When I was about 10, I trod on a spikey object in the river near my uncle’s farm not far from Byron Bay in Eastern Australia. I looked at the bottom of my foot and saw 5 puncture marks. That’s when the pain kicked in and oh my god, I thought I was going to die. I heard someone screaming hysterically and realised it was me.

Now I have been stung by Bluebottles, had broken and sprained appendages, fallen onto hard surfaces with a thump, and had boiling water blow up in my face, but this was pain of a different order of magnitude. Of all the adults and children swimming in the river that day, only one young girl guessed what it was – a Bullrout.

The Bullrout is the fresh water equivalent of the Great Barrier Reef’s, Stone Fish, and is also related to the Scorpion Fish. I did survive the sting, though my foot swelled up to the size of a football and the pain lasted for at least an hour, at which point I was given a pain-killing injection at hospital. It got me thinking about the number of dangerous and painful creatures in Australia. There are so, so many. I made a brief list.

1. Jellyfish – Box Jellyfish, Irukkandji.
2. Snakes – Taipan, Tiger Snake, Brown Snake
3. Fish – Stone Fish, Bullrout, Scorpion Fish
4. Other Marine Creatures – Bluebottles, Sea Snakes, Cone Shells, Blue Ringed Octopus, Stingrays, Anemones
5. Spiders – Funnel Web, Red Back
6. Others – Male Platypus, Bees, Scorpions, Wasps, Bull-Ants, Stinging Ants, Paralysis Ticks

As well as the poisonous creatures there are the big take-a-bite-out-you ones like sharks and crocodiles. I remember reading Bill Bryson’s book “Down Under” and laughing so hard at his depiction of Australian’s calmness in the face of all the dangers present.  Just recently there have been several sharks attacks in Sydney where I live. One of my friends knows the guy who was attacked at Bondi Beach. Last week the shark alarm sound at Manly beach because there was a shark cruising the beach. Later the lifeguards also made their regular Bluebottle warning, “There are Bluebottles drifting towards the beach with the wind. They have blue tentacles that hang from a clear bubble. Their sting is painful and there is no known cure. If you get stung remove the stingers from your skin and wait 30 or so minutes for the pain to subside. I repeat there is no known cure.”

There are dangers everywhere but I don’t think about them, because it is what I’m used to. I don’t think about them until I get stung or someone I know gets attacked, but it is very rare. I am more likely to die from a car accident, or a bad diet, than any of the dangerous creatures I’ve mentioned. More people die from reactions to bee stings than snake bites or jellyfish stings.

Australia is a cool place to live because it is dangerous. Its hard not to respect those small creatures that have ingeniously developed poison to help them survive.