Once bitten ... and still bleeding!

[Mad Aussie]

When we headed out this morning I warned Chantelle that we might see some leeches. As a precaution, we wore long pants and socks and tucked the pants legs into our socks.

After taking our photos and getting drenched in a rain shower, we got back to the van and I said to Chantelle she should check in her boots in case a leech got in following the warmth. I checked mine briefly, didn't see anything, so off we headed home.

At home I took off my boots and ...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20photographyca/july-dec09/_MG_0020.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20photographyca/july-dec09/_MG_0024.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20photographyca/july-dec09/_MG_0028.jpg

About 2 hours since he latched on and I'm still bleeding slightly.

[tomorrowstreasures]

:eek: ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Mad Aussie]

:eek: ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Well ... at least you answered! Raiven was so horrified she left immediately and then commented on this thread in another thread of mine because she's afraid to return :headslap:

It's just a LEECH people! They don't hurt! And they are used to this day in medicine!

[Bambi]

I typed a whole reply but it's gone now!!!! :mad:

Leeches don't bother me too much but I don't want one on me. Here we just have them in lakes not lurking in the forest. Of course we have ticks to do that :eek:

I am shocked that it can get you through your clothes though.

[MoinMoin]

Raiven was so horrified she left immediately...

A clever woman! Well, as long as the leech is sitting on someone others vein - it can't bother me :p.

[kat]

Bloody things..shouldn't exist! We got them in our lake too...some actually look like little twigs..freak me right out! "Shivers"

[Marko]

Cool shots MA - i like leeches as they do so much good.

Black flies on the other hand.....

[kat]

Cool shots MA - i like leeches as they do so much good.

Black flies on the other hand.....

Ha ha..if you want to go there..they are good too! :( anything that sucks blood in my book isn't the greatest..even if it's for the good of the planet.. :P

[Bambi]

Bloody things..shouldn't exist! We got them in our lake too...some actually look like little twigs..freak me right out! "Shivers"

but it's supposed to be a sign that the lake is 'healthy' :)

[Mad Aussie]

I've never gotten a leech out of the water as far as I'm aware ... only in the rain forest and only when it rains.

[kat]

but it's supposed to be a sign that the lake is 'healthy' :)

And.... :laugh:

I know they are all good for their own things..but come on. Ugly critters they are!

I watched this documentary, can't remember where it was, a jungle/rain forest, and they had to tie up all their open holes from their clothing as they walked past this place. The leeches were like inch worms in the trees and ground and came to them. Freaked me out that did..lol.

Wish I could remember what it was on..find it.

[Mad Aussie]

Just for the record ... I don't like them either ... but a shot is a shot and we can't let our biases stop us from getting the photo :)

[casil403]

:yuck: :yuck: :yuck:
I'd go freaking mental if I found one on me...I swear! We get ticks here that burrow into your skin and that too would drive me into the nuthouse! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[casil403]

Just for the record ... I don't like them either ... but a shot is a shot and we can't let our biases stop us from getting the photo :)

I dunnow MA...I certainly can!!! :yuck: :yuck: :yuck: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Mad Aussie]

Next time I get a tick I'll get a shot of that for you Casil :) We tham here as well. Paralysis ticks too ... they kill dogs and can make a human very sick and potential be lethal though I don't think anyone has actually died of one.

Saw a Funnelweb spider this morning on my bike ride. That's a first! Never seen one in the wild before. Freaky staring at the worlds deadliest spider. I grabbed a stick of grass and made it rear up in attack mode. They are nasty ass spiders! This one was small though ... well ... small for a funnel web.

[casil403]

Spiders don't bother me MA....it's anything such as a parasite that does...ticks....leeches...bedbugs.......Enough to drive me into the nut house! Anything that burrows into the body! :yuck:

Oh and snakes too make me nuts...I have issues with walking into long grass becuz of snakes! :eek:

[Mad Aussie]

You SHOULD be afraid of Funnelweb Spiders Casil ... I am! And I'm betting if one of our Huntsman spiders crawled on you that you might think about being bothered seeing as they are often 100mm in diameter at least and sometimes as big as 200mm! Imagine a spider as big as your dinner plate and you can actually see all 8 eyes! You can hear these things running across wooden or tiled floors!

[Bambi]

OMG stop stop!!!! I give up. It's taken me many years to get used to spiders. If I had one that size coming for me all you would find is me curled up in the corner rocking.......

I have however picked many a tick off of the dogs and my horse. I've had a few on me but never burrowed in very far.


gah!

can we talk about cute things now???

[casil403]

Ticks = :yuck: :yuck: :eek: :eek:

Spiders...on the coast we have black widows and wolf sipers which get HUGE!!!! and hairy...I sued to feed them dead flies form the windowsill when I was little and watch them eat them! LOVED IT !:highfive:
I don't even mind tarantulas MA!

[Mad Aussie]

OMG stop stop!!!! I give up. It's taken me many years to get used to spiders. If I had one that size coming for me all you would find is me curled up in the corner rocking.......

I have however picked many a tick off of the dogs and my horse. I've had a few on me but never burrowed in very far.


gah!

can we talk about cute things now???
You don't want to know about the paralysis tick I found in crutch then??? :confused: Actually, to be more specific ... the paralysis tick LEANNE found in my crutch? ;)
Warning to all ... stuffing lichen down your pants is not a great idea in tick country :rolleyes: Maybe there should be warnings on the lichen about this? You know ... like the don't use in the bathtub stickers for hair dryers!! :lightbulb

[Mad Aussie]

Ticks = :yuck: :yuck: :eek: :eek:

Spiders...on the coast we have black widows and wolf sipers which get HUGE!!!! and hairy...I sued to feed them dead flies form the windowsill when I was little and watch them eat them! LOVED IT !:highfive:
I don't even mind tarantulas MA!
Well you can come and play with our Huntsmen then .... they have a bite but it's not dangerous.

But stay away from our Funnelwebs ... they'll bite through your shoes and have you dead in no time. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

[casil403]

We went camping last year and I just about died when the BF told me he found a tick crawling around in the bathroom!
Oh and cookaratchas...don't even get me started! :yuck:

[Mad Aussie]

Ticks are nothing. Just a big flea with a squaters mentality.

But Cockroaches are disgusting!!!

[Bambi]

You don't want to know about the paralysis tick I found in crutch then??? :confused: Actually, to be more specific ... the paralysis tick LEANNE found in my crutch? ;)
Warning to all ... stuffing lichen down your pants is not a great idea in tick country :rolleyes: Maybe there should be warnings on the lichen about this? You know ... like the don't use in the bathtub stickers for hair dryers!! :lightbulb


oh my god, you are lucky she ever touched your crutch again!

can this conversation deteriorate any further?

[casil403]

can this conversation deteriorate any further?
I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! :highfive:

[casil403]

What abgout silverfish???!!!!
Those are nasty too! My first place had silverfish!
Apparently it made the news in Victoria they have a bedbug infestation too!

[Mad Aussie]

I'm the only bedbug anyone has to worry about around here ;)

[MoinMoin]

... they'll bite through your shoes and have you dead in no time ...

Once - at the beginning of our correspondence - Steve, I thought Australia would be a fantastic travel destination (should I ever get over my fear of heights and my purse filled with enough money). But then you worte me about those spiders too - and I am happy to stay where I am!:goodvibes

[Mad Aussie]

Once - at the beginning of our correspondence - Steve, I thought Australia would be a fantastic travel destination (should I ever get over my fear of heights and my purse filled with enough money). But then you worte me about those spiders too - and I am happy to stay where I am!:goodvibes
Well ... I've seen one Huntsman in about 2 years ... this is the first Funnel Web I've ever seen that wasn't in a bottle or glass container. They are like snakes ... most people never see them.

[Fortytwo]

Anything that (could) bite me is ending up dead. Either by hand or by chemicals, but they are going down. If it were me with the leech, you'd have photographs of a big red splatter...

[Mad Aussie]

I've bled more by falling over :)

[Bambi]

okay so for a second there I was freaked out because we also have spiders that build funnel webs in canada. In fact I have had them around my house! :eek: turns out that ours are a different species then in the land of Oz so we're okay :)

Australian funnel-web spider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_funnel-web_spider) :yuck::eek:

now it seems that the huntsman is not toxic but I think that if I saw this I would be having a heart attack:
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z116/lynn2611/clockspider.jpg

muststoplookingatthisthread-muststoplookingatthisthread-muststoplookingatthisthread-muststoplookingatthisthread

[casil403]

LOL! To funny B...it's like trying not to look at a car accident for you huh?

[Mad Aussie]

That huintsman looks like he'd fit inside the clock numbers ... about 150mm in diameter I'd guess ... about normal for a large one. We've had one here in the house in the past few years ... sitting on alight switch as I reached to turn on the light. It saw me before I saw it thankfully!

Car accidents! Huntsmans cause a few of those! Imagine driving at night and suddenly one runs onto your windscreen right in front of your face. Where's your focus now huh??? And is he on the inside or outside?? You can't be sure because he's silhouetted. With nerve you slowly brake and pull over to check. But many just slam on the brakes, screaming as another car slams up the back end and ... when you look again ... the spider has gone!! I haven't crashed or panicked but I've had this happen and know several people who say the same. Thankfully in almost 30 years of driving it's happened once only!

[Bambi]

That huintsman looks like he'd fit inside the clock numbers ... about 150mm in diameter I'd guess ... about normal for a large one. We've had one here in the house in the past few years ... sitting on alight switch as I reached to turn on the light. It saw me before I saw it thankfully!

Car accidents! Huntsmans cause a few of those! Imagine driving at night and suddenly one runs onto your windscreen right in front of your face. Where's your focus now huh??? And is he on the inside or outside?? You can't be sure because he's silhouetted. With nerve you slowly brake and pull over to check. But many just slam on the brakes, screaming as another car slams up the back end and ... when you look again ... the spider has gone!! I haven't crashed or panicked but I've had this happen and know several people who say the same. Thankfully in almost 30 years of driving it's happened once only!


ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I totally get that.. Here it's bees/wasps that cause accidents for the exact same reason.

So when I get to australia, I should have someone check the car...........under the bed.........in my shoes....

[Mad Aussie]

It depends where you are. Antz would have do those things as he has bushland on his doorstep. I don't have to be so paranoid as I live in a housing estate with little bush around.