They have identified Lymes Disease (or what they think is LD) once or twice out here, but it isn’t something we need to worry about...yet.

Yep,
Ticks are near the bottom of the worry list, behind politicians, venomous snakes,funnel web spiders, crocs, irukandji and box jelly fish and sharks..........

Yup...We have that dreaded lyme disease here too. Mike

dhc4ever wrote:

Yep, Ticks are near the bottom of the worry list, behind politicians, venomous snakes,funnel web spiders, crocs, irukandji and box jelly fish and sharks..........

Don't forget the drop bears.

I don't actually have anything to say, just figured I post to hear the echo..........

ECHO -------echo......................

we have very few nasty bugs....a few that bite which itch...bees and wasps...couple of spiders that wont kill you
but our plant life can make life interesting,and that really annoys the twigsntwitters brigade (forest and bird society/tree hugging cardigan wearing hippy types) because it PROOVES our vegetation evolved with heavy brousing which they clain is killing things off when the likes of deer do it.
we have spaniard type flaxs that have naasty spikes on end of leaves cause they taste good(pigs uproot them to eat the base of leaves) bush lawyer....thats like blackbury but with tighter hooks and spindlier vines rather than canes....that makes bush travel fun as it grabs a hold of you and doesnt want to let go...you end up doing a spin to keep moving and unwraping it off you,I often come home covered in blood from where this naaasty has grabbed me.
matagouri is low growing scrub from tussock lands that can grow head high,really naasty thorns
hook grass has seedheads with mini crochete hooks that grab onto body hair and get moved somewhere else...hutiwai is another that moves seeds similar fashon...that one is the curse of sheep farmers as wool price plummets once it starts to stick to fleece.
our trees grow to about 10 feet then "change" thier foliage gets larger and less twiggy...so its above where it got eaten and now does what it wants to...

Grant wrote:

I don't actually have anything to say, just figured I post to hear the echo..........

dhc4ever wrote:

Yep, Ticks are near the bottom of the worry list, behind politicians, venomous snakes,funnel web spiders, crocs, irukandji and box jelly fish and sharks..........

You forgot ..."teenagers of african appearance" mate.

For those that don't understand thie above reference...we are having big problems with Sudanese refugees or the spawn of Sudanese refugees running amok in a few of the big cities in Australia,

Elvis wrote:

... bush lawyer....thats like blackbury but with tighter hooks and spindlier vines rather than canes....that makes bush travel fun as it grabs a hold of you and doesnt want to let go...you end up doing a spin to keep moving and unwraping it off you,I often come home covered in blood from where this naaasty has grabbed me...

We have a similar (might even be the same, but ours is a tropical rainforest plant) we call Wait a While or Lawyer vine and it has very tough razor sharp thorns. Nasty little bugger as when it gets a hold of you the only thing you can do is stop and take the time to untangle yourself. If you just pull away from it, it can, and will, cut any exposed flesh it gets its hooks into.

Another real nasty we have is called Gympie bush, or Gympie Gympie by the aboriginals.

This is probably the most dangerous tropical rainforest plant around North Queensland and the Daintree Rainforest to be aware of.

It may look attractive and harmless but it is definitely best avoided.

Aboriginal people call this plant ‘Gympie Gympie’, which means ‘devil-like’. It has large green leaves with serrated edges that are toxic. If your skin comes into contact with the leaves, fine silica-tipped hairs inject venom like mini-syringes.

It causes extreme pain with symptoms including an intense stinging sensation that can last for several weeks.

The best treatment is to remove the hairs from your skin with a waxing strip.

The stinging tree can sometimes be found close to walking tracks so don’t just assume it’s only to be found in the middle of dense rainforest.

It actually tends to grow in open areas, along roadsides for example, because it needs a lot of light to grow. It does less well under the thick canopy of trees in the forest.

If you stick to paved paths you are unlikely to come into contact with a stinging tree. It is only if you choose to walk along a worn path through forest that isn’t paved that you need to be on the look out. If it’s in a popular area, there may be signs on the way to a local swimming hole.

The most unfortunate victims are those that get caught out in the rainforest without any "bum fodder" or "date roll"...toilet paper. The Gympie Gympie leaves are large and look nice and soft which makes them an obvious candidate as "bush paper" for a quick wipe clean... WRONG!!!.
Those that make this mistake can suffer for a year or more with stinging and irritation...and no, I am smart enough to not get caught out by the Gympie Gympie, or without paper.

Ugh, gympie gympie is one nasty plant alright.
pain pain pain.

I forgot onga onga...that a tree nettle,same as the wee stuff that grows around garden in good fertility but huge up to 3yards high with needle like stings about 1/3" long all over the underside of leaves and on stems,it can be fatal to dogs and makes humans itch almost as bad a bee sting.

Vince wrote:

Elvis wrote: ... bush lawyer....thats like blackbury but with tighter hooks and spindlier vines rather than canes....that makes bush travel fun as it grabs a hold of you and doesnt want to let go...you end up doing a spin to keep moving and unwraping it off you,I often come home covered in blood from where this naaasty has grabbed me... We have a similar (might even be the same, but ours is a tropical rainforest plant) we call Wait a While or Lawyer vine and it has very tough razor sharp thorns. Nasty little bugger as when it gets a hold of you the only thing you can do is stop and take the time to untangle yourself. If you just pull away from it, it can, and will, cut any exposed flesh it gets its hooks into.

That crap looks like devil's whip. Friggin nasty stuff. You get stuck by it and it is like a Dixie cup (cone shaped) and it is sharp for the next poor bugger that comes along

got all David Bellamy on it today and got busy with camera.
#2437 is the usual stuff we find all around the showand #2435 is the little stuff found on west coast its almost worsera as it blends in with beech leaves it has smaller hooks but more of them.

now for the hootiwai...or biddybid. as you can see it is mace like before it gets stuck to something then beaks off into lettle segments