Dangerous Wildlife...

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

Do you live in an environment with dangerous wildlife [excluding humans-we all know how dangerous we are, especially when wild]

The reason I ask is because there was a fatal shark attack today at a west Auckland beach. he was attacked by a great white, when it drew blood other great whites joined in the attack...The last fatal shark attack was in the 1970s...

A part from dangerous creatures of the sea, ie sharks, mantarays, jellyfish, and the odd spider that can give a nasty bite and wild boars on land, we are more or less dangerous animal free...No snakes, no bears, no mountain lions, no wolves, etc...Mind you, we do have one of the worse wasps problem in the world, all the social wasps have been accidentally introduced and have no 'natural' predators, so they breed like crazy..

How about where you live ? What's your jungle like ?

Metta Zenda

[~RoadToTrista~]

Well we have some really nasty spiders and scorpions I guess, lol. Most probably wouldn't kill you unless you were really young/old.

Bleh, makes me cringe thinking about them.

[kitten]

I live near some forests and we have had a baby bear on our lawn once but that was years ago otherwise safe enough area long as you don't go looking for trouble^^

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

In my general area, coyotes are the worst thing.  There is a pack near or in the trailer park I live in.  Anyone with small pets, especially cats are in danger of being prey.

Up the mountain, there are wolves, wolverines , brown bears, mountain lions and bobcats.  Not many people get attacked.

[Cindy]

Hee Hee

Zenda as you know I'm Australian. Everything stings, bites, poisons, mauls.

Funniest thing I've seen was a redback spider killing a brown snake that had got trapped in its web on my front gate. Brown snakes can kill humans and are very common in Adelaide - as in I have had them in the swimming pool, and in the house.  Redbacks are everywhere 'commonly' hide under toilet seats.

Enjoy your next pee!!

Years ago I was fishing in the NT, a saltie (crocodile) swam past my left leg and a white pointer past my right within seconds of each other. I gave up fishing for a few minutes.

The bees can kill, the ants can kill, the snails can kill, thrown away tin cans in the water are home for blue ring octopus, they can kill. Conch shell kill in seconds.

Big whites are relatively common on Adelaide beaches.

And the TV programs are terrible.

Welcome to Australia, perfect one day eats you the next!

C

[Jamie D]

I have these in the nearby hills:



Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

[Anatta]

Hee Hee

Zenda as you know I'm Australian. Everything stings, bites, poisons, mauls.

Funniest thing I've seen was a redback spider killing a brown snake that had got trapped in its web on my front gate. Brown snakes can kill humans and are very common in Adelaide - as in I have had them in the swimming pool, and in the house.  Redbacks are everywhere 'commonly' hide under toilet seats.

Enjoy your next pee!!

Years ago I was fishing in the NT, a saltie (crocodile) swam past my left leg and a white pointer past my right within seconds of each other. I gave up fishing for a few minutes.

The bees can kill, the ants can kill, the snails can kill, thrown away tin cans in the water are home for blue ring octopus, they can kill. Conch shell kill in seconds.

Big whites are relatively common on Adelaide beaches.

And the TV programs are terrible.

Welcome to Australia, perfect one day eats you the next!

C,

Kia Ora Cindy,

When I first arrived in Oz, it took me quite a few months before I would walk barefooted on the grass...At Australia House in London we were told all about the 'dangerous' wildlife....

Living in Coogee Sydney, it seemed the shark sirens would be going off  almost every day, I've never seen people move so fast to get out of the water...

I worked in pest management in Sydney, so I was quite familiar with all the poisonous/venomous creepy crawlies , such as the Sydney funnel web, the Redback, and the possibility of bumping into a snake whist crawling under a house doing  a termite inspection...

Believe it or not, I actually miss the Australian wildlife, nothing get the heart pumping faster than mistaking an old fallen tree branch for a brown snake whilst out for a bush walk at dusk 

Metta Zenda

[FTMDiaries]

Yeah, Cindy wins hands-down. I don't think there's anywhere in the world that has a wider variety of things that can kill you than Oz.

We have a dangerous species in my local area here in the UK - they're known as 'chavs'. If you're interested in taxonomy, they're less commonly known as Kylus jeremii.

All joking aside... when I used to live in South Africa I used to find Black Widow spiders in my bedroom. Not to mention the infamous Parktown Prawn, which isn't dangerous but as an oversized locust-like creature that tends to creep into homes in the evening, it can easily scare the bejeebers out of you.

When my grandmother decided to visit us from England, she was terrified that we'd have lions, cheetahs and giraffes running down the streets of our suburbs. Bless!

[ford]

We don't have poisonous critters so much, but we do have plenty of large toothy ones. We have grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions, and wolves.

[EmmaS]

Extreme conservatives and rattlesnakes; in that order.

[Joelene9]

  Black widow spiders, brown recluse spiders, western diamondback rattlesnakes, coyotes, bobcats, badgers is what I found in my neighborhood in the past 28 years living here. 

  Joelene

[Sarah Louise]

I've never seen badgers here, but the rest are abundant here in the high desert.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

What precautions do locals have to take when living in close vicinity of bears and wolves ? And how often are they seen around town so to speak ?

Metta Zenda

[Jenny07]

Everything here in Oz can get you on the east coast.
Cindy doesn't have a monopoly on it in Adelaide.

Snakes, Spiders, Sharks, fish, jellyfish, crocodiles, bunyips, goannas, octopus & drop bears. You name it, if it is alive it could ruin your day. 

On the east coast we have Brown which are aggressive, Red Bellied black and Hoop snakes which you can't outrun out there. I see quite a few on the roads when I ride and they deffinitely quickly get your attention. Multipe spiders including the Funnel Web in Sydney which if it bites you is fatal. They like hiding in your shoes!

Go to the beach to cool down and it's a minefield as well.
If you survive the sharks, Great whites, Tigers, Bull plus others we have the Box Jellyfish a known killer with the stone fish in northern Queensland.

Overall if your a little bit careless here in OZ you just might not make it home.

Jen

[Cindy]

Everything here in Oz can get you on the east coast.
Cindy doesn't have a monopoly on it in Adelaide.

Snakes, Spiders, Sharks, fish, jellyfish, crocodiles, bunyips, goannas, octopus & drop bears. You name it, if it is alive it could ruin your day. 

On the east coast we have Brown which are aggressive, Red Bellied black and Hoop snakes which you can't outrun out there. I see quite a few on the roads when I ride and they deffinitely quickly get your attention. Multipe spiders including the Funnel Web in Sydney which if it bites you is fatal. They like hiding in your shoes!

Go to the beach to cool down and it's a minefield as well.
If you survive the sharks, Great whites, Tigers, Bull plus others we have the Box Jellyfish a known killer with the stone fish in northern Queensland.

Overall if your a little bit careless here in OZ you just might not make it home.

Jen

Luckily cold beer or wine appears to be an antidote to most of the poisons!!

[Jenny07]

That's why the English are at such a high risk here as they like warm beer....

Should we tell them?

[Cindy]

That's why the English are at such a high risk here as they like warm beer....

Should we tell them?

Oh goddess no. We'd have to find a new food source for drop bears and there aren't enough NZs left.

Not sure if they could adapt to Afrikaners, too tough and sun-damaged, and we know the yankees are unhealthy, don't want the poor things to die from cholesterol poisoning - and do they have brains anyway?

I just marvel at how the Aussie snakes, spiders etc are immune from biting poms!

Evolution is marvellous.

Hee Hee (anyone I haven't insulted?)

C

[FTMDiaries]

Hee Hee (anyone I haven't insulted?)

Well... I confess I am part-Welsh. I await your barbs with gleeful anticipation. 

[Cindy]

Well... I confess I am part-Welsh. I await your barbs with gleeful anticipation. 

Problems with the Welsh is weaning the Dingos off mint sauce!

[JessicaH]

I travel a lot and have spent a lot of time in Northern Mozambique. Black Mambas, Green Mambas and Mozambican Spitting Cobras are the main snakes and they are all deadly. I watch for them but still worry more about the local police that carry AK-47s. :-(

I'm in South Africa this week and next week I think I will be in Angola, Ghana and Mozambique. I definitely worry more about the people than the wildlife!