SMBC Comics Forum

It certainly wasn't on the possum's wedding list. I should hope.
Possums aside, Australia can't be all that bad. We don't have hippos or lions, our dangerous animals are more prone to skulk away from humans rather than hunt us down for food... or bite us to death for entering their personal space. The whole Australia=danger thing gets old after a while. It doesn't even focus on the most dangerous aspect of Australia: kilometers upon kilometers of trackless bush and desert containing sparse food and water you have no idea how to obtain. There are loads of places named after people or whole expeditions who got lost in the bush and starved to death. I might not be making the most compelling argument, but you're safe from all of that as long as you stick to civilisation.

That was really the impression I got. I felt way safer backpacking (hiking and camping with a tent, not hostel-jumping) there than I do in mountains back home. No bears. No mountain lions. No wolves. Snakes aren't interested in my oatmeal or fruit. The danger felt overblown. I was bitten through my jeans by a ginormous ant, but that was more cool than anything else.

Even in the tropics, I think Imight have seen one crocodile very far away, and the water was not chockablock with box jellyfish. If I actually had to survive in the wilderness for an extended period, I'd choose NC mountains over NSW, though, because there are blueberries and blackberries and delicious fish I can catch all over the place.

I think people tend to be more afraid of whatever's unfamiliar. Honestly I don't think either North America or Australia is particularly dangerous (staying out of your desserts of course, but you could say the same thing for our winters probably). I've been out in the middle of the wilderness lots and never once worried for my safety. But even though I know logically that spider bite deaths are pretty much unheard of these days in Australia, and there's maybe a small handful of bear attacks here a year,* I'm still more comfortable with grizzlies. Mostly I think having to worry about tiny poisonous spiders in your house would wreak havoc on my anxiety.


*One time we were driving through the mountains in BC to visit my uncle, and the truck just ahead of us with my cousins in it were suddenly attacked by a grizzly bear. No one was hurt, but my very young cousin mistook the bear for a large cat.

Pavlovas are the real threat here, yes.

Early in school I was taught dessert - Strawberry Shortcake, desert - Sahara. It still say it in my head whenever I have to spell one or the other even though I don't need the mnemonic anymore.

Whenever I try to remember that mnemonic it deserts me.

The last wedding I was at, a big diamond back python was herded into the middle of the reception by two angry magpies defending their nests. I sort of watched it happen going "Snake, there's a snake on it's way." and no-one really listened to me. So.. that was interesting. (It was fine, by and by, but it didn't get magpie eggs for dinner so it was probably sad.)

Kimra wrote:The last wedding I was at, a big diamond back python was herded into the middle of the reception by two angry magpies defending their nests. I sort of watched it happen going "Snake, there's a snake on it's way." and no-one really listened to me. So.. that was interesting. (It was fine, by and by, but it didn't get magpie eggs for dinner so it was probably sad.)

Does anyone have any objections?

http://bitterradiolarite.tumblr.com/pos ... ar-katschy Australians: If you noticed someone with a snake in a plastic bag on a bus, would you not run away screaming?

Astrogirl wrote:http://bitterradiolarite.tumblr.com/pos ... ar-katschy Australians: If you noticed someone with a snake in a plastic bag on a bus, would you not run away screaming?

Depends what kind of snake.

It was a "furious 8ft python".

There are a lot of factors to be taken into consideration.
Does the person look responsible? Do they look worried? Does anyone else on the train/tram/bus look worried?
Does the snake look likely to escape from the bag?
The answers to these would affect my reaction.

I wouldn't be worried about that snake. I've needed help unwinding a 6 or 7 foot boa constrictor from my neck before. But it took it a while to get there, I wasn't in immediate danger, and I also didn't want to hurt or distress the snake.

If it was a seriously venomous snake, I'd be very concerned. I'm not afraid of snakes at all, but carrying around a potentially deadly animal on public transportation doesn't seem like a good idea.

http://www.ladbible.com/more/viral-man- ... n-20170405
Tourist Could Become Quadruple Amputee After Developing Flesh Eating Infection in Australia
He was bitten by a spider

Astrogirl wrote: He was bitten by a spider

Possibly.

A toxicology report also pointed towards a possible spider bite - but some are not convinced.

University of Newcastle researcher Geoff Isbister told AAP: "It's all about people wanting to be able to label what they have - much better that a spider did this, rather than 'we are not sure'."