I am currently reading this book about the five large carnivores of Scandinavia and I am absolutely humbled, both by finding out how little I knew about them, what prejudice I had against them and how people that live in close proximity to them can both love, respect and be angry with them at the same time. I am reading the original release in Swedish.
- What have you encountered in the wild?
- When, where, how?
- What were your initial thoughts, feelings and reactions (physical, psychological, etc.)?
- What do think of them in general? <— this last question applies to everybody, regardless of whether you have seen or met one of these large carnivores or not.
Personally, without having met any one of them, I am humbled, scared, amazed and intrigued by them. I feel for those whose - for instance - livestock are threatened by them, especially if it directly damages business. I also strongly believe that the matter should not be dumbed down to the dichotmy of “ignore those that suffer from them” or “eradicate them”. We are far too intelligent and developed a race to degrade ourselves so.
Never.
Seriously lucky to live in Australia, rather than growing up somewhere dangerous.
EDIT: /s
But I heard drop bears were a huge danger.
a black bear has killed a hunter in a forest by dropping on him, after being shot at by said hunter.
Huge danger, small carnivore. 🐨
Just don’t walk under trees, and you’ll be right.
Sarcasm? Australia is known for having many dangerous/deadly animals.
Yes, you’re right, that was half joking. Have added in the /s.
Australia does not have large carnivores, but you still need to be careful in the bush or outback.
General guideline is, look where you step and don’t put your hand somewhere that you can’t see(under logs, in rusted cars etc.)
The actual top animal dangers in Aus are bees, snakes, spiders, according to this data(2021-2022).
https://aussieanimals.com/conflicts/venomous-creatures-australia/
The two on that list to know, if you plan to visit Australian beaches, is Blue Ring Octopus [ 12 to 20 cm (5 to 8 in) ] and Cone Shell [ 1.3 cm to 21.6 cm ].
They can catch out unaware tourists, who pick them up because they look quite beautiful.
As well as the above two guidelines, another one is to keep hands off any wildlife at the bush or beach.
Thanks for the response and for the info. I’d love to visit Australia some day for more than a couple reasons! We have some friends there being only one of them.
Australians themselves don’t seemed bothered by any of it, except the bush flies, though.
There are so few dangerous animals. Up north there are crocodiles, ask a tropical Aussie how to avoid those.
On the coast there’s the blue ring octopus so we’re taught to not pick up small octopuses, and cone shell molluscs so we wear shoes when walking on seaside rocks and rock pools. There are two dangerous spiders, redbacks are the same as black widows, Sydney funnel-webs weave a distinctive web, you mostly avoid those by not sticking your fingers into finger sized holes,
There are snakes that mostly flee from you. Wait a few metres away from the snake and wait for it to move. Almost all snake bite victims in Australia are snake handlers and wildlife fans.
Our one dangerous bird (cassowary) is only dangerous if cornered and attacked
Sure. That is largely based on what you’re used to. Africans also have tons of mostly deadly snakes. None of them seem concerned talking to me about it, despite losing a dog every year or two to venomous snakes.
And yet kinda lacking in large carnivores, I think. They have Crocodiles? I can’t think of anything else.
Sharks. Whites and bulls.
Yeah, large carnivores not so much. Apparently dingos and tasmanian devils are the closest in that department. I’ve just always thought of Australia as a place of greatest concern in terms of animals due to the many deadly snakes and spiders they have.
The big predators live in the water.
That totally tracks. It definitely has plenty of dangerous wildlife. They have plenty of problematic animals that will fuck you up. Just not a ton of large carnivores.