What about the nasties?

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

End of last year we had a Brown (Considerably larger than this one from a couple of years back) move into the shed. I was happy to leave it as I am hoping it will wake up shortly and remove the possums that are shi..... making a mess over everthing. It has certainly done wonders in keeping my wife outside!
Chooks are responsible for most snake bites, they attract mice, the mice attract the Browns, and so the Browns are responsible for more bites than any other snake in Australia.
There are two ways of measuring the "Deadly" rating of a snake. The actual toxicity of the venom, and the amount and effectivness of its delivery. Becomes a moot point when most Aussy snakes are fighting for the top of the list whichever way you look at it.

For our future visitors from O/S, there was a case of the Tourist in a Kayak who paddled 4 km of the West Aust. coast to camp on an island last month. He was held captive by a croc. that was twice as long as his Kayak, and would welcome him with open jaws everytime he made an attempt to get in it. Two weeks before he was rescued...

It never ceases to amaze me how proud Aussies are of the deadly inhabitants over here, Sure it says something about us, just not sure what?

Did enjoy the postings on Raccoons in another thread, not quite as harmless as Walt Disney led us to beleive.
Rich.

[Andrew H.]

Just to make it clear to our northern hemisphere friends: When using the term "Down Under" to discuss the many hazards to human life found in Australia: "Down Under" in little old NZ there is NOTHING here that can kill, maim or hurt you, or even cause you a moments discomfort. No snakes, no crocs, no box jellyfish no aggressive lizards and only one tiny spider that is so rare and endangered that no-one I know has ever seen one. The worst that could happen is to be confronted by an angry possum (and we know where they came from!).

[motto]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Just to make it clear to our northern hemisphere friends: "Down Under" in little old NZ there is NOTHING here that can kill, maim or hurt you, or even cause you a moments discomfort.

Not 100 percent true Andrew.
Whilst not in the same league as some of our nasties, the sand flies right down the west coast of the South Island that descended on us wherever we stopped were a great discomfort. The tourist brochures never mentioned them but if not prepared they can make your life a misery.
Other than that we loved the place and would recommend NZ for a holiday destination any time even though the weather tends to be a bit unruly and the ground shakes a lot.

David

[Lynn Eades]

According to a book I was reading,(Bill Bryson down under) (a great read!) the 10 most dangerous snakes on the planet live here, and they're not all the same type either. Then there are a whole raft of other things. The funnel web spider, the box jelly fish, the blue ringed octopus,the paralysis tick, and the stone fish. Once again, don't be fooled by the "the". There's more than one of each. Then there are shellfish that attack you, and toxic caterpillers. Not to mention the risk of travelling. Australia is an island about the size of the USA. It is wet around the edges, but I sense a distinct lack of water in the other bit.
Phill, I'd hold onto the chipmonks.
BTW.Aussie does have earthquakes as well.... or is that just settling as a result of mining?
Apparently 90% or snake bites can be avoided by wearing footware that covers the ankles.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

You sit up quickly, of course, and wail your head into the drive shaft.

....or the gearbox drain plug. Rather more pointy and makes a nasty scraping sound on your skull, which seems to echo in your ears as you roll around clutching your head. And you may need to take a selfie to inspect the damage - turns out you can't see the top of your own head in the mirror. This was taken the following day after it wouldn't stop leaking and I thought it might need stitches. However I can't blame this one on chipmunks, it was entirely self inflicted!

[motto]

Geez! You tackle one Kiwi and another one comes at you!
I've read Bill Bryson's book and found it to be not only hilarious but an accurate and kindly summing up of the country. He is a keen observer.
As an outsider (American) he accomplished something that probably couldn't be done by a local and I have recommended his book to people coming here for the first time.
To place things in perspective, I've lived here for 65 years now and got around a fair bit. I've yet to encounter a funnel web spider,box jellyfish,blue ringed octopus (wonder what you have to do to them to make their ring blue?), paralysis tick, stone fish or toxic caterpillar.
The only serious quake we've had here in living memory would be the one in Newcastle and strangely enough that area is heavily mined?

David

[Lynn Eades]

David, I agree about Bryson book. I really enjoyed the whole book. his stuff about sharks and his attempts at body surfing really had me laughing. I agree that he must be a keen observer, in every sense. Sorry I have no personal experience with the octopus's blue ring. It might just be the cold
The quake I was talking about was in Boulder (Kalgoorlie) about 3 years ago. When we visited in the july the whole main street of Boulder was all scaffolded with lots of damage, most shops were closed. I recall it was a 5.3 quake.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

There are two ways of measuring the "Deadly" rating of a snake. The actual toxicity of the venom, and the amount and effectivness of its delivery.

Same applies to spiders, for example the funnel web is widely regarded as the world's deadliest spider not only because of its highly toxic venom, but because of its highly effective delivery system - a ferocious pair of fangs which can penetrate toenails!

However, "deadly" doesn't necessarily mean "dangerous", which depends on the behaviour of the creature. Most creatures with deadly bites are extremely timid and present little danger when disturbed by humans - they flee rather than attack. Once again the funnel web is a rare exception - highly aggressive when disturbed, it will attack and strike repeatedly. Most commonly this occurs in swimming pools, to which they're attracted by the cool dampness around them, and can survive for several days after falling into the water, even on the bottom after they've stopped floating!

Similarly the brown snake and tiger snake are rated highly dangerous because of their aggression when disturbed - they're inclined to rear up and strike repeatedly, and can bash away at the sole of a boot held up in defence quite persistently. They've even been known to chase people if they happen to be in the path of escape!

However, as Lynn mentions, most snakebites can be avoided by wearing ankle high boots, and all snake bites can be avoided by wearing calf leggings when bushwalking. The reality is that snake bites are relatively rare in Australia, and since the development of anti-venom only a handful fatalities occur annually - mostly heroes trying to kill them or show off with them. Spiders are even less of a threat, in fact I'm pretty sure they haven't killed anyone for decades. Meanwhile plenty of people have died from anaphylaxis after bee stings.

Based on the statistics you're probably more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by one of the numerous deadly critters that inhabit Australia. Unless of course you're asking for it - like surfing in shark infested waters, or swimming in croc infested rivers, or cavorting with stingrays like Steve Irwin! That said, on the very rare occasions one encounters one our deadly friends, it can certainly be rather frightening - as I discovered a couple of years ago, when a large tiger snake slithered across my lounge room in front of the TV I was watching!

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by motto

Not 100 percent true Andrew.
Whilst not in the same league as some of our nasties, the sand flies right down the west coast of the South Island that descended on us wherever we stopped were a great discomfort. The tourist brochures never mentioned them but if not prepared they can make your life a misery.
David

Yes they can be a nuisance but after one taste of my blood they give up in disgust. Too much alcohol.

[Marc Montgomery]

Well, it is possible to come across a rattle snake, in an old junkyard in Ontario, but that is extremely rare, and although we have lots of snakes, some of which look fairly dangerous, the rattler is the only one to really worry about and even than, you have a better chance of winning a lottery than coming across or getting into trouble with one.

HOWEVER, when I was much younger, there were plenty of old junkyards (in Ontario)- you could root around in with lots of interesting stuff...but environmental laws have wiped most of them out.... now I hardly see any at all, and the ones i do know about, are almost all stocked with very recent stuff, and you're not allowed to wander around. (don't have too much experience cruising back roads of Qc looking for old junk, but do know that its kind of the same situation....a relative of ex-wife had a scrap yard about an hour north of Mtl, and there were several 50's era cars, all restorable, some easily..including a Hudson Hornet...then they were told to clean up... and all were crushed about 10 yrs ago) Also another yard about 10km from me, gone..property left with the reamins of the rickety office, and the front fence, with one forlorn M-37 and a couple other un-interesting wrecke sitting out front.. the M-37 good for a few parts I guess..but who even owns it now??

Also with higher prices for scrap metal these days, car crushers cruise the back roads and farms and also suck up interesting old vehicles.

In other words, the good old interesting junkyards of Ontario seem to have all pretty much disappeared with any still remaining likely to disappear soon.

The US- at least in some states- seems to have been less affected by environmental clean-up laws

Whats the situation in OZ?

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Marc

Those great old Junk Yards our youth are rapidly disappearing in the US as well. As in many places they are being closed for "environmental" reasons though I'm sure though in many cases the environmental reason is somebody else doesn't like looking at them.

Our town recently passed new zoning ordinances which we for environmental purposes to protect the water. In the process they prevented the opening of any new garages or gas stations in town, existing garages are grandfather. It wasn't noticed until after the public voted these new ordinances in private hobby garages or working on your own car had been banned.

Just in case someone thinks this is getting off the topic of "What about the nasties?" no it just adds a few of the two legged nasties to the discussion.

But seriously I'll restrict my comments to the animal's it might be considered a disparaging remark to the snakes to include some people to the catagory of Nasties.

Cheers Phil

[motto]

Nasties indeed Phil. The dictatorial creeps that bring in these restrictions are gradually moving you further and further from being the 'land of the free'.
On another forum a countryman of yours mentioned that in his town, garages cannot exceed 400 square feet in area.
It gives emphasis to the old saying that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. There are always those who would take it from us a little at a time. For our own good of course.
I much prefer the natural nasties, they are nowhere near as devious or treacherous.
A similar process is taking place here Marc as urbanisation and cleaning up pushes wrecking yards into oblivion. The costs of keeping a yard open with increasing land values and public liability insurance premiums plus the OH&S and environmental legislation has skyrocketed, Add to this pressure the scrap value of the accumulation therein and it's no wonder the decision is made to shut down the business and clear the yard.
When I think back on the many places we could wander around in the past cherry picking the contents I realise that they really were the good old days.
We had it good.

David