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New - The things that really annoy you

Horsefly sting / bite / whatever it is does indeed fucking hurt.

I think I may have the odd creepy crawlie round here that trumps that though. The red backs are particularly nice.
Is it true that you have to check your toilet before sitting down? I hear there's a nasty sort of spider in Ozzie that loves damp spots like that. But I was told this by my first boss (an Aussie expat) when I was 16; he easily could have been yanking my chain.
 
Nah - the crocs ate all those fuckers.

You do need to be careful opening the car bonnet though. Red backs and widows love engine cavities as nest sites.
 
You seen any Huntsman yet? They're fucking terrifying just because of the size of them and they jump at you.
 
Oh loads. They are everywhere in this part of Queensland.

Biggest chaps I have seen so far are southern cross spiders on the trees outside my window but they are harmless fly removal machines and therefore most welcome.
 
We have nice scorpions and the snakes are about as poisonous as it gets. If you fancy a dip box jellyfish stings are about as painful as it gets and then the sharks and crocs will eat you.

Nice place really.
 
I’ll keep the SE’s brand of vermin… At least the deadly ones are small.

The thought of living somewhere with “loads” of Huntsman spiders makes my skin crawl off my body and into the other room.
 
Is it true that you have to check your toilet before sitting down? I hear there's a nasty sort of spider in Ozzie that loves damp spots like that. But I was told this by my first boss (an Aussie expat) when I was 16; he easily could have been yanking my chain.
That was in the days of outside toilets (dunnies), where redback spiders would reside, they strangely have a preference for sheds, woodstacks, shoes that are left outside.
 
I read Bryson`s Down Under. Put me off visiting there for life.
 
Was going to post on the ‘happy’ thread but given the current topic will stick it here.

Have had limited movement in my left shoulder (can’t raise left hand/arm much above chest height (makes putting a t shirt on very difficult for example)) and is impossible to sleep on the left side too, which was a byproduct of the Lyme’s disease from the tick bite last year. After numerous tests, scans, X-rays, musculoskeletal confirmed recently it should repair with physio and be no lasting damage, but to expect it to take between 18 months and 3 years to get back to normal!

Can function ok as long as the arm is in a lower position but was quite worried it was getting worse and would eventually be very debilitating so relieved to know that’s not the case and things are on the mend.

So on that note just be very careful in any countryside/wooded areas. The tick has to be infected for it to give you Lymes and the assumption is it’s quite rare, but I’ve has 3 ticks in 14 months - the first causing stage 2 dissemination Lymes (6 week’s antibiotics required) the second a few months later (diagnosed early because I saw the telltale ‘ring’ and recognised the symptoms from before (3 week’s antibiotics this time)) and the third one (don’t know if that was infected because I saw and felt it very early, burrowing away (AND I happened to already on antibiotics from the second one!), which might just be very unlucky, but also suggests the infected ones might be much more prevalent than we realise.

Have been advised to use DEET repellent for the rides and walking the dog which seems fair enough but it’s getting a bit serious if you have to use it before washing the car/playing bowls/out in the garden etc.

Anyway, that’s sort of good news, but a note of caution to all too.
 
Just to carry on the venemous creature stuff. I would add that I'm not happy about this event;

A holidaymaker has spent three days in hospital after being bitten by a venomous snake in Cornwall. Chris Laing, 37, lives in Melbourne where he has avoided Oz’s various dangerous animals even when hiking in the bush.
But during a trip to the UK he had to be rushed for emergency treatment after he was bitten by an adder. Brit Chris was raised in St Just, Cornwall and moved Down Under in 2010.
 
My golden rule on snakes as told to me by an old guy many years ago.
If you see a snake and the snake sees you, wait to see if the snake runs away, if not it is poisonous so run like fuck. So far its working.
 
My nephew works for one of the utility subcontractors and a month or two ago lifted a manhole cover to turn water off and was confronted with this:

IMG_6685.jpg

Just a grass snake so not as dangerous as Leeds’ adder, but I still think I’d have shat myself.
 
I was told that the shape of the head is a clue. A venemous snake has a 'triangular' shaped head.
 
I have seen a brown snake here. Crossed a woodland path in front of me. You DEFINITELY don’t want to get bitten by one of those.
 
I was told that the shape of the head is a clue. A venemous snake has a 'triangular' shaped head.
Generally true, although there are some species of non-venomous that have learned to flatten their heads to appear triangular. Self-defense by way of intimidation innit.
 
My cats, as cats do leave their catch outside the door for me to see, congratulate them and then they eat it.
Still half asleep one morning i opened the front door to take them their breakfast and they had left an "astritsa", a very poisonous snake out here, on the door step. They ate their breakfast off the doorstep that morning, and for the first time i had my morning crap, before my cup of tea and fag.
 
Going back to horseflies (often called clegs over here). I've read that they are attracted to the colour blue and that it is only the females that bite.
I'd say I've been bitten at least 20 times this summer, we can be walking the dog and they make a beeline 🤔 for me and don't touch the Mrs or dog.
I wonder if they are attracted to the alcohol emitting from my pores or summat.
Plenty of false widow spiders around here too, not been bitten by one as yet thankfully....
 
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