RESEARCH - creepy crawlies etc...

[Guest MR&MRSC]

Hi there,

 

Can anyone shed some light on the common things you find that bite, sting or are generally very very nasty. This is one pom that is just covering an area of research to get my mind set in gear. (Not even applied for visa yet, but starting to do background work). Anything to do with home, garden, THE SEA, any advice woud be great.

 

I have looked up the Huntsman, its a 'mini beast', watched some clips on utube, read its habits and what to do if bitten etc... you know the sort of thing. A little like a horror movie, all I needed was some tacky music and a torch to emphasise my facial expressions!

 

Any infor please?

 

Tar very much chucks.

[Diane]

The huntsman is actually one of the good guys - just looks a bit scary because it's big and furry! The Redback is the only really dangerous one - they are small, black and shiny and the females have a red dot or stripe on their back - they are shy and mostly live outside (and the huntsman eats them!). The other one that is not in itself poisonous but can cause a nasty reaction if it bites you is the whitetail (sometimes called white tip) - this is a smallish spider that likes going into clothes that are left lying on the floor (apparently!) and is diamond shaped with what looks like a splodge of tippex on its tail end. It eats the daddy long legs spiders which are themselves very poisonous but not dangerous to humans as they are so flimsy their teeth wouldn't pierce your skin. if a whitetail has munched on one of these though directly before biting you, you may get a nasty reaction because they don't clean their teeth between meals and their teeth put the daddy long legs poison into your blood stream!

 

Heard enough yet? I'm the biggest arachnophobe known to man but can honestly say I've seen less here than we used to see in England! Never yet had one in the bath here anyway!

 

Have a look at this on Youtube for a bit of a laugh - http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KeMarRzd28w

 

Diane

[Guest swampo]

Had our first Huntsman on Sunday evening. It was between the sliding patio door and the fly screen and about 2 1/2 half inches ccross. I managed to look at it from the safety of the dining room with the glass between us. My OH, what a hero he is, got the Betterware spider catcher and managed to squash the beastie into it before releasing it in some nearby scrub. Don't know what I/we would have done had it been in the house thoug!!!!

[Guest graandjac]

:biglaugh:You have nothing to worry abour , huntsman are the good guys who eat the nasty red backs....which are poisonous, we have them all round the outside of the house but they dont bother anyone. There are white tips which are not good at all but havent even seen one in 7 months, brown snakes but again haven't even seen one yet.....oh yes Great white sharks:shocked:, but its ok the shark helicopter goes up and down every weekend. I would put your your hard research into far more important things than the bugs.......you have nothing to worry about.....!!!!!!!lol

[Guest Django]

Nope its as Graham says everything is cool on the critter front. We have been here a little over 2 months and in this time have only had to remove 4 spiders from the house:biglaugh:, and the kids have only had 3 brown snakes captured at their school. All run of the mill stuff really. Nothing at all to worry about.

 

Its those damn flies that hack me off.

 

Pete

[Guest swampo]

Yes, those bl****y flies are a pain, I think mine is called Fred, it finds me every time I step out doors LOL. Agree with Gra, concentrate on the more important stuff, the creepies are not that big an issue.

[Guest the4hopes]

Had our first red back on our front door!! Hopefully the last!!?? Only been here 6 weeks.

[Guest MR&MRSC]

Thank you for all your responses. I know I need to do some serious research, I have spent over a year covering most areas in general but not in depth. So I thought I would look at a negative of moving and one that was not a "requirement", if you know what I mean.

 

Great sense of humour from all, as usual and I especially loved the little jiggy Auz. no. on YouTube (thanks Diane). Great stuff .

 

No, back to reality, have seen enough!!!

 

Thank again. Leila

[Guest jen&ian]

We don't get many spiders in our house, in fact fewer than we got in England. But did find a giant centipede when taking down some curtains the other day it was gross and apparently can give a nasty bite (not fatal but painful)

 

Jen:)

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

We don't get many spiders in our house, in fact fewer than we got in England. But did find a giant centipede when taking down some curtains the other day it was gross and apparently can give a nasty bite (not fatal but painful)

 

Jen:)

We havent had many spiders, mostly white tips, had one in my bra once:goofy: serves me right for leaving it on the floor!!! They are quite slow and easy to catch with a bit of tissue.

What I get most of are earwigs, are they called that here???

 

As for centipedes Jen I have had 2 of those in my bedroom they are the worst things to look at all those feet and the body:arghh:, terrified of them!!!

sarah

Ps flies and mossies are the most annoying things, sat in the garden last night for less than 5 mins and got 2 bites!!! And i wasnt fishing!!!

[Diane]

Got an email at work today recommending spraying round with a solution of listerine - apparently keeps the mozzys and flies at bay. Will give it a try next warm evening but thought I'd share it in case anyone gets a chance to try before me!

[Guest graandjac]

We havent had many spiders, mostly white tips, had one in my bra once:goofy: serves me right for leaving it on the floor!!! They are quite slow and easy to catch with a bit of tissue.

What I get most of are earwigs, are they called that here???

 

As for centipedes Jen I have had 2 of those in my bedroom they are the worst things to look at all those feet and the body:arghh:, terrified of them!!!

sarah

Ps flies and mossies are the most annoying things, sat in the garden last night for less than 5 mins and got 2 bites!!! And i wasnt fishing!!!

 

Poor white tip a fate worse than death... suffocation...!!!!

[the fishers]

:biglaugh:You have nothing to worry abour , huntsman are the good guys who eat the nasty red backs....which are poisonous, we have them all round the outside of the house but they dont bother anyone. There are white tips which are not good at all but havent even seen one in 7 months, brown snakes but again haven't even seen one yet.....oh yes Great white sharks:shocked:, but its ok the shark helicopter goes up and down every weekend. I would put your your hard research into far more important things than the bugs.......you have nothing to worry about.....!!!!!!!lol

 

 

HA HA HA HA HA.......so apart from the spiders, the snakes, the great whites, there's nothing to worry about.........except the annoying flies!!

Seriously though, we got over our fear of spiders/snakes by visiting a tropical reptile park in Syon Park, London where we had tarantulas crawling over us etc (see attatchment).

Would recommend it to anyone who's heading down under and a bit unsure about the critters!

Personally can't wait to do a cage dive with the white sharks.

Hamish