leelee 18 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Are the spiders and snakes really bad in oz? we are looking to either go Brisbane or Perth, any information will be great. thanks lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthbum Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Are the spiders and snakes really bad in oz? we are looking to either go Brisbane or Perth, any information will be great. thanks lisa This is the worst...hunter spider but is harmless. as long as you keep him fed. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpot Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 It could be worse Imagine if redbacks had wings and buzzed round your head like wasps. Now imagine if they were as keen to bite as mossies or fleas Now THAT would be something to worry about :biggrin: As my sister in law says, she's lived in Oz for 5 years and only been bitten by a big spider once :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennlx Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I grew up in Australia and obviously knew no different, but was never bothered by snakes and spiders and the like. We grew up being able to identify the worst ones (i.e. redback spiders, box jellyfish etc.) and knew to avoid them and that was that. Huntsman spiders *are* horrible (look like bloody tarantulas!) but as per Perthbum, harmless. I have never been bitten by anything, nor know anyone who has either. I think education is key - know when to run! I find it brilliant that we can be out and about in rural areas here in the UK and not have to worry about bumping into any dangerous critters, but must admit that in Oz we were always amused by concerned tourists about such things as they never bothered us nor changed our lifestyle one iota. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingpongpom2 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Hi Lisa:smile:...like jennlx i grew up in Perth and never once had an encounter with spiders or snakes..can't even remember giving them a thought. Sometimes when people ask me about this, i'm sure they think once you touch down on Aus terra firma, that all these magnificent wildlife are in abundance around you:unsure:..joking apart, it's not like this at all, and once you start living there you wont give it much thought after a short while..my hubbie was bitten by a redback, but only because he put his hand where he shouldn't!!..he survived and lives to tell the tale... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leelee 18 Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 ah thanks, where do you live now? lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingpongpom2 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 ...we are in the South of England for a few more months..my eldest is on his way back in Sept. then we follow shortly after that..honestly i know it is a worry for some folk, but none of my rellies out there have ever been bitten by anything nasty:yes:..my hubbie hated spiders and was bitten by one..he coped amazingly well for an arachnophobic!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellbell Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Hi Lisa, we've moved from London to a rural farm on the Sunshine Coast. I am pretty much terrified of everything and jump at my own shadow....but so far so good. Haven't come across too many horrors yet and my hubbie reassures me, they are more scared of me than I am of them and they will quickly run in the opposite direction if they see you coming. Apparently you have to be very unlucky to be bitten by anything.... Although my friend kindly sent me an article and pictures about a giant bird eating spider....Eeek! The loveliness of the country far outweighs its creepy crawlies I would say x Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindee2011 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Definately one of my cons about ours move to Perth is the spiders. I have a pathetic fear of spiders... big small, even dead ones!!! My friend lives in butler and says you dont worry after a while but I'm not convinced. She was bitten, but dont think it was a red back, think she said a white tailed something??? Could be wrong. Are they around your homes though, do they come into house/car etc I know I will never venture into the shed or garage!!! I worry about the kids too, know one would scarper but my little would definately bend to his hunkers and have a look!!! What do i do, keep telling myself there should be no fear, get over it. If bitten, just get sorted quick... :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Hi, Been here two years, no nasty spiders in the house they tend to stay in the garden. have the house sprayed once a year and it keeps everything at bay that can crawl. Seen one snake and that was a harmless carpet python. (but he was 2 1/2 meters long) Once you are here you realise they are not hiding in every corner and crevice to get you. :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 You just have to be aware of where the nasty spiders tend to live, a quick check for a web when using outdoor furniture, sitting on a park bench, or holding a hand rail outdoors. In your own house, provided you have decent insect nets on your windows, and spray once a year, you'll barely find any. I have seen fewer spiders over here than I did in the UK. You just as likely to be bitten by a spider or snake in the UK as you are over here (and how many times has you been bitten by a spider in the UK?), it's just that here the consequences involve a trip to the doctor over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Depends where you live some areas have more snakes than others. My friends live in Brisbane and they have a lot of snakes about but there is water around where they live. Just make sure you keep the fly wire doors shut. The little garden snakes are all around though. Ticks are a problem too, have to watch the animals and yourselves if you are gardeners. My friends have both had ticks on them in the last few weeks. Spiders I like spiders around as they eat the mossies and I figure if the spray is killing the spiders and last a year what the heck is it doing to us. Having a daughter with immune system problems makes me very very wary of spraying unless its absolutely necessary. We get snakes here but if we keep the grass cut short and be careful around wood piles etc then no problems, they do not like us any more than we like them. They are a protected specis though and we are not allowed to kill them. Have to get the snake catcher, but most just keep out of the way. I have not seen one for years and years here, am I putting the moz on myself.:laugh: Red back spiders are around and they get into any dark place, they have a very untidy web and of course they are very black and have a red mark on their back. They love compost bins, solar garden lights, saying that because I have just been cleaning ours and found a few in the light fitting stems. Make sue you wear gloves in the garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 ive been bitten by huntsmans a few times before and while they can make you feel a little icky. they certainly wont kill you. The only reason i ever got bitten was cos i didnt shake shoes out. I got bitten by a white tip spider on the hand once n that was probably the worst of them all, but growing up in NNSW we use to come across snakes all the time. Had red bellys tap at glass doors, king browns under the steps green trees in the garden n pythons that lived in the roof that we could hear moving across the rafters at night.Use to have bees nest in the log walls of the house n would sometimes find their way into my bed. Oh n those giant red n black bull ants. they use to get into the bed. And once i got stung by a scorpion while getting my clothes out of the washing machine. Plus the odd frog in the toilet. But as already said. keep grass short, yard mess to a min educate yourself a little on what may be in you area n where they like to live and wear shoes outside n gloves while in the garden (mind you i never wore shoes in the country n still barely do. Im alive (maybe it was the times i did stick my foot in a shoe i got bitten n that put me off):laugh: Since living on the goldcoast tho, hardly get any creepy crawlies. watch ticks and canetoads with pets It also never hurts to do a first aid course so you know what to do in the unlikey event that you or family ever do get bitten by something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Nothing much to worry about except the mossies and you can light candles, spray and use bug zappers for them. Snakes are scared of you if and when you see them ( not too likely in the burbs) and if there are crocs in the water in Queensland/NT there are plenty of warning signs around. As for spiders, well they are around but don't seek out humans- you just have to be a bit careful gardening at times- wear gloves if you feel the need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stormgal Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 i guess you can always get a cat... [YOUTUBE]lF9fcIqX9XQ[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthbum Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Cat curfew is purrfect remedy for Australia's wildlife attacks http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/cat-curfew-is-purrfect-remedy-for-australias-wildlife-attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I used to be terrified of spiders. In fact when we lived in the UK I once spent a whole day sitting and looking at one that was in the corner of the room, because I couldn't move it, but didn't want it to disappear and not know where it had gone! Before we moved here I was petrified of the idea that I or one of the children might encounter something creepy-crawly! When we first moved here, I used to check everything. Behind doors, in beds, under the toilet seat etc, and was convinced that there was a spider waiting to leap out and go for the throat hidden around every corner! The truth is that after two and a half years, we have seen so few that I don't even give them a second thought! We have two smallish children (5 and 3, were 1 and 2 when we moved here) and other than check things like shoes which have been left outside and a cursory glance of their play equipment in the garden, I don't worry. We have only seen one snake since we have been here. It was a green tree snake, although a friend had a red-bellied black snake in her house a while ago (although their old front door had a big gap under it, which is probably how it got in). We live in a green, leafy area, backing on to national park, but just don't see anything to worry about at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Before you've been in Australia long you'll understand how much Aussies love to wind up the tourists about Bird-eating spiders and the like. In fact, I'd lay money on it that you'll be doing it yourself - it's contagious!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthbum Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Before you've been in Australia long you'll understand how much Aussies love to wind up the tourists about Bird-eating spiders and the like.In fact, I'd lay money on it that you'll be doing it yourself - it's contagious!! :laugh: I agree, please do not believe that Oz is a dangerous place because it is not, as someone has said you are more likely to be bit by a snake in the UK.:cute: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Just watch out for the cow eating shovel-headed python - don't panic, it only bites annoying husbands (and cows). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 My personal favourite is the drop bear...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jtrd Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Have never seen my (Pommy) hubby jump so far or so fast as the first time he saw a Huntsman - still makes me laugh when I think about it years later! He also used to tell all of his English friends that mowing the lawn in Australia was an extreme sport! Doesn't matter how big they are, you are still bigger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 My personal favourite is the drop bear...... ROFL - I'd forgetten about Drop-bears And the Banksia men of course *grin* I remember DH's first trip to Aus, we came across a small bright green snake in Airlie Beach and I just grabbed him and dragged him back. He looked confused and said 'What?? I wasn't going to touch it - I just wanted to have a closer look' lol ** edit ** Gotta love mowing the lawn is an extreme sport - DH will be chuffed at that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbaitch Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Are the spiders and snakes really bad in oz? we are looking to either go Brisbane or Perth, any information will be great. thanks lisa Hi Leelee 18. Just a line or two to say I lived in Oz (Sydney and Adelaide) for nearly 24 years and never once saw a snake and only a few spiders. You learn early on not to go rummaging around the rims of discarded tyres or boxes in garden sheds etc with bare hands -- but you'd do the same in the UK, surely? - and so I never got any unpleasant 'surprises'! But what I can tell you is that after we came back from Oz in 1993 (God's honour!) is that the BIGGEST spider I ever saw in my whole life was one night, while watching tv in my rented flat in Essex, when a bluddy great big furry thing scuttled from underneath the sofa I was sitting on (thank goodness I had my feet tucked underneath me at the time!!) and ran across the carpet and disappeared behind the tv (and frightened the you-know-what out of me!!). But I swear it would have measured 3 or 4 inches across if its legs were stretched out (maybe even six, come to think of it!!) I don't know what happened to it because I steered clear of that corner until we left the flat a couple of months later. And again, the only time I ever saw a snake was in a hedge on the side of a lane I was walking along - again in Essex, after we came back from Oz - which turned out to be a grass snake, according to someone else who saw it. I only ever saw snakes in zoos before that while in Oz. So, Leelee 18, I hope that helps to allay your fears. Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leelee 18 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 may i ask where did u live in oz and why r u back in uk? lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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