Suddenly, there it was, 2mm from my eyes and looking straight at me. Well, probably not, but it was big enough and scary looking enough for me to reach for the bug spray, but as I was spraying it, the wind changed and it blew straight into my face. Had I not ducked, the outcome could have been very different indeed, because although this is not a "deadly" spider, a bite in the eye could have been very nasty. (In case you're wondering, the painting is to size.)
Australia, with its golden beaches, blue, blue skies, and ravishingly beautiful natural wonders to behold, is also "deadly". And when I say deadly, I am talking about the many critters both big and small, that really can be deadly for human beings.
My first swim in the Pacific ocean introduced me to the deadly jellyfish called Portuguese Man of War. People waving at the beach were not just nice and friendly, they were signalling for me to get out of the water! Those floating blue and brown things that I thought were innocent jellyfish were not innocent, rather the opposite. I had a lucky escape. As I got to know different "aussies"(Australians), they recognised my cluelessness as to what to watch out for and kindly offered me advice as to critters to be careful about: spiders, snakes, scorpions, tics, ants, disease carrying mozzies, jellyfish, stonefish, leeches, sharks, etc.etc....the list was very long. Australia, I decided then and still believe, is a "deadly" country. (If you are an original landowner of Australia, an Aboriginal, then the word deadly can also be an expression for something being awesome. In my case, it also means both.)
In the beginning, there seemed a lot to remember: check your shoes before you put them on because some spiders like to live in them, check yourself for tics; little bloodsuckers that love to suck your blood in any of your crevices and make you very ill, always keep an eye out for snakes if you wander about in the bush, if you see little red or white ants, anything made from wood is in trouble, big red-black ants; bull ants, are nasty and for someone with allergy sensitivities can cause all matter of problems, and then there are the Huntsman spiders.....they can be huge, they are fast, they don't make a web, and they are numerous. Although they seldom bite humans, they are big enough sometimes to make you worry that they are gonna take off with your cat!
I was told by an aussie friend: "don't worry about the Huntsman spiders, they are basically pest control, they get rid of cockroaches, geckos, and other bugs. Now, the ones to worry about are the redbacks, the white tails, and funnel webs". What???? As far as I was concerned, the only spiders not to worry about, were Daddy-long-legs.
Somehow, they forgot to mention Wolf spiders. Classified as non-lethal, they are still venomous.
Now, this one, looks really scary and although they say that it's not aggressive, they are wrong!
I learned about this particular species when I went to my mailbox to fetch the mail. I opened the lid and staring back at me, standing on its hind legs, fangs and the rest of its legs up in the air and ready to attack, was a grey, hairy, scary, large wolf spider. Man, this spider had moxie.
He was ready to take me on although compared to him I was the size of a skyscraper!! Sheesh.
I got the bug spray. What I didn't know then but found out later that day was that the lawn that went around our house was like a Wolf spider metropolis; there were burrows everywhere all inhabited by wolf spiders. Something more drastic was called for other than bug spray. I poured turps down the holes and lit them on fire. Now, if anyone of you thinks that my action was too drastic, in my defense, at this stage my son was quite young and suffered with allergies often resulting in severe asthma attacks and since his life was far more important to me than the wolf spiders, they had to go.
But enough about spiders, let's move on to smaller critters such as midgies, mozzies, (mosquitoes) and flying ants. A midgie is a small fly, so small that it's barely visible to the eye, but it too is a bloodsucker and often hunt in a pack, and for some people, the bites can make them very ill.
Barely in Australia for a year, I was bitten by a disease carrying mozzie with the result that I had bouts of migraine and fevers for over two years...come on now, even a mozzie is that powerful in Australia???
Ready to come to Australia for a visit yet? Hehehehe....
Well, here's the thing....
It's like my aussie friends told me already in the beginning, "you get used to it and develop an awareness". Something moves in the corner of your eye....carefully check it out, check your shoes before you put them on, after a bush walk check for leeches and tics, before you go for a swim check the water for blue and brown things, before you lift a rock, a piece of wood, etc.....wear gloves, basically, pay attention to where you are and the critters that share that space with you.
Inspite of all the deadly critters, I am still living here in Australia because it is also offers a nature of magnificent beauty, long golden beaches, clear blue skies, a sense of space, a sense of potential, a sense of freedom, a sense of possibility, and a sense of discovery.
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."
(Charles M. Schultz)
Australia, with its golden beaches, blue, blue skies, and ravishingly beautiful natural wonders to behold, is also "deadly". And when I say deadly, I am talking about the many critters both big and small, that really can be deadly for human beings.
My first swim in the Pacific ocean introduced me to the deadly jellyfish called Portuguese Man of War. People waving at the beach were not just nice and friendly, they were signalling for me to get out of the water! Those floating blue and brown things that I thought were innocent jellyfish were not innocent, rather the opposite. I had a lucky escape. As I got to know different "aussies"(Australians), they recognised my cluelessness as to what to watch out for and kindly offered me advice as to critters to be careful about: spiders, snakes, scorpions, tics, ants, disease carrying mozzies, jellyfish, stonefish, leeches, sharks, etc.etc....the list was very long. Australia, I decided then and still believe, is a "deadly" country. (If you are an original landowner of Australia, an Aboriginal, then the word deadly can also be an expression for something being awesome. In my case, it also means both.)
In the beginning, there seemed a lot to remember: check your shoes before you put them on because some spiders like to live in them, check yourself for tics; little bloodsuckers that love to suck your blood in any of your crevices and make you very ill, always keep an eye out for snakes if you wander about in the bush, if you see little red or white ants, anything made from wood is in trouble, big red-black ants; bull ants, are nasty and for someone with allergy sensitivities can cause all matter of problems, and then there are the Huntsman spiders.....they can be huge, they are fast, they don't make a web, and they are numerous. Although they seldom bite humans, they are big enough sometimes to make you worry that they are gonna take off with your cat!
I was told by an aussie friend: "don't worry about the Huntsman spiders, they are basically pest control, they get rid of cockroaches, geckos, and other bugs. Now, the ones to worry about are the redbacks, the white tails, and funnel webs". What???? As far as I was concerned, the only spiders not to worry about, were Daddy-long-legs.
Somehow, they forgot to mention Wolf spiders. Classified as non-lethal, they are still venomous.
Now, this one, looks really scary and although they say that it's not aggressive, they are wrong!
I learned about this particular species when I went to my mailbox to fetch the mail. I opened the lid and staring back at me, standing on its hind legs, fangs and the rest of its legs up in the air and ready to attack, was a grey, hairy, scary, large wolf spider. Man, this spider had moxie.
He was ready to take me on although compared to him I was the size of a skyscraper!! Sheesh.
I got the bug spray. What I didn't know then but found out later that day was that the lawn that went around our house was like a Wolf spider metropolis; there were burrows everywhere all inhabited by wolf spiders. Something more drastic was called for other than bug spray. I poured turps down the holes and lit them on fire. Now, if anyone of you thinks that my action was too drastic, in my defense, at this stage my son was quite young and suffered with allergies often resulting in severe asthma attacks and since his life was far more important to me than the wolf spiders, they had to go.
But enough about spiders, let's move on to smaller critters such as midgies, mozzies, (mosquitoes) and flying ants. A midgie is a small fly, so small that it's barely visible to the eye, but it too is a bloodsucker and often hunt in a pack, and for some people, the bites can make them very ill.
Barely in Australia for a year, I was bitten by a disease carrying mozzie with the result that I had bouts of migraine and fevers for over two years...come on now, even a mozzie is that powerful in Australia???
Ready to come to Australia for a visit yet? Hehehehe....
Well, here's the thing....
It's like my aussie friends told me already in the beginning, "you get used to it and develop an awareness". Something moves in the corner of your eye....carefully check it out, check your shoes before you put them on, after a bush walk check for leeches and tics, before you go for a swim check the water for blue and brown things, before you lift a rock, a piece of wood, etc.....wear gloves, basically, pay attention to where you are and the critters that share that space with you.
Inspite of all the deadly critters, I am still living here in Australia because it is also offers a nature of magnificent beauty, long golden beaches, clear blue skies, a sense of space, a sense of potential, a sense of freedom, a sense of possibility, and a sense of discovery.
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."
(Charles M. Schultz)
