Open you mind to the possibilities that are all around you!
Venomous animals represent our furtherest point of our disconnection from the world. Today, has never been as important to understand the world around us.
The Truth About Spiderbites In Southern Africa
October 26, 2018
The subject of spiderbite is a rabbit warren of hoax emails, misinformation, misconceptions and ignorance. It's almost impossible to identify a lesion or wound as being caused by a spiderbite, and at the same time, it's is equally impossible to say that a spider was not involved. Common sense says that unless you watch the spider bite you, you have to raise the question of if a spider was the cause at all.
Venomous animals have been a symbol of evil and death ever since the dawn of mankind. If mankind can control an aspect of nature it becomes our slave for use and abuse as we see fit. However, if we cannot control an aspect of nature, it becomes an object to be persecuted and feared. The seemingly magical capabilities of venom, and the historical inability to understand its action and function, has led to these animals being associated with evil, witchcraft and black magic - even today these perceptions exist. But should we be afraid?
There is a common question that is asked when discussing snakes and their medical importance - How dangerous is it?
Traditionally authors have attached danger ratings to venomous animals in an attempt to indicate the consequences of being bitten or stung, however, all that danger ratings convey is a superficial understanding of how we interact with the natural world.
Although we as humans consider ourselves as superior beings, we suffer from several flaws of the human mind. These flaws propagate sightings of the Yeti, Elvis, the Loch Ness monster and occurrences spider bites. Argument from ignorance is not a unique feature of the easily fooled, but a a phenomenon that occurs in every culture […]
There is an email that has spread throughout the world. There are many different variants, but the images and general contents are the same. It’s responsible for some of the Violin Spider mass hysteria. It shows the hand of a “Violin Spider bite victim”, together with a photo of a Violin Spider.
Lockdown has been isolating for many of us. As a speaker it's been a frustrating yet productive period. I've taken the content of my presentations/ workshops and reduced each of them down to 5 short posts of about 250 words each plus an image or link to a free online resource. These posts are designed to not only convey the topic but also generate discussion on social messaging and social media groups.
Jonathan Leeming is THE leading authority on spider bite and scorpion sting first response. He is a best selling author, international speaker and award winning conservationist.