[Syd Smurf]

An 8 year old girl is presumed dead when she was fishing in the Northern Territory. She went to the edge of the water and the croc struck in front of her family.

It would be the 5th fatal attack in Australia in the last 10 months.

The other victims were a fisherman (August 2005), a 55 year old man (Sept 2005), a 37 year old man taken by a 4 metre croc while snorkling (Sept 2005) and another guy while swimming (Dec 2005)...all around the top of Darwin. I think one of the scariest ones (if there is any difference) would be the one I heard about the croc entering a camper's tent and dragging some poor sod off when he was asleep. However the good news is that that there wasn't any mentions of spider or snake attacks in today's newspaper Graham....so you should be safe if you still wanna come down for a visit.

Dyar

[steveparkes]

thank goodness we don't get crocks over here...I don't think I'd leave the house..terrible to hear of the latest attack dyar

[SA Smurfette]

I think one of the scariest ones (if there is any difference) would be the one I heard about the croc entering a camper's tent and dragging some poor sod off when he was asleep.

Dyar

That one was in Queensland Dyar, I think some lady jumped on it's back and belted it to save the guy

When I was a kid and lived in the NT we always swam in croc infested rivers, can't believe we did that back then or that our parents let us

I also went to school with some kid that actually witnessed his Dad being taken by a croc, about half an hours drive from where we lived. They were fishing at the time, he was on the bank but his Dad was waist deep in water.

Don't know how you'd get over something like that

[Syd Smurf]

When I was a kid and lived in the NT we always swam in croc infested rivers, can't believe we did that back then or that our parents let us

You're a lot tougher than me Rae...the only way I would go in croc infested waters would be if I was driving an armoured tank.

They say you can swim in croc infested waters and be ok...but it's like 1 in 5 or so times that you get chomped to death.....either way you would have to have a death wish to do it. You're very lucky to survive Rae.....I might have to call you Crocodile Raelene from now on. I certainly won't be messing with you anymore.....although I won't warn Graham as it may be fun to sit back and watch the carnage.

Dyar

[SA Smurfette]

You're very lucky to survive Rae.....I might have to call you Crocodile Raelene from now on.

Dyar

It's funny how you have no fear as a kid
You'd never catch me swimming in the same rivers and streams now

[XoioX2000]

Flippin' heck!!!! Nasty stories...

At this point I would to deny any relation with gators and associated crocs... they might have the same kinda of nose, but that's where it stops... honest... I only eat people in tin armor, simply because they taste better when cooked... otherwise too many bones for not enough meat...

[JT]

It never stops to amaze me that there´s still people living in Australia
You have most of poison snakes and spiders, crocks and sharks. When ever there´s program (on TV) about dangerous animals, Australia is mentioned.

We have one poisonious (is that a word?) snake here in Finland (well actually there´s more than one, but only one species ). When you get bitten by one, it hurts like you´ve been hit by 3 bees (our bees doesn´t hit as hard as yours, I think) and if you don´t get yourself threaten, you almost certainly will have high fever (over 38 degrees Celcius).

Of course we have bears and wolves, but those have never eaten swimmer...

Seriously, this kind of news are shocking and sad. But then again, those are wild animals who don´t know any other way to survive, I guess

JT

[Rachel]

OMG!

So really I should stop freaking out at a wasp!!!

It never stops to amaze me that there´s still people living in Australia

Thanks JT, that had me laughing out loud!

[Guest]

Yikes, the poor kid !

You hear of these nasty stories, im glad you all live in the cities, but then again, do you get anything happening in the cities involving spiders, snakes, even crocs ? I hope not !

I like crocs tho Dyar, its just the freakin spiders with me ! I s**t a brick when i see one !

[Bunno Smurf]

You hear of these nasty stories, im glad you all live in the cities, but then again, do you get anything happening in the cities involving spiders, snakes, even crocs ? I hope not !

Yeah thanks beerman..I don't live in the city! Its those nasty roos that do me in...always committing Kamikaze with the car!

[JT]

Yeah thanks beerman..I don't live in the city! Its those nasty roos that do me in...always committing Kamikaze with the car!

By roos you mean kangas? Oooh, that is so cool (not that you have to commit kamikaze). I wish we had that problem...elks are not so cool, me thinks

You live in Outback? Or how do you say it? That sounds really avesome, at least to us living here up north

JT

[Syd Smurf]

I had a funnel web spider on my back porch recently (posted here) which is one of the world's deadliest spiders......but other than that I don't have many other bad things around me besides red back spiders. No snakes although we had a giant sized rat that I hosed off the side of the house not that long ago (should of heard the thump when it hit the ground ).

I have swam with about 3 sharks close by in the Great Barrier Reef when I was 14 (until they dragged me out of the water by the back of my shirt).....but nothing that close to me that really endangers my life except for cars and Mrs Dyar.

We have stacks of deadly stuff here though but most of it can be avoided with a bit of common sense.....like don't swim in croc infested rivers for a start. Our waters are full of deadly or poisonous living things and....well so is the land part of our country too.....although the ratio of Aussies actually dying from these things is so minor that I think it's more of an issue for people outside of Australia than the people living here.....we just promote it a lot as it makes us look tougher than we actually are.

Dyar

[Bunno Smurf]

By roos you mean kangas? Oooh, that is so cool (not that you have to commit kamikaze). I wish we had that problem...elks are not so cool, me thinks

You live in Outback? Or how do you say it? That sounds really avesome, at least to us living here up north

JT

Yeah I mean kangaroos. Theres a settlement of them that live about 1km from my house and they are always bounding out onto the road at dusk (which is the worst time to see them). The trick is to actually aim for them, it sounds horrible but they generally get out of your way so if you keep heading for them you usually miss them. They're pretty big and solid and can do a lot of damage to your car.

I live in the country but I am only about 18kms from Bunbury, one of the largest country cities in Australia. Its a port city on the south west coast. It has a population in excess of 50,000. Its about 180km south of Perth , the capital city of Western Australia. The town I live in is a coastal town so not what we would call the "outback". Anything further inland is classed as the Outback really.

Check out these pics of Bunbury...gotta love the roos on the golf course! We also have a dolphin discovery centre in Bunbury...the dolphins come in to feed there. The closeup tower is the Bunbury Tower, which has been nicknamed the "Milk Carton" because thats what it looks like! Some people call it the mouse too cos it looks a little like a mouse.

[Syd Smurf]

Nice pics Linda. My brother went to Perth when I was about 8 so I have always been a little fascinated about getting over there one day....I've heard nothing but good stuff about WA....except for the outbreak of the dutch oven epidemic of course.

Many parts of WA sounds so nice and really a great place to grow up......I hope to get on the other side of the desert one day.

Dyar

[Guest]

Great pics Linda, it looks really nice there !

Dyar, you're right, the Aussies treat it all as everyday life, its us thick poms coming over trying to stroke a croc, thats the trouble !

[Bunno Smurf]

....except for the outbreak of the dutch oven epidemic of course.

Dyar

That reminds me of poor Eloise last week. My sister bought her this Wiggles torch which she loves and she made up this game called "See You". She hides under her blankets with you and turns the torch on and yells "See You". Unfortunately she decided to play this in our bed with Phil the other morning....not a good idea!

Her comment (sternly), "Awwwwww, Daddy!"

[steveparkes]

Awwww....lovely piccies of the Roo's Linda..so cute..can I have one please?

So really I should stop freaking out at a wasp!!!

Yeah, me too Rachel..I hate wasps..they serve no purpose and are SOO annoying..I hate them

My workmate comes from Australia, he said when he was a kid he went outside and almost stepped on a snake on his backyard step

I'd come over and visit my family over there, but I don't travel well and I'm scared of spiders..so I wouldn't last a minute

[JT]

Great looking pictures Linda! That looks like place everyone would love to go on holidays and you live there!!!
What do you do on your vacations?
I´ve always loved to see Australia, but "scaring policy", that Dyar too represents, has kept me away And lack of cash too...

Anyway, thanks for pics and info. It´s nice to learn more about other countries

JT

[Guest]

I used to freak out about wasps and spiders but I seem to be improving with age, for some reason I don't freak quite as much as I used to. Perhaps looking in the mirror these days puts things in perspective.

Great pics, Linda, why don't we have beaches like that?

[Bunno Smurf]

Great pics, Linda, why don't we have beaches like that?

ummm cos its only hot enough to use them one day a year there???