I'm looking forward to having such conversations with Ryan.

"Daddy? What can kill me right where we're standing?"

"Well, Ryan, that lizard over there is poisonous, that plant over there will kill you if you eat it, and that snake by your foot would have you dead as a doornail before you hit the ground. Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Cool!"

He is billytea's son after all.

edit: And they live in Australia, God's Testing Lab for Shit That will Fuck You Up.

Also, included in that conversation: all the many senses that animals have beyond our five.

Survival not being one of them, if my house is any indication.

Survival not being one of them, if my house is any indication.

They were mesmerized by your magnetic polarity.

That's about as good as anything I've come up with.

(For those not in Natter - I have a very rules-oriented dog who appears to have decided that the new rule is "I [dog] am not allowed to eat out of my food bowl" and therefore is cobbling together a near-starvation diet from post-walk treats and certain things that happen to fall on the floor..)

Is she, perhaps, waiting for you to break out the six-piece Limoges place setting? or maybe she'd be happier eating off the floor?

And I think that if you want to know about the most poisonous anything, it's probably in Australia.

And I think that if you want to know about the most poisonous anything, it's probably in Australia.

Not at all. It's just as often in the waters surrounding Australia. (DIVERSITY - WE HAS IT!)

Right - the blue spotted octopus and the cuttlefish. And sea snakes.

So ... if I should ever travel to Australia, should I invest in a wide range of antivenins?

Right - the blue spotted octopus and the cuttlefish. And sea snakes.

Box jellyfix. shudder

Do not want!

Right - the blue spotted octopus and the cuttlefish. And sea snakes.

And the stonefish (though by no means limited to Australia). And the box jellyfish, which is likely the most venomous creature of all.

So ... if I should ever travel to Australia, should I invest in a wide range of antivenins?

It's generally pretty easy to avoid getting bitten or stung by any of our venomous critters (except possibly the stonefish). Don't pick stuff up, watch where you step, wear decent shoes and trousers when in the bush. Don't swim in northern waters during jellyfish season, and take vinegar with you if you do. Basically, you're more likely to be killed by an animal in the US than here. Wait, scratch that. Americans are more likely to be killed in America than Australians are in Australia. Tourists do have a distressing habit of swimming in northern waterholes without regard for croc warning signs. (Don't do that either, if you visit.)

And if you hit Canberra, visit the Reptile Centre. They have an inland taipan.