Dangerous Creatures? (Albuquerque, Belen, Placitas: house, neighborhoods, scorpions)

[Murland]

So I was just over in the Arizona forum a minute ago and I saw a thread about some venomous animals that live there, like spiders, scorpions and snakes. Now, recently I've been in love with the idea of moving to the southwest, mostly because of the weather. But I hate the idea of those creepy crawlies.

So my question to you Albuquerque residents is: do you get a lot of poisonous creatures in Albuquerque? Do they show up in your home or do they mostly stay outside? And do they show up in the more urban areas or do they tend to stay out in the wilderness?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Murland

So I was just over in the Arizona forum a minute ago and I saw a thread about some venomous animals that live there, like spiders, scorpions and snakes. Now, recently I've been in love with the idea of moving to the southwest, mostly because of the weather. But I hate the idea of those creepy crawlies.

So my question to you Albuquerque residents is: do you get a lot of poisonous creatures in Albuquerque? Do they show up in your home or do they mostly stay outside? And do they show up in the more urban areas or do they tend to stay out in the wilderness?

WE lived for 7 years in the ABQ area and only saw a few black widows, none in the house but pretty close. There were a few rattle snakes on the golf course and in the desert, but no matter where you live you have to live with some kind of yucky creature, maybe it is a family member or a neighbor.

[Poncho_NM]

You can look through these threads:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/albuq...-athletes.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/albuq...raid-bugs.html



Rich

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Hi Murland.
I live in the country and seem to experience more critter encounters than those in the city do. I don't necessarily think the southwest has more creepy crawlies than other areas, I think without the ground cover you just see them more here.

[yukon]

This town is Spider Central.

Haven't seen any of the other critters though.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

Hi Murland.
I live in the country and seem to experience more critter encounters than those in the city do. I don't necessarily think the southwest has more creepy crawlies than other areas, I think without the ground cover you just see them more here.

RRR, we have seen many more here in NWA than we ever saw in ABQ area. We have snakes, spiders, creepy crawlers, rodents of every kind, coons, fox, deer, wolves, amradillos (guess they could be called rodents as many can) ground hogs, some characters we can't identify like your creature the other day and on and on..

Nita

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Ahh... I was thinking bug and snake type critters- those that usually make you shudder when you see them. Mice, rats, coons, fox, deer, wolves, 'yotes, etc are animals to me, I guess. :0)

[ABQSunseeker]

Murland, the truth. If you choose to live in most of the city neighborhoods, I doubt you will see much in the way of annoying, creepy, venomous critters. I never saw any when I lived there. But if you live along the margins of the desert as I do in Placitas then you will see them. I've had centipedes and scorpions in the house and there are brown recluse, black widow, and tarantula spiders and rattlers in the area, but I've never seen them. Having them here is a fact of life in the desert.

However I wouldn't choose to live anywhere else. It's beautiful here. And if you love the Southwest as I found I do (came from NYC) then you will find your way out here one way or another. You can choose to live in areas where you won't see much in the way of these critters.

And you can see some of these critters back East. Timber rattlesnakes do inhabit the mountains back East and I know people who have seen them when hiking. Just much rarer than here.

[jeffohray]

Being a life long resident I can assure that the idea of being bit by a venomous critter MAY exist but is pretty unlikely.

If you decide to live in "the sticks" you may encounter a snake but they usually warn you. If you live in the city, learn to recognize a black widow web and be a tiny bit cautious. They usually hang out in lesser populated areas and it isn't like they lunge at you or attack you.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jeffohray

Being a life long resident I can assure that the idea of being bit by a venomous critter MAY exist but is pretty unlikely.

If you decide to live in "the sticks" you may encounter a snake but they usually warn you. If you live in the city, learn to recognize a black widow web and be a tiny bit cautious. They usually hang out in lesser populated areas and it isn't like they lunge at you or attack you.

I agree, we have lived in a few towns, including Belen and after all our years on earth, no bites. Oh hubby did get bit my somehting one time in texas but it everntually took care of itself and he is still alive 10 years later. We lived in the foothills of southern Ca thick with rattle snakes, only saw one in all the years, lived in NM, thick with creatures, did see a few black widows, lived in Texas saw one scorpian. Now we live in NWA with recluse spiders and lots of snakes, both good guys and bad, nothing. We do see lots of awesome wild life, but they never even come in for coffee or wine.

Nita