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i was just reading the thread about the lady who killed an alligator and it kinda dissolved into talking about dangerous Australian animals (kinda my fault) so it got me thinking about what animals around the world are we personally frightened of, are we more scared of the big ones? getting attacked by a bear in America or something still dangerous but not so much publicised such as a kangaroo? or is it the wee little beasties that make your blood run cold? a huntsman or redback spider, centipedes, maggots?

so come on lets discuss the merits of these amazing creatures and how than can make a grown man sweat and squeal like a little kid!


personally, I'm scared of huntsman spiders and the smaller creatures that scurry around in the dark dank places you always find you need to put your hand! and sharks, sharks scare me, and snakes..... especially tiger snakes.

Spiders. Spiders are terrifying.
Scorpions as well.

Yes, scorpions are another one too, they seem to lurk in those places I mentioned before! have you googled the Australian huntsman? check out those bad boys, not as big as some but they seem to appear everywhere when you least expect it! my mother went to the loo one day and pulled up her pants and on the crotch of her pants was a huntsman about the size of the palm of your hand!

Wasps.

I'm sensibly 'worried' about putting my hands and things into places where spiders might be, but I don't break into a cold sweat at the very thought of them.

Stingrays, probably. I was stung in the back of the foot whilst wearing rubber waders once - my dad was an oyster farmer and I worked out in the mud and salt water. The spine went through about half-an--inch of rubber at the back of the boot and about as far again into my foot. I had to cut the boot off to actually get it out of me - and feth me, it hurt.

Huntsmans and toilets...
I had one drop onto me whilst using a toilet once. If I wasn't already taking a dump I probably would have anyway.

Scorpions.

Deer.

I've seen bears, bison, mountain lions and snakes in the wild, and they've left me alone, while I've left them alone.

I've also seen deer dart out onto an expressway where I was doing 70-80 mph on my motorcycle, and the possibility of that collision terrifies me more than anything else.

Deer! never thought of them as scary but considering your position on them I can see that!

scorpions seem to be popular but I don't rate them as highly scary as spiders though, mind you the scorpions i see here aren't that big only about the size of your thumb from knuckle to nail end, where I am aware america has some nasty scorpions, like the ones bear grylls eats in the desert!

nerdfest09 wrote: like the ones bear grylls eats in the desert!

I wish something would eat Bear... and his cameraman for desert.

Cockroaches. Thank god there isnt any around here, but just seeing them on TV gives me the shivers

I take it you've never watched the movie 'Joes apartment' then Kingcracker? :-) your worst nightmare, talking wisecracking cockroaches!

Naegleria fowleri, VRSA, vibrio vulnificus, Ebola....

Thats the really scary gak.

Not all spiders, but I have a pretty good horror of Brown Recluses.

I have a friend that got bitten by one and he was seriously fethed up by it.

Monster Rain wrote:Not all spiders, but I have a pretty good horror of Brown Recluses.

I have a friend that got bitten by one and he was seriously fethed up by it.

yeah if they get a good bite in they can really mess you up...

Are they similar to the white tailed spider? if they bite you they make your skin and flesh rot away without healing properly leaving huge scars and sometimes need to have limbs amputated?

Yeah, lots of spider bites can cause necrosis. Nasty stuff - I knew a girl who lost a whole chunk of arm.

I'm guessing that would be one of the smallest creatures that could 'take your arm off' then!

I dunno, I have seen some fething huge brown recluses, like 10inches from leg to leg...

They are normally really small tho.

Also there is a certain species of box jellyfish, the size of a human thumbnail thats venom is so deadly it can kill...

We need to make a crazy ways animals can kill you thread...

Irukandji is the name of the tiny little thing.

yeah the jellyfish I know, we get them a bit in Australian beaches...nasty stuff, so we've got sharks, and jellyfish and seasnakes and rockfish in the water to frighten you! and then you think it's safe on land?...oh ho nope!


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maybe it's not them then, name doesn't ring a bell!

You dont have "just sharks" You have great white sharks....

Course here in the gulf we have tigers and bulls.... Also Hammerheads.

Mean sons o guns...

During a fishing tournament the "biggest catch" went to a 15 foot 1800 lb hammerhead shark.

Sharks meh. There are these little fish that live in estuaries in south-eastern Australia - white/grey and black stripes, about 3-to-5 centimetres long - and they sting.
They sting like all hell. I've seen grizzled fishermen with tears in their eyes. The stingray's toxin was painful but the effect turned into a sort of drunken numbness after a while. This little bastard had me in agony for hours - I don't even know what they're called.

How about 'little bastards'?

Arctik_Firangi wrote:Sharks meh. There are these little fish that live in estuaries in south-eastern Australia - white/grey and black stripes, about 3-to-5 centimetres long - and they sting.
They sting like all hell. I've seen grizzled fishermen with tears in their eyes. The stingray's toxin was painful but the effect turned into a sort of drunken numbness after a while. This little bastard had me in agony for hours - I don't even know what they're called.

The scariest fish in the world is whatever the hell you call those things that swim up your johnson and stick barbs into the sides so you can't pull it out.

Candiru Catfish

ARGH! WOMBLES!

Not particularly bothered buy most animals.
Snakes,spiders and such don't worry me....but..I dislike squirrels...I've always seen them as camouflaged rats..I just don't like the beady eyed little buggers.

leeches.

I'm only afraid of animals when their head is hung up on the wall..

Spiders , well anything with more than 6 legs

Leeches.

Heck, anything that latches on and feeds off me like that, including but not limited to ticks, horse-flies and women.