Dangerous Australians, Blue's Hideaway

Snakes.
As with most other countries we have to take the good with the bad and for all our friendly, cuddly Australian animals, we also have some nasty ones too. High on this list would have to be our snake population. Snakes are generally very shy and will slither quickly and quietly away when they see man, but if confronted they can and will defend themselves. If they see what they think is a feed, they move very quickly to obtain it, as was the case when I was walking out in my front yard and saw a 1 meter long, green snake in hot pursuit of a frog not five foot from my front door. Luckily the kids were at school and the snake was not poisonous. One of the more common dangerous snakes is the Red Belly Black Snake , it is found right the way down the eastern coast of Australia. This snake has an average length of 1.5 meters but larger ones have been sighted. Its venom is highly toxic and would be able to make an adult very sick. It will hiss and rear up if confronted, but will scamper away at the first safe opportunity.

PLEASE NOTE:- Never try to pick up or get to close to a snake. If you do see one, just move out of its way. Many a curious person finds themselves in the hospital receiving anti-venom and wishing they had just kept their distance.....

Other snakes to watch out for are:-
Brown snake, found all over Australia,
Tiger Snake, found in Southern parts of Australia,
Taipan, lives on the Northern Coast Of Australia as far down as Brisbane,
Death Adder, has been sighted all over the mainland of Australia.

This spider, a close relative to the Black Widow spider, is found all over Australia. The black body of the spider has a red slash down the center of its abdomen and likes to hide in dark shady places. The male is very small and not as aggressive as its mate. The adult female however, can reach up to 2-3 cm long and if your bitten, she can cause immediate pain, with sweating and vomiting following.

Our Reef fish are mostly beautiful fish but we do have one that can and will cause distress if you have encounter with it, The Stonefish. It is sometimes found in the coastal waters off Queensland and The Northern Territory, lurking around in rock pools. These fish seem to camouflaged themselves well with in the surrounding area. This fish can grow to 50cm long and with 13 poisonous spines along its back, can inflict server pain. When exploring our beaches and rock pools it is always advised to wear some sort of foot wear to avoid these nasty creatures.

Everyone loves to swim in our cool clear beaches but beware there are hidden dangers. Just recently, on one of our local beaches, a pack of sharks was feasting on bait fish not 3-4 meters away from the surfers and swimmers. The surf life-savers spent most of the day chasing the sharks back out to sea, as expected the beach was closed. Most sharks tend to leave humans alone but don't be complacent when swimming. Most of our beaches have shark nets that help keep sharks at bay but you often hear of surfers being attacked, sometimes with fatal consequences.

The Australian Paralysis or bush tick is a small creature that can be no bigger than the size of a pin head but can cause some people symptoms of extreme state if they are allergic to them. This tick will drop on to human or animal where it will bury its self in the skin and feed on blood. As the tick feeds it injects toxins into the blood stream, you may not notice you have this little creature on you untill you either start to feel unwell or have an area which is sore. So after a stroll in one of our beautiful untouched bush lands or forests it is best to check and make sure none of these little fellows are hiding in any crevices or around hair lines. There is an anti venom available for tick bites.

A spider that looks like it has come out some horror movie is the Funnel Web spider, a hairy, black spider with large, powerful fangs, these fangs can penetrate a finger nail. It usually is found around Sydney but sightings have been recorded as far north as Brisbane. It is a ground-dweller, lurking around rocks and crevices. During the rainy season, the Funnel Web is more active and sometimes enters houses where most bites occur. If this spider is disturbed it will rear up on it hind legs (this displays their massive fangs) and will try to bite. If bitten, you will certainly need medical assistance but there is an anti-venom which has saved countless lives.

Our Australian waters are cool and refreshing to swim in but as you have read above there can be danger lurking around the corner. This is true also with the humble jelly fish, they seem to be a delicate creature, with soft bodies and long graceful tentacles but be assured there are some which can cause serve pain and discomfort, others with life threatening stings. The Box Jellyfish, sometimes known as the sea wasp is one of these marine creatures, with a body about the size of a mans head and up to sixty tentacles, they are classed as extremely dangerous to swimmers and are found from Bundaberg on the east coast to Geraldton on the west coast. Medical treatment is required immediately with the victim given anti venom. In extreme cases respiratory difficulties occur. Most of our surf lifesaving clubs have anti venom so always swim in patrolled beaches.