From the beautiful (but deadly) Blue Ringed Octopus...where even a casual brush with his strong neuro-toxins means death.
To the Australian Funnel Web Spiders...not so cute but whose bite is also neuro-toxic
And 1198 other things in between that can kill you, Australia might just be the Land Down Under- better suited for Virtual Travel.
The explanation for this concentration of highly venomous arachnids, lizards and snakes (some of whom live in other places around the world where they are less toxic) is speculated to be environmental adaptation.
Less effort needed in the extreme heat and baking sun of the arid desert outback. One scrape or bite or nip and prey is dropped.
It makes sense.
They lost me at 2,500 species of spiders in Australia...okay. Of which some are deadly poison.
The venom of the poisonous bugs, snakes, lizards, mammals and mollusk tend to fall into one (or a combination) of these categories
Neurotoxins: Attacks your central nervous system. Causing seizures, respiratory failure or heart attack and death.
Proteolytics: Causing the collapse of cell wall structure.
Coagulopathic: Can work either way...can cause you to hemorrhage...or in some instances and some predators cause your blood to coagulate.
Myotoxic: Causing paralysis.
Cytotoxic: Causes tissue breakdown.
Saltwater crocs, several man-eating sharks, deadly octopi, and 21 of the world's 25 most deadly snakes.
Oh, and killer spiders and bees.
And to think a Sting-Ray took Steve Irwin out...after avoiding THESE all his life.
Even the ants here want to kill you.
Their sting can (and does) produce anaphylactic shock in humans if you are unfortunate enough to be stung by many at one time.
And they jump.
Some of the more deadly snakes include
This snake is deemed the third most deadly snake in the world. Its venom is highly neurotoxic with death occurring in less than 30 minutes from the bite. To complicate matters the bite is nearly painless when it happens, and many do not even know they have been bitten until it is too late. Untreated mortality rate is 100%.
Australian Eastern Brown Snake
Although there are non-poisonous Eastern Brown Snakes throughout the world...this is NOT one of them. The 2nd most poisonous snake in the world
The venom of this snake is a mixture of Neurotoxins and Blood Coagulants.
Nice.
The Most deadly snake in Australia is this black-headed beauty. Its bite is a toxic combination of Neurotoxins, Pro-coagulants, and Nephrotoxins (which shut the kidneys down)
And there are 18 other deadly snakes as well.
The Redback Spider
The European Honeybee is an imported danger of Australia. These tend to be viciously defensive of their hives and will attack in large groups if the hive is threatened. In large numbers their sting causes anaphylactic shock and death if not immediately treated.
Known as a Paralysis Tick.
Mostly fatal only to babies and small mammals (dogs/cats) this tick causes paralysis and lives in the bush areas of Australia.
Okay..I will avoid Blue Ringed Octopi and the Desert and the Bush and just hang out in the ocean.
Bull Shark
(...we love tourists...send more...)
And, of course, Box Jelly-fish
FINE...maybe I will just check out the Coastal Mangroves and pick up a few shells, then.
"We've been waiting for YOU"
(well...the critter inside anyway)
Oh..For Fuck's Sake!!!!
Displaying the charms of Virtual Travel, once again.
Because everything here really IS out to kill you.
Soon...Aussie Slang.
