Kelly Sugarman

MSU Media

“Watch out – They’re Daaaaangerous!”

For months before my visit to Australia, people warned me about killer snakes and deadly spiders that inhabit the wilds of Australia. Most Americans don’t worry about a crocodile crawling through their back door or a poisonous snake slithering in their house -- such things rarely happen in the United States. To these sheltered "Yanks," Australia is a scary place where people die from killer animals every day. In reality, Australia isn’t the wild place that the media and entertainment portray.

To Americans, Australia seems an alien continent on the other side of the globe with only 19 million inhabitants and more deadly animals than any other country. The media has played a huge role in propagating intimidating stereotypes of Aussie animals. Many people can talk about the deadly animals encountered by the Crocodile Hunter on television, but few could name Canberra as the nation’s capital.

Certain images consistently appear throughout coverage of Australia: crocodile attacks, dingoes eating small children and sharks gnawing on the legs of surfers. These things do happen, but the media often sensationalize their stories to hype the stereotype. "Dingo Attacks Nine-year-old boy" -- this type of sensationalist headline grabs the attention of readers worldwide. Aside from the 2000 Olympics, Australia doesn’t have much representation in international newspaper coverage.

Exportable stereotypes are picked up from "Crocodile Dundee" and more recently "Survivor." One of the most familiar images is the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. This Aussie, wearing khaki and hiking boots, troops through the Outback in search of the world’s most "daaaaangerous" animals. He hypes the animals for dramatization and entertainment value, which enhances U.S. misconceptions.

Often the most dreaded attackers are the crocodile and sharks that make their way unseen through the Australian waters, or at least that’s how the media presents it. In the last 20 years, however, crocodiles have killed only seven people and in the past five years, about 19 shark attacks were reported. Even one attack is enough to keep even the most adventurous tourist out of the water. But usually the animals don’t attack unless antagonized.

Eighty percent of Australian animals are native only to this continent, but they include 61 species of venomous snakes and 22 types of spiders, and even the cute and cuddly creatures such as the kangaroo and koala can get feisty when they feel threatened. Snake attacks are even more rare. Australia has the top 10 most lethal snakes in the world, and the myths about them are commonly accepted. Of all the scary and dangerous animals of Australia, the deadliest venomous animal, considering human fatalities, is the exotic honeybee, which claims about 100 people a year. Yet the honeybee doesn’t get negative publicity as a killer the way that snakes do.

Most Australian snakes don't attack people unless approached. According to Brian Bush, an Australian snake researcher, “They have had only 40,000 odd years of human predation to contend with. None of their behavior has involved targeting humans. Maybe this is why it is almost impossible to accidentally get bitten unless you run around the scrub in bare feet with your eyes shut, and half full of alcohol.” Now, you’re thinking, what kind of person would do such a thing? Well believe it or not, they’re actually out there and we encountered one.

Touring Kakadu National Park, our group of American students

encountered this very stereotype. Our guide, Greg, fit the model of a rugged Outback man -- stained clothing, unshaven face and hair that hadn’t been washed in quite some time. As we drove toward Kakadu, he woke up the napping passengers by making a sharp U-turn, practically overturning the carelessly attached trailer. Without explanation, he jumped out of the driver’s seat, barefoot and picked up a snake, which he later identified as the western brown snake.

He motioned for us to follow him, though several students opted to stay in the safe bus. After several unsuccessful attempts to pin the snake’s head with a large stick, he took another approach and used his shirt to grab the snake. At this point, students slowly crept toward the bus.

Needless to say, we were all impressed by his lack of apparent fear, but didn’t share his confidence. He defined himself as the "fair dinkum Crocodile Hunter" and then called Steve Irwin an inappropriate name. A minute later, he threw down the snake and ordered us back to the bus. We then sped to the closest gas station without any explanation.

He’d been bitten.

Now, maybe I’m naive, but I’d consider it crazy to pick up the second most deadly snake in the world. One 1/14,000 of an ounce of its venom is enough to kill a person. And the brown snake injects only a small amount of venom yet causes more snakebite deaths in Australia than any other snake.

Is this a dangerous country? Based on the amount of people who die from these attacks, it’s more dangerous to fly or drive a car, as long as you don't antagonize the animals or pick them up to impress a bunch of American tourists.