Australia's Deadliest. Thanks for the Fosters beer and the Body Bag.

i'm not sure if anyone has included on this list the drop bear...its not often you hear about it or its attacks...

see the link:

drop bear link

reply to post by zazzafrazz

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Haha Nice one !

Reminds me of when I was about 15 years old and a truckies offsider delivering things to various places, I remember delivering some things to a restaurant in Nedlands here, that was on the water - Steves on the jetty, I think it was called, cant recall now, but I remember as I was walking in, these two American tourists, and old couple, were amazed at all the jelly fish in the water. The old guy got my attention and asked me, seriously, "Are those Jellyfish dangerous?" and I - in all honesty and with no thought about it, replied - "Yeah, but only if they sting ya."

The looks on their faces was priceless.

Back then, I was still so unaware of how Australia appeared to the rest of the world, they must have thought I was some freak Aussie that Steve Irwin lived up to create later on in years..

haha, cheers for the thread, we certainly are unique down here, and as Dylan Moran even quipped once, the Sun... you live about 3/4 of a mile from it...

www.youtube.com...

he's great..

[edit on 5/10/2009 by Ha`la`tha]

Just so long as they have some vegemite (or now for even more protection the new "iSnack 2.0") and the biggest stick they can find, they will be right.

Aww baby dugites are soo cute tho, I found one in the front yard when I was about 9 years old... I had no bloody idea what it was, the cat was playing with it.

heh, suffice to say, I got really close and personal with it and a twig........ oO

I seem to be a flukey bugger when it comes to things like that... I've cut thru electrical chords as a kid, using pliers... still here to remember it.. What pretty blue lights and sapping noises..

but that snake, once I learned what it was, ohhhh boy...



My old man took it into his work in a jar, and they told him what it was and promptly terminated it. We did live on 35 acres of yard however, full of timber and in an industrial area, suprising we only ever encountered one snake.

reply to post by zazzafrazz

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when you say dangerous to humans.they don't go seeking humans to kill,its just like a dog of cat or any animal,corner it,chase it,kick it or something stupid like that,and it will defend itself.just like a koala,completely harmless,if you leave them alone and don't threaten them,like the tourist hurt by the goanna,they were just something for the goanna to escape and run-up

yep in cairns they manage to kill off a few european tourists every year

i got bitten by a white tailed spider : rotting flesh spider ; and my toe started to go black and drop off; but luckily the antibiotics worked, altho they tasted foul.

had a spider the size of a plate on my wall a few days ago. nice huntsman. they follow me. i think they want to be friends. i dont tho unfortunately.

I'm in Tasmania and encountered wild Tassie Devils in their natural habitat (dense bushland). Although their reputation doesn't include actually attacking healthy humans I wouldn't trust those things for a second.



The tame well-fed and cared for ones you meet in the sanctuaries are cute but remember those jaws are designed to crush bones with ease.

The tiger snakes here are almost big enough to take you home before biting you but fortunately they're pretty sleepy and tend to stay out of your way.

The smallest critters are a big concern too like the European wasps - disturb a nest and they'll all come out to attack you with very possibly fatal results. We also have an interesting variety of bullant known as the 'jackjumper' which has caused quite a few fatalities especially in people with an allergic reaction to their incredibly painful sting. Their name comes from their behaviour of jumping when disturbed - they move very fast for a large ant and seem to be aware of your presence almost to the point of stalking you if you come too close. Just 1 sting from one of these and you'll be retreating real fast - I have colonies of them in my backyard I've been trying to control for 20 years without much success.

[edit on 5/10/2009 by Pilgrum]

reply to post by Pilgrum

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I hate to sound stupid, are the native? LOl the name made me always think they were foreign. They are nasty, we had a hive above the roller door as a kid, the nest was as hard as concrete.

It's a shame that we don't have the thylacine anymore... To know that animal was a marsupial but to look at it, I would give anything to see them today..

Looked like a dog, but different.. and were not canines at all - lending to the theory that environment shapes evolution.






Wikipedia quote added just for info.. amazing these magnificent creatures were killed to extinction by the early settlers... ugh.. time machine please thanks.

[edit on 5/10/2009 by Ha`la`tha]

You see my only irrational fear is spiders. I had said huntsmen the size of a plate crawl across my face when it got into my hair as a kid. I canstill see its black leg acroass my eye...eeeeek. I nearly died on the spot from fear. I know Hunstman are harmless but no 9 year old should have to deal with that. Sigh~ Spiders arent my friends...Sorry Steve Irwin, but I just cant make ammends with them.

reply to post by zazzafrazz

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Yes the wasps are immigrants but they fit in really well with all the other nasty critters we have down here

reply to post by Ha`la`tha

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The Tassie tiger!!!!! I would love to see one.Damn humans and our exctinctions we cause. Have you a good link on them, They werent dog? Were they consider dangerous? I must have skived off every Australian Studies lesson at school, Im hopeless.

I did have a decent link a while back to the reasoning behind why they were hunted, I can't recall it now, but I'll go back and check - but iirc it was just the fear that these 'animals' were attacking sheep that people put a bounty on their carcasses.

Actually, Wiki has most of what I remember - I know I didn't read Wiki when I first read about the tassie tigers, but it looks like a lot of what I read has been used to update the site -

en.wikipedia.org...

I feel so sad and sick reading every time I think about how they died out for nothing, especially when you see footage of them before they all died out.

YouTube Link

[edit on 5/10/2009 by Ha`la`tha]

reply to post by Ha`la`tha

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Thx mate
That footage is actually quite hard to watch, it made me tear up. I hope the sightings people have are true and some still exist.

Was actually watching a doco on Tassie Tigers a few months ago. There are still sightings of it. If its still around, and its not impossible if you take a look at Tassie and its surroundings I hope they leave it alone.
And yes for years they were thought to be a part of the canine population. They were truely and original aimal, amongst the many we have here.
Rather funnily I just finished watch a fox doco on Aussies most deadliest critters, and they just confired that the Red is a part of the widow family.

Also that there are 36 species of Funnel In Oz (sorry if already said).
This just on now, and summer is the worst time for them, as they leave their burrows to search for a mate. Funnell web anti venom since the 80'S when introduced has been given over a 100 times with no fatalities.

Oh, heh in trying to find the link I forgot the other parts -

No, they were marsupials like wombats, kanagroos, etc. Pouched breeding. Apparently having joeys in their pouches for a lot of the year.

They had just evolved as carnivores. They, from most reports, were unlikely dangerous, being nocturnal. They did appear to be predatory in packs, but also seemed timid. I don't remember reading anything to claim they were vicious.

I think the biggest reason they were targetted is because they were largly limited to Tasmania, unseen during day, heard at night - which gives the illusion of a terrible creature - and were blamed for attacks on flocks.

All in all, typical human arrogance wiping out a fear, rather than learning about it.

Actually Dingos are notoriously shy of humans. The best native stalker we have is actually the salt water crocodile. They can smell blood in water from kilometers away

Crap sorry about the double up on info. Great link We must hav been typing round the same time

You and me both mate !! I would love nothing more to be honest..

Who knows, they are/were indeed elusive to begin with !!

Fingers crossed, I say.

reply to post by OzWeatherman

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Yeah I know. It was a small pun on my part re the comparisons I was making