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Thread: Does New Zealand have pests? Spiders, snakes, etc??

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
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    Singapore
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    Default Does New Zealand have pests? Spiders, snakes, etc??

    I know Australia has its share of spider problems. Just wondering if New Zealand has any pests problem?

  2. #2
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    Feb 2009
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    Auckland
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    Yes, we do have our share of it. Rats, plenty of spiders, flies (these are worse in summer due to humidity and heat), cockroach. Nothing deadly or poisonous though

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2010
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    Wairarapa NZ
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    Hoons...........some places plagued by them. Seem to come out at night and make peoples lives a misery

  4. #4
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    Feb 2008
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    There aren't any highly venomous spiders or snakes - it's very different from Australia in that respect.

  5. #5
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    Aug 2015
    Location
    New Zealand
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    One of the largest pests in New Zealand is the possum. It eats a lot of native NZ bush. Possums aren't pests in Australia, because eating the poisonous Eucalyptus leafs keeps them in check.
    Yes NZ has spiders, but nothing as big as Australia and nothing as poisonous. Definitely no snakes. Everywhere has insects etc, but Australia wins the prize for having the most, the largest and most poisonous. Any more than that, you need to be more specific about what a "pest" means.

  6. #6
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    Mar 2013
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    New Zealand
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    Took me awhile to get used to there being no [venomous] snakes in NZ. Being from California, I was used to being very careful while hiking (aka tramping), and caught myself moving cautiously through grass, and looking for rattlesnakes curled up amongst rocks. Now I frolic through paddocks like a happy little lamb! It's wonderful!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    NZ
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    Compared to Australia, NZ does not have its share of dangerous pests. Actually, NZ has no snakes at all. Biosecurity is very tough here and they do all they can to keep out exotic and invasive species. Of course, it's impossible to keep everything out. If you move here, expect that your goods will undergo considerable inspection, and at your cost. The only poisonous thing here is the white-tailed spider. It's ugly like all spiders, its bite hurts, but it isn't very toxic. I've never seen one. Having said that, there are venomous things in the water like sting rays and eagle rays but they're native.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
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    Gizzy
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    Had a white tail crawling around my lounge today. They seem to come out more as it gets closer to summer. Not very toxic as you say, but the bite can leave a swollen and painful area, especially if it gets infected.

    Also jellyfish can be a ballache in the hot seasons. Ive been stung in the neck whilst surfing and my mates had to unwrap the tentacles of a bluebottle from his arm before. Theres the odd shark aswell.

    Apart from that youre pretty sweet. Not even close to the danger of animals/insects in OZ.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2012
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    There is one spider in NZ that is dangerous for humans: the katipo. It's habitat (in the underbrush on large sand dunes) means rarely to people come in contact with them. Don't think anyone's died from them in a really long time. A good friend's visiting cousin got bit by one on his...privates...after stripping to skinny dip, leaving his trunks in the sand dunes, sliding them back. I'm not making this up.

    My other half's been bit twice by white tips. His own fault, really: doesn't pay attention, argues with me about removing cobwebs (apparently they love to munch on other spiders, so getting rid of other spiders and they tend to move on), work in underbrush with jandals and shorts on. Both necrotised a bit, but nothing major. I finally admitted to him last weekend that I spray the outside of our house every month in the dry season and remove all the webs I find anywhere on our house's exterior and around our deck and pool.

    But I lived in Oz for 3 years. OMG the spiders! Of the stuff of nightmares.

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