OT: Oz

OvertoneZero · Post by **OvertoneZero** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:53 pm

I'm thinking about moving to the land down under for a while. Seems like a pretty cool place.

Is there anyone who would actually recommend NOT doing so and why?

Anything important, maybe legal, health, or finance-related, to consider before going?

Patch · Post by **Patch** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:58 pm

They got spiders. Big, ugly spiders. They also have little, mean, paralyse you with 1 bite spiders.

I hate spiders...

OvertoneZero · Post by **OvertoneZero** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:02 pm

Paralyze you like permanently or just for a little bit? I'm not a huge fan of spiders either, especially the ones with very bad poison.

forge · Post by **forge** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:09 pm

Patch wrote:They got spiders. Big, ugly spiders. They also have little, mean, paralyse you with 1 bite spiders.

I hate spiders...

he he

Patch says this because in the UK the only TV shows about Australia you see are "danger down under" where they show you every type of possible nasty they can find

the thing they dont tell you is most wildlife likes the tropics - which is a loooooooooong way north of the major cities, and they dont tend to like coming near people either

you dont hear too many stories of people being bitten by funnelweb spiders or snakes

jeskola · Post by **jeskola** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:11 pm

apart from the ones who live under the toilet seats or in your shoes

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:12 pm

My sister was bit by a vicious spider while living in Melbourne. Her arm swelled up like a ham. I have pictures somewhere. I, too, hate spiders.

forge · Post by **forge** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:13 pm

these are the ones he's talking about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_funnel-web_spider

note the

known to have killed 13 people

- that's in 220 years of european occupation
also:

Antivenom therapy has shortened the course of envenoming: prior to antivenom availability, the average length of hospital treatment for severe bites was about 14 days. Today, antivenom-treated patients are commonly discharged from hospital within 1 to 3 days.[3] There have been no deaths since it became available.

jeskola · Post by **jeskola** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:22 pm

forge wrote:these are the ones he's talking about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_funnel-web_spider

note the
known to have killed 13 people
- that's in 220 years of european occupation

I seen a programme bought them bad boys ( i see what you mean

), but im sure they can bit through boots and will activly chase you

check out these badboys in iraq - who apparntly cling to the soldiers tents at night for the heat

Look like the things in aliens. They squeal too

With a vertical leap that would make a pro basketball player weep with envy (they have to be able to jump up on to a camels stomach after all), they latch on and inject you with a local anesthesia so you can't feel it feeding on you. They eat flesh, not just suck out your juices like a normal spider.It's hard enough for those serving in our country's armed forces to be sent halfway around the world, away from home and family. It's even worse to be stationed in some bleak desert outpost. But nobody should have to deal with creepy-crawlies the size of small cats in the bargain!We don't yet know the origin of this photo or what it's supposed to depict, other than to note that the picture is generally circulated with text proclaiming it to be an image of some U.S. soldiers with camel spiders. Camel spiders, also known as wind spiders, wind scorpions, and sun scorpions, are a type of arthropod found (among other places) in the deserts of the Middle East.

They're technically not spiders but solifugae (although, like spiders, they belong to the class Arachnida). Camel spiders are the subject of a variety of legendary claims, many of them familiar to Americans because they were spread by U.S. servicemen who served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and re-spread at the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.

forge · Post by **forge** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:25 pm

holy crap!!

forge · Post by **forge** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:27 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_Spiders

They are fast on land compared to other invertebrates, the fastest can run perhaps 10 miles per hour (16 km/h), nearly half as fast as the fastest human sprinter.

jeskola · Post by **jeskola** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:31 pm

of them leaping into the air, disemboweling camels, eerie hissing, screaming, and running alongside humvees; all of these tales are false

thank fuck for that

forge · Post by **forge** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:33 pm

jeskola wrote:apart from the ones who live under the toilet seats or in your shoes

who, the people being bitten?

forge · Post by **forge** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:34 pm

jeskola wrote:
of them leaping into the air, disemboweling camels, eerie hissing, screaming, and running alongside humvees; all of these tales are false
thank fuck for that

I still wont be going to Iraq

never mind depleted uranium and civil war, they have those fuckers!

jeskola · Post by **jeskola** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:35 pm

ive never been to OZ (yet), but ive been told thats where they live

Should always give your shoes a good shake in these places

I seen a couple of beauts in Borneo - easily the size of my hand... still sends a shiver up my spine.

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:42 pm

got curious went a'searching, found this: "Ten things you need to know when visiting Australia" ... pretty funny

http://www.toxiccustard.com/australia/visiting.html#Ten