Danger! I’m Poisonous
By Awake! correspondent in Australia
MIGRANTS and visitors to Australia are often told that poisonous snakes and spiders are just about everywhere in this vast country. Yet, of the known species of spiders, only about 1,700 are found here. Quite a few could indeed carry a label “Danger! I’m Poisonous,” but the majority are harmless.
As for snakes, approximately 2,500 species dwell with us on planet Earth. Some 140 of these are found in Australia, and only about 20 are venomous. Is there really a possibility of encountering one of these poisonous creatures?
In Cities?
By far the majority of poisonous snakes and spiders are at home in the country, or the bush. However, some coastal city dwellers need to take reasonable care, especially when it comes to spiders. For example, as its name suggests, the Sydney funnel-web spider lives in and around Australia’s largest city, Sydney. With its protruding black fangs, it could well be the star performer in anyone’s nightmares.
The male funnel-web is identified by the pronounced spur on his second leg, and he is the dangerous one—his venom being five times more toxic than the female’s. The formal Latin name given this spider is Atrax robustus. Said the book The Funnelweb in 1980: “During the last seventy years some nineteen people are known to have died from bites by Funnelweb spiders.” In 1980 the first successful antivenin for funnel-web bites was developed.
Another spider to treat with caution is the redback, named for the orange-red stripe running across its satin-black abdomen. Sometimes the stripe is pink or even light gray. It is the female redback that is dangerous. Antivenin for its potentially fatal bite became available in 1956. The redback is found all over Australia and is related to the well-known black widow spider.
Watch Out! Snakes!
Snakes have been found on lawns or in the shrubbery of suburban homes, particularly at night. A handful are dangerous—such as the tiger snake, the death adder, and the taipan. The tiger snake is about five feet [1.5 m] in length. It can be recognized by the dark stripes across its back. When angry it may emit a loud coughing hiss.
The death adder varies in color, but has a yellowish-white appendage at the end of its tail, which it twitches to attract prey. It is often found in sandy areas, where it will lie in a horseshoe shape. The death adder is about two feet [0.6 m] long and thick.
The taipan, on the other hand, may grow to ten feet [3 m] in length! It is brown, with a light-colored nose. It has large venom glands, and some specimens have fangs almost a half inch long [over 1 cm long]. One horse died within five minutes of being bitten by a taipan!
What if I Get Bitten?
Antivenin for both spider bites and snakebites is available, and poison information centers are on call around-the-clock throughout Australia. Methods of treating snakebites have improved. The idea that the wound should be cut immediately and the poison sucked out is considered by many to be not only outdated but harmful. The advice of medical authorities now is to keep the patient still and calm and to apply a tourniquet or a ligature between the bite and the heart. Then, a pressure bandage should be applied and the affected limb immobilized with a splint. After this the patient should see a doctor or be taken to a hospital as quickly as possible.
Funnel-web and redback spiders are rarely found indoors. The redback lurks in corners of garages or sheds or in any quiet, undisturbed area, such as an old car, a pile of rubbish, or an outdoor toilet. Care should be taken that they are not inadvertently carried indoors.
How Big a Risk?
Most Australians have never seen a redback or a death adder and personally know of no one who has been bitten by one. The truth is, the risk of being bitten by a poisonous spider or snake is virtually nil if reasonable care is taken. Most poisonous creatures try to get out of your way and may only get aggressive when annoyed or cornered.
Nevertheless, it is the course of wisdom to exercise caution. An Australian scientist who is an expert on venomous creatures enjoys “gardening with gloves, fishing with boots and travelling with care.” Why boots? Well, probably that is because of the poisonous varieties of octopus and jellyfish, as well as the stonefish.
Perhaps we had better tell you about them another time.
[Picture on page 24]
Female red-back spider
[Credit Line]
Top: By courtesy of Australian International Public Relations
[Picture on page 24]
Northern death adder
[Credit Line]
By courtesy of Ross Bennett, Canberra, Australia
[Picture on page 25]
Funnel-web spider
[Credit Line]
By courtesy of Australian International Public Relations
[Picture on page 25]
Taipan
[Credit Line]
By Courtesy of J. C. Wombey, Canberra, Australia