I've had some concerned university students here in Arequipa ask me if it's dangerous to live in Australia. They tell me that 9 out of the 10 most dangerous snakes in the world live in Australia. They also remind me of the deadly spiders, crocodiles and the sharks.
When we visited Australia we got to see a few of these dangerous animals. I took a little video of a spider that my nephew wanted to keep as a pet.
It looked suspiciously like the Funnel-web spider, one of the most dangerous spiders in the world. One of our friends identified it as the Trapdoor spider, which has distinctive ,"boxing gloves,". This spider was harmless but he is no longer a pet.
On two later occasions we did meet a deadly arachnid in someone's backyard. Both were Redback spiders that are easy to identify thanks to the red stripe on their back. We also got to see snakes and crocodiles in the safety of a zoo.
I'm sure that the concerned students from Arequipa are relieved that we're back from Australia - alive.
