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What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

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11–20 of 105 posts

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#11
post #6

Stories like this make me wonder why anyone lives in Australia, since virtually everything seems to want to kill you. Or perhaps Aussies are tougher than the rest of us.

It's often said, but really, the way it's reported in international media is very sensationalist; the things that are deadly are just not common in areas where people live and travel.

Yes, sure, we have some deadly snakes, spiders, crocodiles, a few plants like in the OP, etc. But so do many other countries/regions around the world, including the USA.

In practice, the vast majority of Australians never have any contact with them, and actual cases of people being killed or seriously harmed by these things are extremely rare, and are much less common than fatalities/serious injuries from traffic accidents, which also have quite low rates by international standards.

Australians like to think of themselves as tough, but, I dunno, we're pretty much like most other people around the world in my experience :)

Edit:

Some actual data:

There were 541 animal-related deaths reported to an Australian coroner between 2001 and 2017, with an average of 32 animal-related deaths reported per calendar year. Land mammals comprised the majority (71.0%) of deaths, followed by reptiles and amphibians (10.7%) and insects and invertebrates (8.7%).

...

Nearly one third (31.8%) of animal-related deaths involved horses.

https://www.ncis.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NCIS-fact...

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In the same period, nearly 25000 people died in traffic accidents, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_i...

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#12
post #6

Stories like this make me wonder why anyone lives in Australia, since virtually everything seems to want to kill you. Or perhaps Aussies are tougher than the rest of us.

To be fair... There are at least... 3... Animals here that aren't explicitly trying to kill us. It's really not that bad. Just don't go into the warm water or the box jellyfish will get you. Keep an eye out for Sting-rays too... Nobody wants to go out like old-mate Steve. Oh and don't go into the cold water either, blue-ringed octopus... Nasty buggers. Rivers too... Not a great idea... Crocks are pretty nippy when th…

You missed out the deadly drop-bears

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#13
post #6

Stories like this make me wonder why anyone lives in Australia, since virtually everything seems to want to kill you. Or perhaps Aussies are tougher than the rest of us.

It's often said, but really, the way it's reported in international media is very sensationalist; the things that are deadly are just not common in areas where people live and travel. Yes, sure, we have some deadly snakes, spiders, crocodiles, a few plants like in the OP, etc. But so do many other countries/regions around the world, including the USA. In practice, the vast majority of Australians never have any conta…

The US has bears and mountain lions and shit, which are legitimately pretty dangerous.

That being said, they never lost a war against their wildlife...

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair... There are at least... 3... Animals here that aren't explicitly trying to kill us. It's really not that bad. Just don't go into the warm water or the box jellyfish will get you. Keep an eye out for Sting-rays too... Nobody wants to go out like old-mate Steve. Oh and don't go into the cold water either, blue-ringed octopus... Nasty buggers. Rivers too... Not a great idea... Crocks are pretty nippy when th…

You missed out the deadly drop-bears

And the Combat-Emu https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassowary

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's often said, but really, the way it's reported in international media is very sensationalist; the things that are deadly are just not common in areas where people live and travel. Yes, sure, we have some deadly snakes, spiders, crocodiles, a few plants like in the OP, etc. But so do many other countries/regions around the world, including the USA. In practice, the vast majority of Australians never have any conta…

The US has bears and mountain lions and shit, which are legitimately pretty dangerous. That being said, they never lost a war against their wildlife...

Kudzu has entered the chat.

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#17
post #6

Stories like this make me wonder why anyone lives in Australia, since virtually everything seems to want to kill you. Or perhaps Aussies are tougher than the rest of us.

my little nephew went to australia for a year, travelling and working. my poor (late) mother was on the edge of her seat the whole time, convinced that he was going to be bitten, stung, dehydrated etc. we used to (perhaps unforgivably) tease her by showing her david attenborough sort of films featuring box jellyfishes.

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair... There are at least... 3... Animals here that aren't explicitly trying to kill us. It's really not that bad. Just don't go into the warm water or the box jellyfish will get you. Keep an eye out for Sting-rays too... Nobody wants to go out like old-mate Steve. Oh and don't go into the cold water either, blue-ringed octopus... Nasty buggers. Rivers too... Not a great idea... Crocks are pretty nippy when th…

You missed out the deadly drop-bears

luckily, the really deadly cassaworys have not yet learned to swim

Re: What it’s like to fall into the deadly Australian plant, gympie-gympie

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US has bears and mountain lions and shit, which are legitimately pretty dangerous. That being said, they never lost a war against their wildlife...

Kudzu has entered the chat.

On the upside, it's edible, not deadly. (Not that Americans seem to eat it.)

At least not deadly to humans. Not sure what impact it's having on, say, other plant species in The South.

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