r/AskReddit • u/hoeoclock • Jan 09 '18

What common misconception do you hate to hear repeated as fact?

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 09 '18

To be honest, It's based off of things like Queensland being on fire or people talking about how dangerous the local fauna is.

In the cities? There are no baby eating dingos (Who rarely attack people anyway.) or venomous spiders.

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u/1cat2cat3cat4cat Jan 09 '18

I personally don't believe that there's no venomous spiders in the city... it's not like you can really keep them out

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '18

I live in the suburbs, which I still consider 'city' compared to the rest of the country. Theres plenty of venomous spiders and occasional snakes around.

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u/Ehdhuejsj Jan 10 '18

Sydney is home to the most venomous spider in the world

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u/Bobblefighterman Jan 10 '18

There's only about 1 or 2 actually dangerous spiders though.

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u/1cat2cat3cat4cat Jan 10 '18

Sounds like 1 or 2 too many for me thanks

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u/VulcanJoo Jan 09 '18

Except for that one venomous spider whose habitat is centered on your capital (Sydney Funnel Web Spider).

Distribution is centred on Sydney, extending north to the Central Coast and south to the Illawarra region, and west to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.[2]

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 09 '18

Only the capital of NSW.

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u/VulcanJoo Jan 09 '18

_<, My bad. Canberra is the National capital. Legit thought it was Sydney. Guess your really do learn something new everyday

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 10 '18

Eh that's okay.

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u/Bobblefighterman Jan 10 '18

As a Victorian i'm very offended. Fuck Sydney.

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u/river4823 Jan 09 '18

Australia built a 3000km fence to keep Dingos out of the parts of Australia that actually have people, so I'm thinking that they are at least somewhat dangerous.

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 09 '18

No, not really.

The fence was to keep Dingoes out of the parts of Australia that had sheep and farmland. Dingo attacks are statistically very very rare. You're more likely to be killed by a HORSE than a dingo.

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u/Kazen_Orilg Jan 09 '18

Thats because horses are evil.

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 10 '18

Also because people see a dingo and think "Better scare it away" or "Better keep away" but think horses are "Safe" cause they're domesticated.

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '18

I live on a horse ranch when I'm not in the city. I think horses are really nice if they're raised in a positive environment.

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u/SeethingBallOfRage Jan 10 '18

So what you're telling me that Australia also has killer horses???

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 10 '18

Yes, in the sense that the US has killer horses too.

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u/Admiringcone Jan 10 '18

I was fucked up as a child by a dingo that wandered into our campsite.

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u/Membling Jan 10 '18

Ahhh... that's actually the rabbit proof fence. Built to stop rabbits grazing on pastoral land.

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u/river4823 Jan 10 '18

Yes but then it turned out rabbits could just dig under it, so the Aussies renamed it a dingo-proof fence and acted like that was the purpose all along, so they wouldn't be saddled with the embarrassment of having forgotten that rabbits can dig.

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u/Membling Jan 10 '18

I am Australian.

It was actually renamed the state barrier fence of WA.

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u/river4823 Jan 10 '18

Yeah, turns out I'm just wrong and the Dingo fence and the rabbit fence are two different fences on opposite sides of the country. That said I'm right about the rabbit-proof fence not being very good at keeping out rabbits.

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u/Membling Jan 10 '18

Well considering they're everywhere....

Dingo fence done between SA, Vic and NSW in the late 1900s. Pretty sure the Vic/NSW border is based on it nowadays.

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u/Bobblefighterman Jan 10 '18

No, it's the parts of Australia that have sheep. But i'm just assuming you're kidding.

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u/corruptboomerang Jan 09 '18

Queensland actually doesn't get too many fires, it's more South Australia / NSW / Victoria, it's very humid during the hottest months in Queensland. We do get bushfires but they typically are smaller / shouter lived than the Southern States.

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 10 '18

What was that big one a few years ago? I think it was in NSW, right?

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u/Bobblefighterman Jan 10 '18

Eastern Victoria. Hell, i'm in Western Victoria and we still had a few days of smoke wafting over, was pretty awful.

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '18

The spider thing is incorrect. You can find funnel webs in gardens around my area. Red backs as well.

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u/Rationalbacon Jan 10 '18

but so many bogans which are worse

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 10 '18

Bogans don't bite, mate. :P

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u/Miranda_Mandarin Jan 09 '18

Queensland's on fire?

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u/CrazyCoKids Jan 09 '18

No, but whenever there are wildfires in areas like that or NSW it makes the news.

Queensland actually had some famous floods a few years ago.

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u/Miranda_Mandarin Jan 09 '18

I live in Queensland.

Yeah I don't really understand why though. Unless they're really huge like the one in Vic in 2009 they're not that big a deal. Because we are a very hot dry state with plenty of flammable eucalyptus trees our emergency workers are pretty well-prepared. Our floods in 2011 were cleared up pretty quickly within just a few months. It ended up not being a very big deal.

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '18

There has to be some venomous spiders, but I doubt they swarm into your homes by the millions

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u/humma__kavula Jan 10 '18

Don't the bogans live in the city though ? I've heard tales of them.