How would you like to die today, Sir?

I noticed it the first time I came to Australia, and I'm starting to notice it again now. Everything in Australia wants to kill you.

Be it sharks biting your legs off in the ocean, or spiders biting your neck as you sleep. The story is always the same - everything wants to kill you in one way or another. It doesn't matter if they are big or small as they will all generally have'a'go and offing you.

Lets start with snakes...

The vicious Taipan

Australia is the habitat for quite a number of the world’s most lethal serpents. The Inland Taipan is a very rare species and believed to be the most toxic of all snakes, it makes the Cobra look like a garter snake. One bite delivers enough venom to kill around 100 people. A close cousin, the Taipan, reaches a length of over 10 feet and is very aggressive. It strikes without warning, not once, but several times, injecting a venom that clots blood and can kill in minutes. The Death Adder, relative of the Cobra, has a bite that is lethal in 50% of cases that go untreated. Other potential killers are the Tiger snake, the Australian Black snake and the Brown snake, whose bites cause the most deaths in Australia.

Here's the actual list of the world's most deadly snakes. Note the country the snakes originate from:

10 Western Brown Snake - Pseudonaja Nuchalis (Australia)
9 Death Adder - Acanthophis Antarcticus (Australia)
8 Black Tiger Snake - Notechis Ater (Australia)
7 Tiger Snake - Notechis Scutatus (Australia)
6 Sea Kraits - Laticauda Colubrina (Australia)
5 MainLand Tiger Snake (Australia)
4 Eastern Tiger Snake (Australia)
3 Taipan - Oxyuranus Scutellatus (Australia)
2 King Brown Snake - Pseudechis Australis (Australia)

and at the number one spot, the world's most venomous snake is...

1 Inland Taipan Or Fierce Snake - Oxyuranus Microlepidotus (you guessed it... Australia)

The small but deadly Redback spider

If it's not the snakes that are trying to kill you it could well be one of these other deadly animals that live in Australia.

1. The Box Jellyfish
2. Irukandji (A Jellyfish)
3. Salt Water Crocodile
4. Blue Ring Octopus
5. Stone Fish
6. Red Back Spider
7. Brown Snake
8. Tiger Snake
9. Great White Shark
10. Funnel Web Spider

The Irukandji Jellyfish is particularly nasty. Here's some information about it:

"The Irukandji, a small jellyfish with a bell approximately 2cm in diameter is responsible for the unusual and dramatic syndrome observed following stings commonly known as Irukandji Syndrome. The Irukandji from its peanut sized body has a single retractile tentacle ranging from 50 to 500 mm long, hanging from each of the four corners of its bell. Unlike most other species of jellyfish all parts of the Irukandji can sting and not just the tentacles.

The initial sting of the jellyfish is usually not very painful. However about 5 to 45 (in my case 10) minutes after being stung, the person starts to have a severe reaction, including backache, headache, shooting pains in their muscles, chest and abdomen. They may also feel nauseous, anxious, restless and begin vomiting. In rare cases the victim suffers pulmonary oedema (fluid on the lungs) which could be fatal if not treated or complete heart failure."

Nice, hey?

So, I guess, the moral of the story is - Do not live Australia if you value your life. However, with that said, many people live here without being attacked each day, but last Sunday I actually had the pleasure of treading on a Stingray at our local beach. I couldn't believe it and I'm really lucky it didn't sting me with it's deadly barb. As most of you will probably know that's exactly how Steve Irwin died.

The deadly Stingray

Like I said it happened last Sunday as we we're swimming down at our local beach. I was walking out into the water when I trod on its head. I noticed because sand doesn't normally start flapping around like a mad thing when you walk on it, and it felt slimy too. I'd like to say I took it like a man, but I didn't. I screamed like a girl and everyone on the beach heard it - Damn! When I jumped off it I actually stood on it again, too! I couldn't bloody believe it! After that I ran out of the water and didn't go back in. It sounds funny to speak of it now, but it could have been a totally different story...