My young niece is coming to Australia in February for a year...she's garnering a teacher's certificate and is travelling to Brisbane...but....
she's hearing all sorts of things about the wildlife...especially spiders and snakes.

She is deathly afraid of spiders....any size of 'em...and figures they will be even where the snakes aren't.

Australia is the home of some of the most deadly snakes and she's a-fearful enough about them....let alone the spiders.

So what should she do about getting over this fear....she pondered for a long time before accepting Australia as the place to do her foreign assignment....but Australia being a lot warmer than Canada in winter, she has trepidation. though.

I will say tho....she looks pretty good in a bikini and is an avid swimmer. Australia was the choice rather than France.

I'd appreciate anything you want to say about this matter.

Now before that I lived up North Qld on a larger block and it was nothing to see snakes crossing the block or pythons in the chook *Hen* yard and redback spiders everywhere but if you don't touch you don't get bitten. I was leaning on a steel post talking to a neighbour and was bitten by a redback and received no medical attention that was years ago when I was in my 50's. Oh BTW I have never been bitten by a snake and have come across plenty in my time and I am female..

I would be more concerned about what is in the ocean after all the sharks would not care what you are wearing if they decided to take a bite.

Your Niece will be fine here and tell her not to worry Australia is a great place even with the wild life..

there are nasty critters in most countries in the world, and i'm sure cnada has its share i mean they have the kodiak grizzly bears they not only bite buth they eat ya as well.

it is a phobia shared by many i saw on tv over hare there is someplace i think in qld might be one of the nature/reptile parks who hold clinics to help people over these phobias, they do this in a couple of hours, side benefit she gets to meet some of our wildlife first hand.

i apricularly don't like spiders on me or near me, as well as snakes but i don't go all to pieces over it, and also as has been said for all the venomous snakes and spiders we have only those who go where others dare ever get bitten and very few suffer any critical consequence, you could go swimming at the beach and get bit by a shark hey?? probably got a better chance of winninbg lotto?

just tell her we are a civilised country and all the wild nasty critters are outback! in the bush. and as a visitor her chances of even seeing one of them would be more remote than being hit by a mack truck in your back garden.

len