Jungle Warfare

[COMBAT WOMBAT]

I know in the Vietnam war, many injuries to the yanks simply came from the wildlife snacking on them. but i was wondering since it seems to me that royal gets to the jungle regularly are creepy crawlies much of a problem to him? I personally have a disliking to spiders, i don't mind most other creepy crawlies or snakes, as long as neither are too big.
In the media they seem to play on the fact that there are massive amounts of creatures in the jungle, but is it for dramatic effect or can you really not kneel down or lie down in an ambush without being approached by loads of spiders and stuff? Just how many creepy crawlies?

[0din]

Well, Id say there is a sufficient amout of "Creepy Crawlies" there.

But thats just an educated guess.

[Twenty One]

Like most creepy crawlies and snakes,they can hear/feel you coming a long way off then they are off also,plus they can smell you coming too.I never had any problems with the jungle beasties or animals,in ambush positions you could tolerate the mosquitoes if you had your repellant on,but the better option was to have a mossy net for your head,and keep your bare skin covered eg: roll your sleeves down,good ambush routine when eating if you were allowed, was don't leave any mess take it with you including your shit,don't bury anything near your lying up position as it will smell,and attract the beasties.

[COMBAT WOMBAT]

So, when the beasties smell and fell you coming way off do they scarper well before you get there yeah?
Also, is it true after a while you get to smell anything foreign, like soap of coffee? Cause i heard that in Vietnam, a problem was that the Vietnamese could smell the Americans way off, apparently they smelled of dairy products, just like an Asian might smell of curry to us.

[Andy O'Pray]

Most creepy crawlies will scarper when you are in the vicinity, except the leeches, which come looking for you, or elephants, if you happen to be on the same track going towards each other. The elephant always wins and I mean ALWAYS.

Aye - Andy.

[TheCount]

i heard that in Vietnam, a problem was that the Vietnamese could smell the Americans way off, apparently they smelled of dairy products, just like an Asian might smell of curry to us.

This also worked in the opposite direction, proably more so since the Vietnamese have a diet comprised primarily of fish so Non Smokers could whiff out a VC platoon before they could see them.

[qcnr]

I never had any probs with beasties in Belize, one tip was to add garlic to all your food.
Excellent insect repellent, but....
Anyway you havnt seen mssies till youve been to the jungle

[FUBAR]

Our Eban scouts always said we smelt of fish oil - By the time you had been on a weeks patrol in the ulu, you all smelt the same - HIGH ! But no-one noticed ....

The only real creepy crawly, besides leeches, I came across was when I sat down beside a Silver Krait which the Eban scout promptly despatched with his parang ! I thought he was trying to kill me, until he showed me what he had chopped in half.

Otherwise you just heard the noise .........

[barryc]

Did two tours in Singers, including Borneo and never found the jungle to be any problem. When you consider that harbouring up at night meant thankfully crashing out, subject to sentry duty or, in my case sleeping? with the radio on and earphones over the ears (odd how you half slept through other call signs but woke, eventually to your own), on the deck, a deck alive with all manner of creatures, but no one ever seems to have got badly bitten or stung. As previous posts have said, after a day or so we stunk so high that nothing wanted to be close. I do remember certain members of an unnamed troop diverting a column of ants so that they would pass over a rather unpopular LT ( even worse at reading a map than the norm) who anybody serving in 42 for the 1965 -1967 tour will doubtless guess.

Barry

[bean]

Last snake I jumped onto after runnng away from a mock ambush took one look and went, I swear in the opposite direction faster than I did the other way. So the idea that they are more scared of us holds true. Mind you, no doubt the poor bloody thing was sick of being jumped on by Bootnecks and decided to call it a day

Lee

[Sticky Blue]

I used to keep Tarantulas as pets and had 4 at one time; Mexican Red Knee, Pink Toe Bird Eater, Honduran Bird Eater and a Red Rump Bird Eater. The Mexican used to walk all over me and was very friendly as was the Pink Toe. The Red Rump was a nasty bugger but calmed down after a short while and was handleable but would rather move away from you. The Honduran was just nasty thing! It would rear and bite as soon as you went near it. Most spiders (tropical) spend most of the day asleep and will move away from you. Find any spider and move your finger towards it and it will nearly always avoid you. There are exceptions though!! The Babboon Spiders of Africa WILL attack first and then run after they have bitten you. They also play dead and yaffle you as soon as you are in range. Most spiders are harmless apart from a few; Funnel Webs, Brown, Black Widow and the White Back Tarantula. Most of these only attack by accident. Most bites from Black Widows are caused by the person stepping on the spider and killing it pushing its fangs through the venom sacs and into the foot. In the UK we don't need to worry about the but Harry H does!! Australia has the most deadly species of all types of animals anywhere in the world. One of the worst is a tiny bug you can't see that enters throuth the ear and eats the brain... very slow way to got.

[JulesB]

The only real creepy crawly, besides leeches, I came across was when I sat down beside a Silver Krait which the Eban scout promptly despatched with his parang ! I thought he was trying to kill me, until he showed me what he had chopped in half.

Whats a Silver Krait?

[Andy O'Pray]

I recall lying in the Whyalla desert in South Australia brewing up, when along came a red and black spider towards me. I took out my machette and pointed it towards the spider. This sucker actually struck at the machette, needless to say I made short work of the spider.

The desert also holds some interesting creatures such as scorpians, camel spiders and horned vipers to mention a few.

Aye - Andy. :crazyeyes:

[TaffBoz]

I well recall my first day in the Ulu. Jungle Aquaint, Pantai Ridge area.
Started off with quite a long yomp. Absolutely knackered, stopped for a break, promptly crashed out only to awake with the feeling of being on fire. Yep who had crashed out on a Red Ants nest. Fastest strip on record.
That night after harbouring up drew sentry duty,alone, around 0100 hrs.
Very apprehensive, what with all the wierd noises and rustlings in the undergrowth.Nearly opened up on Fire Flies thinking they were the enemy with torches and then some sort of ape, Orang I think, dropped from a tree onto the perimeter track about 15m from me. I remember Tp Sgt telling me, after I had wrecked half the camp legging it, that the creature was probably more scared of me. Yea right.
However, with more experience I grew to enjoy my time in the Ulu and learned that seeing lots of wildlife meant you were doing it right.
One point to remember is that like Spencer Chapman say's 'The Jungle is Neutral'.

It is a shame that the jungle is fast disappearing. I recently flew from Penang to Singers and I could not believe how much of the rainforest had disappeared in Malaya.

By the way a Krait is a nasty sort of snake that will spoil your entire day if it bites you.

[Andy O'Pray]

A young marine on his first trip into the ulu is put on perimeter duty, that night, about 0100 hours he shakes his troop sergeant in his hammock, Dan Archer, now departed, and says, there is a tiger out there sarge. There is a tin of kitty kat in my large pack, feed it that, says Dan.

Aye - Andy.