just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, downunder

[Ken Gargett]

please don't forget our plants....

[maxcjs0101]

I'd reconsider going to Australia now. And the only place i'll stay (if even allowed in) would be Rob's warehouse.

I'll then be back to work much recharged.

[JackFNQ]

The boy fell ill about three weeks ago after being bitten or scratched by a bat in north Queensland in December.

Queensland Health says he died late on Friday afternoon in Brisbane's Mater Hospital.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-22/queensland-boy-dies-of-lyssavirus/4535496

Anyone want to describe the horrible death.

The stupidity is that insulated environmental capital city dwellers oppose the culling of crocs and bats. Bats are rats with wings that carry a form of rabies. Their migration patterns are over asia so there is no way we can quarantine airborne rodents carrying epidemic disease outbreaks. You cannot relocate crocs, they swim 100km's to go back. They are in plague proportions, and are heading south establishing new territories - enjoy.

Has funnel webs, european wasps (I am allergic), jack ants been mentioned yet.

Jack jumpers (Myrmecia pilosula) are small, black and orange ants with extremely keen eyesight and an unusual ability to jump. This tiny creature is considered one of the most dangerous ants in the world - and, indeed, the most dangerous animal in Australia! In Tasmania, the death toll from the jack jumper's sting is about one person every four years - greater than the toll inflicted by sharks or by the most poisonous of snakes or spiders.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2013/02/12/3688635.htm

Seems a bit exaggerated... my son had a jack ant bite and his hand blew up. It is recurring bites that then can become fatal I believe.

I nearly died unknowingly running lawn mower over european wasp nest when we lived in TAS, had a severe reaction. I was well covered, but they made way to back of my neck. Providentially doctor was called out to the neighbour next door, he came over and gave me an injection of phenergen. God is good!

[JackFNQ]

Hendra virus is a zoonotic disease carried by flying foxes (BATS) that can produce life-threatening illness in horses and humans.

Queensland vet dies from Hendra virus

http://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland-vet-dies-from-hendra-virus-20090901-f7ct.html

[RWhiz]

...and you live there.

Good God with the spiders, Sharks, crocs, plus the list you mentioned! Nope, no, not now, probably never.

[Ken Gargett]

Hendra virus is a zoonotic disease carried by flying foxes (BATS) that can produce life-threatening illness in horses and humans.

Queensland vet dies from Hendra virus

http://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland-vet-dies-from-hendra-virus-20090901-f7ct.html

the flying foxes are obviously a problem but not a simple one. removing them will create havoc with the impact it would have on the environment.

grew up on the river at indooroopilly just a couple of hundred metres from the flying fox island next to the golf course - i believe it is/was one of the largest in australia. they would cover the sky at dusk - great to watch, though not so much fun if you had any mango trees. occasionally we'd see one or two glide over the pool for a sip of water. aeronautical skills were superb. mind you, if i would ever take the kayak down to the island, it was chaos. thousands of them (for non-qlders, this is an inner brizzy suburb) all hanging upside down. never ending din. crapping all over themselves. and it must have been paradise for carpet pythons.

[JackFNQ]

If you swim between the flags, traveling between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne is tame. Most of the deadly stuff (and in bigger numbers) is further north.

Tell people to go check their own crab pots.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/hunt-for-croc-victim-continues/story-e6freoof-1111117625708

I didn't know about dengue fever until a few years ago.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-03-04/dengue-fever-death-in-far-north-qld/1609312

[Ken Gargett]

If you swim between the flags, traveling between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne is tame. Most of the deadly stuff (and in bigger numbers) is further north.

not sure all the shark attack victims up and down the coast would agree about it all up north. certainly crocs but yes, they are heading back south. when my old man was just out of school, he and mates would travel up to the 1770 region to fish - no resorts or anything like that then. i remember him telling me how they would listen to the crocs crying at night. that is a thousand miles or more south of where they are today, give or take.

i know people think the nets make surfing safe but a mate of mine who worked the shark nets for years, and now runs the program for the govt, told me that about a third of the sharks caught are caught entering the nets from the beach side.

[JackFNQ]

the flying foxes are obviously a problem but not a simple one. removing them will create havoc with the impact it would have on the environment.

Nope don't see it myself - 'important' pollinators and seed spreaders, bit of a stretch I think. Rabie carrying rats with wings.

Importance of flying-foxes

http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/livingwith/flyingfoxes/importance.html

[Ken Gargett]

it is not all bad. aussie wildlife is mostly fabulous.

i've just had a beautiful white cockatoo fly into my courtyard (very politely flew down through the doors, rather than just fly into it - no idea why) for a drink at the birdbath. unfortunately took off before i grabbed the camera.

[JackFNQ]

not sure all the shark attack victims up and down the coast would agree about it all up north.

I said swim between the flags, pretty safe there.

Things like Irukandji jellyfish like warmer northern waters.

Seriously what has a CBD sight seeing/theme park going tourist got to worry about between Brisbane and Melbourne? Especially if they swim between the flags.

Reminds me of the tourist expectation of kangaroos jumping down George St, shall we add shark fins in the toilets and jellyfish out of the taps.

[Ken Gargett]

Nope don't see it myself - 'important' pollinators and seed spreaders, bit of a stretch I think. Rabie carrying rats with wings.

Importance of flying-foxes

http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/livingwith/flyingfoxes/importance.html

plenty of sites on their importance. in addition to the above.

http://www.batcon.org/why-bats/bats-are/bats-are-important

given how often we have stuffed things by introducing or removing species, to interfere in a major way with such an important animal just begs for trouble. the vast numbers they have must make a major impact on pests and also in the dispersal of seeds of native plants. who knows the consequences?

that said, obviously there needs to be a balance. whether that is encouraging them elsewhere or finding a way to prevent the disease or whatever.

so for me, it really is a long way from simple.

[Ken Gargett]

I said swim between the flags, pretty safe there.

Things like Irukandji jellyfish like warmer northern waters.

Seriously what has a CBD sight seeing/theme park going tourist got to worry about between Brisbane and Melbourne? Especially if they swim between the flags.

the article mentions the irukandji being found as far south as melbourne.

you are right but then you could say precisely the same thing about the north. perhaps just add wearing some protection for stings and i suspect that the figures for fatalities would be pretty much identical.

but give or take a few does not really matter. what it shows is that despite all the "dangerous creatures", a few precautions and common sense and tourists should have no issues.

[JackFNQ]

it is not all bad. aussie wildlife is mostly fabulous.

Absolutely. Check my avatar. Most Australians would never have seen a velvet gekko let alone touched one. Yes they feel like velvet. We have black cockatoos up here, even more wedge tailed eagles. And one year in seven I saw a migration of large fresh water turtles, a fair few got squashed on the remote hwy making their way to the lake, but absolutely amazing. Couldn't believe their fishy stink, yes a stench entity if touched getting them off the road, but beautiful.

[JackFNQ]

the article mentions the irukandji being found as far south as melbourne.

what flushed out as ballast. I am sure a few koalas have been spotted in Canada as well.

[Ken Gargett]

what flushed out as ballast. I am sure a few koalas have been spotted in Canada as well.

as i mentioned earlier, i'd never heard that before. i think bill and a few others also mentioned it.

but it is all a bit the same as you get elsewhere, here, anywhere you go.

people are largely okay with their own wildlife because they know what to expect and if they are sensible, how to largely avoid problems.

talk to kiwi fly fishermen and half of them turn into terrified jelly if you mention fishing where snakes might live. yet aussies have no problems. if i fish in south/central america, there are rivers/lakes i would not go into at the point of a gun, but locals have no issue. and they cn tell me it is safe a thousand times but i am still nervous. they know when/where to go. doesn't mean we'll all be safe all the time. bears and canadians same thing. endless examples. and it all gets played up. we can see that in this thread. people saying they won't come to australia for the dangers of wildlife. we both know they are blown completely out of proportion. your comments re staying in the CBD and swimming between the flags. ditto up north unless tourists get pissed and swim in a croc hole.