwin. We had a warning about irukandji a few days ago, as a guy on the previous shift was stung by one, which fell off a cable, when recovering equipment - it got him on the top lip.

He was in his bunk for three days, but then fine.

I was in a hotel in Darwin for about a week, waiting for the delayed ship. I saw all sorts of cool insects and when out walking, some sort of hunting spider scuttled over the path in front of me - I admit I jumped, but it went onto the grass.

Never seen a snake here, but we were working in the Ichthys Field some years ago and there was a huge bull saltie living on the struts.

Loads of Belcher's Sea Snakes out here (Timor Sea).

I see quite a few adders at home and had a grass snake living in the yard party wall. My wife trod on a weever fish and was stung by a jellyfish, (Northumberland / North Tyneside).

Nothing like that has happened to me!

Sort of.

And the reason I say sort of is because the ‘usual’ behaviours of these animals is changing and becoming less predictable. I got a little complacent until recently.

I live in tropical north Qld, but moved over from England.

When I first moved over, I ensured the children walked in single file along footpaths in case a snake attacked them. Man, I was so scared of snakes.

I made sure everyone checked their shoes before putting them on. Which they had to do, bare foot walking was a no no.

Each time anybody went to the toilet, I made sure they checked under the toilet seat for spiders. Or snakes.

After about a week, I relaxed.

Now, almost 8 years later, we have several carpet pythons living around our property which I happily live alongside. As long as they do their thing and don’t bother me, I won’t bother them. One is approximately 4.5m long and so fat, it’s been here a couple of years now and gets as curious watching me as I do watching it. I was cooking a bbq the other night and it sat about a metre away watching me. It definitely recognises me as does slither off when other people are about. If it stays outside and away from me, I’m all good with that.

Spiders I’m just not too fussed about. My youngest son is like a mini Steve Irwin and once brought me a redback in his hand when he was 6! That is despite him having so many warnings about not touching, just watching. It didn’t bite.

In Qld we have drum lines at beaches to prevent shark attacks along with regular helicopters keeping watch.

There’s bull sharks in the river by my house, which people swim in. I used to swim in there too as all the locals told me that it’s “only baby bull sharks”. At Christmas time, a 2.4m and a 2.1m bull shark were caught, tagged and released. Now I’m not so keen to swim! Those same locals said “as long as you only swim between dawn and dusk, you’ll be fine”. A few weeks ago a stand up paddle boarder was knocked off his board by a bull shark and the board was bit in half. At lunchtime! So that’s what I mean when I say the usual behaviours are changing. The animals are adapting to their environment. There’s sightings of animals in new places that they haven’t been seen in before; such as box jellyfish moving further south etc.

Crocs and jellyfish (as in box jellyfish), never swim with.

Anyway, haven’t read the full thread, but did anyone mention Australian drivers yet? Yikes!

I live in Sydney and there have been some red bellied black snakes in our suburb as we live near the bush. When I was young, we had to check my parents pool every time before swimming because they would regularly get funnel web spiders in there. We'd just scoop them out and slap them with a thong. Haven't seen one in the pool in a long time now though. Had lots of red backs in the backyard under play equipment etc, but you're just careful and spray them. We have much less trees around the house now so I haven't seen many red backs for a while either. Daddy long leg spiders that are inside, are harmless and eat the insects that fly inside, so they can stay. I'm more scared of the magpies in breeding season as they swoop and take your hair out for their nests!

Yep, all that bird would see is me running away from it. But I’ve never seen one, not in the wild or in captivity. Only images.

Never mind those things, it's the salt water croc that you want yo avoid 🤣

Haha @Aussiegirl123456
THe drivers. Well only thing I can say is don't be slow off the green light or I will beep you. People don't have time for that😄

The people with a python in their roof have to be from Queens;land or the NT. In the more southern parts we call the possum guy ( yes it is an actual job in Aus) if we hear anything. They lovingly pick them up and relocate them.
Never ever heard of a person with a python!! That's a new one to me.

Australian here - the thing I'm most scared about is Huntsman spiders. They can't kill you but they look terrifying and I actually can't function if I see one. And depending on where you live, they definitely do come inside your house and/or car. Snakes not so much, I'll hold a snake quite happily. I love sharks but yeah you do always have that feeling. Best to swim during the day with lots of others around, or in the colder states

Oh, and a cassowary lived at the end of our street for years. I have a photo of one of my kids with it. Fecking brush turkeys are the problem if you are trying to make a garden. Google brush turkey mounds. They are annoying. . Cassowary's not so much., as they usually keep themselves to themselves.

Nah mate ... but I was scared when I lived in London and there was a bullet hole in a window of the hospital department where I worked, I saw burnt out cars every day, and my friend saw someone get stabbed in the head on their morning run. Just different things to worry about really.

I went deep into the bush today. Perfect snake weather. Kept my eye out but no sign of any. Can't even find one when you want one! Just one wallaby today.

I want to add, the only wildlife that was a little annoying in the bush today were the ants. Only a handful when we sat down to eat lunch but I decided to eat on my feet.

OOOH Ants are the worst!