[mb_72]

Australian here. What you say is true, but avoid long grass (snakes) when out walking and check under the toilet seat (spiders) before sitting and you'll be fine. More importantly, make sure you look up constantly when around gum trees to avoid sudden and violent drop-bear attacks. The exact number of deaths and injuries caused by drop-bears is keep secret by the Australian government to avoid putting off tourists, but could well be more than zero.

[vacri]

If you smear toothpaste on the back of your neck when walking through forests, the dropbears will slide right off.

[shitgoose]

i had to google 'drop-bear'... are spiders under the toilet seat also part of australian folklore or they are real?

[vacri]

Mostly folklore - there's even a song: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/redback-on-the-toilet-seat-ly...

A normal clean toilet is no danger, same as everywhere else in the world, but if you're going to the loo in one of those ramshackle open-to-the-elements rustic outhouses, you might want to check the seat.

[enraged_camel]

They are real: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/27/venomous-spider-b...

[mb_72]

Real, but usually only if you have an 'outside toilet'; I had one of these in a WWII-era home located in a country area of Australia, and there would often be red-back spiders + eggs under the seat. Still, easily checked for and destroyed.

[HeyLaughingBoy]

Considering that I live in rural Minnesota and if my shoes are left outside in summer, I check them for wasps or snakes before putting them on, I'd go for them being real.

[enraged_camel]

"Spiders under toilet seats" sounds terrifying.