# Meanwhile in Australia..... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2013, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779 "2013-02-09T10:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/21 "2013-02-11T00:30:25Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Why the fuck is everything in Australia so terrifying? Even the octopuses and snails can kill you. **Breaking news:** NRA petion the State Department that an armed security guard should accompany every American tourist travelling to Australia just so they would feel as safe as they are when at home. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/22 "2013-02-11T01:57:07Z")
Unofficial motto for Arizona: If it doesn’t try to stick you, sting you or bite you, its not native. I’ve had many a stand off with [javalina](http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/game_javelina.shtml). Just look at the teeth on those things. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/23 "2013-02-11T02:29:45Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > I’ve had many a stand off with javalina. Understandable - they are known to react violently if you get too close to their coffee. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/24 "2013-02-11T05:28:09Z")
Coyotes have learned new tricks to survive in the suburbs and they do eat smaller pets. Raccoons love trashcans and if they can they will get into your attic and make themselves comfy. I’m not sure of the presence of venomous snakes in my county. ---
**Author:** ![telebob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@telebob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/telebob)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/25 "2013-02-11T05:47:51Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Wearing bells & carrying pepper spray to deal with bears - screw that! You know how to tell the difference between black bear scat and grizzly scat? Black bear scat is about 2 inches in diameter and is usually full of manzanita berries. Grizzly scat is huge, full of bells, and smells like pepper. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/26 "2013-02-11T06:23:31Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have lived in Australia for almost 15 years. I have never seen a snake, and never seen a redback spider, despite frequently being in their favourite kinds of locations. I’ve never seen a redback either, but I see a snake probably every week or so (no, not the same one). Just this weekend, we had about 20 (city) friends over, standing on the verandah, and a red-belly black went slithering across the lawn in front of us, and hid in a rock wall. Reactions were mixed, but within 20 seconds of it disappearing, everyone was focused back on their beers 😃 Merkins are weird. They squeal about our snakes, spiders, etc, but they have OMG bears. Frikking huge bears that grab you and eat you while you’re still screaming! You can just step on a spider if he’s looking at you and licking his lips (put your shoes on first!). You can’t do anything if a bear is looking at you and licking his lips FFS! ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/27 "2013-02-11T06:47:34Z")
> [@Essured](#): > > I’ve never seen a redback either, but I see a snake probably every week or so (no, not the same one). Just this weekend, we had about 20 (city) friends over, standing on the verandah, and a red-belly black went slithering across the lawn in front of us, and hid in a rock wall. Reactions were mixed, but within 20 seconds of it disappearing, everyone was focused back on their beers 😃 > Merkins are weird. They squeal about our snakes, spiders, etc, but they have OMG bears. Frikking huge bears that grab you and eat you while you’re still screaming! You can just step on a spider if he’s looking at you and licking his lips (put your shoes on first!). You can’t do anything if a bear is looking at you and licking his lips FFS! nitpick Check your shoes for spiders BEFORE you put your shoes on. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/28 "2013-02-11T06:59:35Z")
Nobody’s mentioned cane toads yet. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/29 "2013-02-11T07:05:23Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > This is a good point. Sure we [used](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacoleo) to have large predators in Australia but not anymore. I used to do a lot of hiking with school groups and you just don’t have to worry about the kids getting eaten or mauled by a large predator or taking precautions about sealing food away in your camp site. Wearing bells & carrying pepper spray to deal with bears - screw that! > > So long as you’re not up north dodging croc’s, at the most you may run into a few feral pigs or dogs but they tend to either run away (pigs) or watch you from a distance (dogs). I’d be careful with kids around dingoes though. There’s been a few attacks on Fraser island over the last decade aimed mainly at kids. Including one that resulted in the death of a 9 year old boy. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/30 "2013-02-11T07:07:10Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned cane toads yet. I thought we were talking about dangerous stuff, not practicing your golf swing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/31 "2013-02-11T08:05:02Z")
> [@Essured](#): > > You can just step on a spider if he’s looking at you and licking his lips (put your shoes on first!). Spiders in Australia have LIPS? Excuse me while I pass out. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/32 "2013-02-11T12:16:14Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Spiders in Australia have LIPS? Excuse me while I pass out. All spiders have lips, it’s just that in Australia they are big enough to see. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/33 "2013-02-11T17:46:51Z")
Whichever wins, we lose ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/34 "2013-02-11T18:17:41Z")
An old classmate of mine was an Australian who was studying in Canada. He said he was absolutely shocked when he saw someone reach down to the ground and flip over a piece of plywood or corrogated tin by hand. He said that in Australia, if you want to flip over something that might have creepy crawlies underneath, you use a stick, mate! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/35 "2013-02-11T19:04:04Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > An old classmate of mine was an Australian who was studying in Canada. He said he was absolutely shocked when he saw someone reach down to the ground and flip over a piece of plywood or corrogated tin by hand. He said that in Australia, if you want to flip over something that might have creepy crawlies underneath, you use a stick, mate! Sounds like a good place to send our convicts off to! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/36 "2013-02-11T22:28:58Z")
> [@Essured](#): > > You can just step on a spider if he’s looking at you and licking his lips (put your shoes on first!). You can’t do anything if a bear is looking at you and licking his lips FFS! Sure I can. I just put on my sneakers and out run you! ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/37 "2013-02-11T23:00:21Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > To get injured by the wildlife in Australia you generally have to be either very unlucky or really stupid (like [this guy.](http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/02/13/33051_ntnews.html) I just knew this was going to be about that guy! But being drunk and stupid SHOULD carry a penalty in a place like Tennant Creek. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/38 "2013-02-12T01:30:56Z")
Yep I live in a mice leafy suburb and yes we get tons of redbacks, have had a couple of snakes etc but what really freaks me out are the white tailed spiders, they have flesh eating venom… ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/39 "2013-02-12T01:42:05Z")
Wait a minute, I’ve been to Oz a couple of times and I didn’t see a single deadly spider or snake! I feel ripped off! ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779/40 "2013-02-12T02:05:37Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > ..white tailed spiders, they have flesh eating venom… IIRC from my first-aid courses it’s actually a bacteria on the spiders’s fangs that causes the necrosis and you can get it from pretty much any spider bite. Before the white-tail got famous, most spiders big enough to get their fangs through your skin were well enough known that people would treat those bites seriously and seek treatment early. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meanwhile-in-australia/649779.md?page=3)