The Old Folks Home

[Teila]

Having trouble keeping up and I am a bit late on this one as the subject has changed already but .....

Don't laugh, my fear/freak out = moths! They give me the shivers, ugly little things and I hate the way they flutter around you, makes my skin crawl. A close second - Christmas Beetles. So called because they are in abundance around Christmas. Not unheard of to have 100's all over the screens, peering in at you, clicking. In the morning, when you go outside, there can be heaps of them on their backs struggling to turn over .. eew!

We have poisonous spiders, the most famous being the Red Back about which songs have been written .... 'Red Back on the Toilet Seat'.

The man bitten in this song was bitten by a female red-back. The male does not bite.
The red-back spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) one of Australia's most venomous spiders. It's found across Australia including Tasmania and is often found in outdoor dunnys (toilets), letter boxes, under logs and rocks and other dark areas. The red-back spider is most active at dusk and during the night.
Since the poison attacks the nervous system, it only takes a small amount of venom to cause serious illness. The red-back spider's painful bite can be fatal, especially to the young and elderly. An effective anti-venom was developed in 1956 and you should seek medical help immediately if bitten.

 

[ozexpat]

the two inch long sydney funnel web is a nasty spider



I used to work in ICU at the Royal North Shore Hospital od Sydney.

Victims would go into cirulatory shock and were so sick and sometimes died but when the antivenoum was finally produced, our ICU was quoted as saying it took the fun out of funnel web bites. The comment got him into trouble as being callous but for thrill seeking gung ho medical professional, trying to save somebody went from an all hands on deck situation to an iv injection.

There has not been a death since we gave that first dose in the early eighties

 

[ozexpat]

Having trouble keeping up and I am a bit late on this one as the subject has changed already but .....

Don't laugh, my fear/freak out = moths! They give me the shivers, ugly little things and I hate the way they flutter around you, makes my skin crawl. A close second - Christmas Beetles. So called because they are in abundance around Christmas. Not unheard of to have 100's all over the screens, peering in at you, clicking. In the morning, when you go outside, there can be heaps of them on their backs struggling to turn over .. eew!

We have poisonous spiders, the most famous being the Red Back about which songs have been written .... 'Red Back on the Toilet Seat'.

The man bitten in this song was bitten by a female red-back. The male does not bite.
The red-back spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) one of Australia's most venomous spiders. It's found across Australia including Tasmania and is often found in outdoor dunnys (toilets), letter boxes, under logs and rocks and other dark areas. The red-back spider is most active at dusk and during the night.
Since the poison attacks the nervous system, it only takes a small amount of venom to cause serious illness. The red-back spider's painful bite can be fatal, especially to the young and elderly. An effective anti-venom was developed in 1956 and you should seek medical help immediately if bitten.

our aussie red back is similar to a black widow

her is an old country song

 

[Teila]

While I have bumped into a few Red Backs over the years, I am happy to say that I have never crossed paths with a Sydney Funnel Web and quite happy to keep it that way!

 

[drumstick diva]

My son had night terrors when he first moved to a twin bed (from the crib). His screaming would wake me up and when I went to comfort him he would hit me. It was very distressing to both of us. I don't know what set him off ,even though I knew he was still in his dream or nightmare, whatever it really hurt to have him hit and scream at me. Then he would come out of it and lay down and go right to sleep.

One day I was in a shopping mall store with native American decorations . When the owner asked if he could help me I told him about my son sitting bolt upright in bed and screaming. He told me about dream catchers so I bought a small one.

I hung it on the wall above his pillow. He asked me what it was and I said it was just something pretty to decorate the room. I never mentioned what it was or what it was supposed to do. But, I swear he never had another episode of night terrors. Coincidence or conspiracy - you be the judge. I never got one for myself because I didn't believe in them.

My favorite shows as a kid were "Shock Theatre," "Twilight zone," "One Step Beyond,"" Night Stalker." My older sister got me addicted to" Dark Shadows," and I even bought the soundtrack.

I wasn't that scared at the time because my sister and I shared a full sized bed. Then we had to give up the bed to someone else and we had twin beds. My bed was pushed against a wall and so it began....... I was afraid something would come up between the wall and the bed, so I never slept on that side. I would sleep so far to the opposite side I often fell off the bed. Of course I would never pick up anything that dropped off the bed if it was dark in the room. That had to wait for daylight.

The closet is neutral ground, so packed with clothes and junk, nothing else could fit.

Oh panic attacks are legend in the female side of my family - my mom, sister and I, her two daughters, my sister's granddaughter. Maybe it just hits women in our family or the men wouldn't admit it.

 

[Bunnylady]

the two inch long sydney funnel web is a nasty spider



I used to work in ICU at the Royal North Shore Hospital od Sydney.

Victims would go into cirulatory shock and were so sick and sometimes died but when the antivenoum was finally produced, our ICU was quoted as saying it took the fun out of funnel web bites. The comment got him into trouble as being callous but for thrill seeking gung ho medical professional, trying to save somebody went from an all hands on deck situation to an iv injection.

There has not been a death since we gave that first dose in the early eighties

I assumed he was being humorous but I guess that famous Aussie combination of bravado and tongue-in-cheek humor doesn't always play at home, either.

 

[chickadoodles]

My son had night terrors when he first moved to a twin bed (from the crib). His screaming would wake me up and when I went to comfort him he would hit me. It was very distressing to both of us. I don't know what set him off ,even though I knew he was still in his dream or nightmare, whatever it really hurt to have him hit and scream at me. Then he would come out of it and lay down and go right to sleep.

One day I was in a shopping mall store with native American decorations . When the owner asked if he could help me I told him about my son sitting bolt upright in bed and screaming. He told me about dream catchers so I bought a small one.

I hung it on the wall above his pillow. He asked me what it was and I said it was just something pretty to decorate the room. I never mentioned what it was or what it was supposed to do. But, I swear he never had another episode of night terrors. Coincidence or conspiracy - you be the judge. I never got one for myself because I didn't believe in them.

My favorite shows as a kid were "Shock Theatre," "Twilight zone," "One Step Beyond,"" Night Stalker." My older sister got me addicted to" Dark Shadows," and I even bought the soundtrack.

I wasn't that scared at the time because my sister and I shared a full sized bed. Then we had to give up the bed to someone else and we had twin beds. My bed was pushed against a wall and so it began....... I was afraid something would come up between the wall and the bed, so I never slept on that side. I would sleep so far to the opposite side I often fell off the bed. Of course I would never pick up anything that dropped off the bed if it was dark in the room. That had to wait for daylight.

The closet is neutral ground, so packed with clothes and junk, nothing else could fit.

Oh panic attacks are legend in the female side of my family - my mom, sister and I, her two daughters, my sister's granddaughter. Maybe it just hits women in our family or the men wouldn't admit it.

I got a dream catcher for my youngest son who is of Native American descent and it did not work for him.

I love those shows Diva I watched them all except Shock Theater I never heard of that one.

Panic attacks run in both male and females in my family. I have them and so do my daughters so far my son's don't have them. But sometimes it's hard to tell if it's my heart or a panic attack so I just take an asprin just in case.

 

[Teila]

Thanks for posting the link to Slim Newton's song ozexpat .. it has been a while since I have heard it, just took some time out of my not so busy work day to listen .. still a classic!

 

[chickisoup]

Quote: thanks for letting us in on the journey. Wise words. How did you know my microscope is on the way?

 

[chickisoup]

1# - dreamcatchers. You need to tell them the story. I think it's the story, if told right, is really what works. Did for my daughter and then for hers.

2# - Scary movie? Jaws. Most hilarious "scary" movie EVER???? Sharknado!!!!