‘The Monster’s Mouth…’ Dangerous animals and the European settlement of Australia

The danger of sharks and other marine creatures was well known and understood by Europeans, and the presence of sharks in Sydney Harbour would have been noted from the earliest days of settlement. This chapter explores the relationships that Europeans in Australia established with dangerous creatures like sharks and snakes during the first century of settlement and considers the role of these animals in contributing to European framings and understandings of the natural and built environment. It also considers what thinking about animals in this way does to their place in the historical narrative. The predator or venomous animal is an active participant in the moment of contact and confrontation. From the beginning of European settlement in Australia, dangerous animals were called upon to participate in the policing of carceral boundaries. At the same time, they were feared and despised as they disrupted settler colonialist aims to replicate European society in lands appropriated from displaced First Peoples.

© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Sarah Cockram and Andrew Wells; individual chapters, the contributors.