EddieB Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Yes, Australia (and Victoria in particular) is home to some pretty scary creatures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Arrrggghhh Australian No-Rules Football Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John ks Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 These are fairly harmless But to have one of these roaming your home John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) Yes, Australia (and Victoria in particular) is home to some pretty scary creatures. K200C93016b.jpg 1U99035a.jpg Some of our creatures have taken a fair toll on English tourists over the years! Edited September 13, 2017 by monkeysarefun 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) These are fairly harmless 100_1436.JPG But to have one of these roaming your home IMG_0125.JPG John Ah, the Huntsman. I like it when I see one on the outside of my car Because at least I know he isn't hiding on top of my sun visor, waiting for when I flip it down, so he's about 8 inches from my face as I drive at 100km/hr into the sun. Thats the Huntsmans favourite party trick! Edited August 9, 2017 by monkeysarefun 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Ah, the Huntsman. I like it when I see one on the outside of my car huntsman (1024x768).jpg Because at least I know he isn't hiding on top of my sun visor.... How do you know he's the only one in/on your car? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Was it your housemate or the possum doing the screaming? Both, I suspect, but it was a fairly crowded few minutes so the details are a bit fuzzy . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Some of our creatures have taken a fair toll on English tourists over the years! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa_iG_W0gvk Indeed, some have only returned home with ashes... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Was it your housemate or the possum doing the screaming? Some justification for screaming - the possum eats, roots and leaves. (From long before Lynne Truss and her bowdlerised panda). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 9, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 9, 2017 Yes, Australia (and Victoria in particular) is home to some pretty scary creatures. K200C93016b.jpg 1U99035a.jpg Arrrggghhh Australian No-Rules Football Otherwise known as ariel ping-pong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted August 9, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) Australian embuggerances:1. The Drop Bear. Only known defence is to apply Vegemite liberally behind the ears. Also the only safe use for Vegemite.2. The Sheila. No known defence for the unsuspecting male - compliance with her demands is always advised if survival is required.3. The Footie. Also known as egg-chasing or the testosterone religion. I mean how on earth does one take a corner kick on an oval. And since when does a goal score six???4. The Beer. Notoriously cold and revolting. Produces violence and severe hangovers. Can also produce excessive wind with or without solids included. You might be safe with a micro-brewery product.5. The Bloke. Identified by his uniform of singlet, shorts, thongs (flip-flops, not those thongs), half-smoked roll-up and hair in an unkempt mullet style. Usually drives a beat-up Holden Commodore at least 20 years old. Biosecurity is taken seriously in Australia. Sort of. Its isolation means that it doesn't have many of the common pests and diseases known everywhere else. Its farming economy might not survive a serious outbreak of something nasty. You can't legally bring in anything edible (not even that pack of cough sweets/lollies/candy) unless you declare it to Customs and they approve. Mostly they're reasonable. Tell them you have a sealed pack of choccy biscuits you bought in London as a gift for your mother and they'll let it in. Try to sneak it through without declaring it and they'll nab it - those sniffer dogs they have in the terminals are rather good at their job. Travel into or out of the fruit-fly exclusion zone and you'll see signs and bins as shown in a post above. The chances of being stopped and checked are very very small though the penalties exceed a slap on the wrist if you're caught. Something like 80% of the world's venomous creatures live only in Australia but they're not out to hurt you. Unless you upset them by, for example, treading on a snake, swimming with the jellyfish or cuddling a funnel-web spider. In most urban areas you don't need to check under the toilet seat (though it is advised in a few places) and out bush you're lucky to even find a toilet seat - the dunny contains an oil barrel at which you stand or over which you squat. And if it's full to the line when it's your turn you take the shovel and bury the entire contents downwind. My (English) brother-in-law was out on a visit during which we took him to see some native wildlife. He ran away from an echidna (which is rather like a giant hedgehog) when it rattled its spines. He then found himself face-to-beak with an emu. "Wha ..... what .... what's that ....... ?????" uttered trembling BiL trying urgently to control his anal sphincter. He had imagined emus to be the same size as Rod Hull's little glove puppet!!! Australia is safe. 98% of the time. The other 2% is accounted for by all the blokes and sheilas you meet. Plus the occasional Hawthorn supporter. Enjoy it responsibly. Take nothing in and nothing out except memories and photos. Edited August 9, 2017 by Gwiwer 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted August 9, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 9, 2017 That's another thing to be afraid of! Better Dame Eda at your function, than Sir Les! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) Australian embuggerances: 1. The Drop Bear. Only known defence is to apply Vegemite liberally behind the ears. Also the only safe use for Vegemite. 2. The Sheila. No known defence for the unsuspecting male - compliance with her demands is always advised if survival is required. 3. The Footie. Also known as egg-chasing or the testosterone religion. I mean how on earth does one take a corner kick on an oval. And since when does a goal score six??? 4. The Beer. Notoriously cold and revolting. Produces violence and severe hangovers. Can also produce excessive wind with or without solids included. You might be safe with a micro-brewery product. 5. The Bloke. Identified by his uniform of singlet, shorts, thongs (flip-flops, not those thongs), half-smoked roll-up and hair in an unkempt mullet style. Usually drives a beat-up Holden Commodore at least 20 years old. Then there's these: Biosecurity is taken seriously in Australia. Sort of. Its isolation means that it doesn't have many of the common pests and diseases known everywhere else. Its farming economy might not survive a serious outbreak of something nasty..... What about all those bunnies released by that fool Thomas Austin of Winchelsea back in about 1859? Edited August 9, 2017 by Horsetan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted August 9, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 9, 2017 What about all those bunnies released by that fool Thomas Austin of Winchelsea back in about 1859? But there are rabbit-proof fences ........ ......... oh errrrrr ....... They're not actually rabbit-proof, it seems Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 And for all the dangerous things, we do have some super cuties.... Who can resist a quokka: Or a peacock spider! 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ikks Posted August 10, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 10, 2017 "Biosecurity is taken seriously in Australia. Sort of. Its isolation means that it doesn't have many of the common pests and diseases known everywhere else. Its farming economy might not survive a serious outbreak of something nasty. You can't legally bring in anything edible (not even that pack of cough sweets/lollies/candy) unless you declare it to Customs and they approve. Mostly they're reasonable. Tell them you have a sealed pack of choccy biscuits you bought in London as a gift for your mother and they'll let it in. Try to sneak it through without declaring it and they'll nab it - those sniffer dogs they have in the terminals are rather good at their job. Travel into or out of the fruit-fly exclusion zone and you'll see signs and bins as shown in a post above. The chances of being stopped and checked are very very small though the penalties exceed a slap on the wrist if you're caught." When my mate Dave arrived here in 1971(no sniffer dogs then!!), he attempted to pass through customs and was told to to open his bags, the ensuing search eventually revealed a rather soggy package at the bottom of his carry on luggage. A please explain followed! In the package were four cheese and tomato sandwiches lovingly prepared by his mum for the journey.....Dave had completely forgotten about them!!. The Customs official gingerly picked them up and deposited them into an appropriate receptacle and with a glare told Dave to move on. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 (English) brother-in-law was out on a visit during which we took him to see some native wildlife. He ran away from an echidna (which is rather like a giant hedgehog) when it rattled its spines. He then found himself face-to-beak with an emu. "Wha ..... what .... what's that ....... ?????" uttered trembling BiL trying urgently to control his anal sphincter. He had imagined emus to be the same size as Rod Hull's little glove puppet!!! . I've found emus much funnier since being told, by a colleague whose wife deals with them professionally, that the way to dominate them is to hold up a stick with eyes on it, which causes the emu to perceive you as a bigger emu. A bird so dim is almost inherently amusing . 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 A friend's 10 year old was trying to get a photo of an emu. The emu kept advancing on him, so he would step backwards, and the emu would follow. He eventually went backwards over a log and into a ditch, to the amusement of all the rest of us watching him! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 I've found emus much funnier since being told, by a colleague whose wife deals with them professionally, that the way to dominate them is to hold up a stick with eyes on it, which causes the emu to perceive you as a bigger emu. A bird so dim is almost inherently amusing . I've read advice like that for a brown bear encounter. If you have a backpack on, hold it above your head to make yourself look bigger. I'd say good luck with that! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted August 10, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 10, 2017 I've read advice like that for a brown bear encounter. If you have a backpack on, hold it above your head to make yourself look bigger. I'd say good luck with that! What steps do you take? Bloody great big ones! Not true, because they can and will run faster than you, but it's funny! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Some justification for screaming - the possum eats, roots and leaves. I always thought that was wombats. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddy Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 There may be Rabbit Proof fences and Dingo fences for that matter but there are two animals over here that are unstoppable, Wombats and Scrub Turkeys.................. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 (edited) Australian embuggerances: 5. The Bloke. Identified by his uniform of singlet, shorts, thongs (flip-flops, not those thongs), half-smoked roll-up and hair in an unkempt mullet style. Usually drives a beat-up Holden Commodore at least 20 years old. Naaah. Not a Commodore mate, unless it's the Ute. Suddenly I'm remembering "You're not taking the Kingswood!" Something like 80% of the world's venomous creatures live only in Australia but they're not out to hurt you. Unless you upset them by, for example, treading on a snake, ... Not just stepping on them. Mate of mine at Uni was an avid rock climber. He tells a story of a technical climb (using pitons) where he pulled himself up a ledge to come face to fangs with a brown snake sunning on the ledge. He fell. He tells the story with animation making a 'ping' noise representing each of the pitons anchoring his rope popping out of the rock wall during his free fall. The last piton and his climbing mate on the other end held. His leg got entangled in the rope and had a big egg shaped bulge on his shin as the conversation starter for that story. My (English) brother-in-law was out on a visit during which we took him to see some native wildlife. He then found himself face-to-beak with an emu. "Wha ..... what .... what's that ....... ?????" uttered trembling BiL trying urgently to control his anal sphincter. He had imagined emus to be the same size as Rod Hull's little glove puppet!!! Bloody emus. One stole my little brother's lunch. Once gulp and that sandwich was gone. I hear Cassowaries are nastier. Edited August 10, 2017 by Ozexpatriate 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Unless you upset them by, for example, treading on a snake, swimming with the jellyfish or cuddling a funnel-web spider. I saw a notice in a Queensland state park, where there was a path down through trees to a lovely waterfall. It gave advice about the height of the climb back, recommendations to carry water etc. The bit that really caught my attention though was the instruction for what to do if you encountered a snake on the path - "Walk round it, do not step over it"! The thought of stepping over it would never have crossed my mind. My brother-in-law was a senior engineer on a project in Queensland. One of the workers put on his boots in the morning, was bitten by something in one boot, and lost his leg from the knee down. After that, there were big notices put up in changing rooms telling people to turn their boots upside down and bump them hard on the floor before putting them on. (I presume that the instruction to hit anything that fell out on the floor with the boot already in your hand was understood.) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blue Streak Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 (edited) This is what you really need to worry about. They're only small and like to hide in Shells, drink cans and bottles any thing that has a nice dark nook or cranny. Usually the things your kids like to pick up at the beach. Nasty little B*ggers (the blue ringed occy - not the kids ) Edited August 10, 2017 by The Blue Streak 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now