Rattlesnakes and other venomous species (Phoenix, Prescott: house, rent, travel)

[nitram]

Steve-o, yes you are still young. Since you're in Chicago IL area, are you the self appointed bug counselor for all 50 states about their bug/critters?
Personally I believe you need to change your Netflix selection.

[carriekn8274]

Someone said you can have your home stuffed or something to keep snakes out. I would definitely have that done. I was hoping for a little comfort, but I have decided that my worries are warranted. I am definitely afraid of snakes, primarily with my youngest child and am completely afraid to move out there. I am almost hoping we dont get the jobs when we fly out there next month. There is A LOT of very dangerous wildlife out there and am very nervous for the saftey of my children, as my youngest would be in most danger if bitten or stung by a black widow, snake, scorpion, gila monster, and the many other dangerous wildlife there. Sometimes I wonder if living in the second most dangerous city in the world is safer than moving out into the desert. I have a feeling that the place we are thinking about moving into is in the middle of the desert from my understanding and is probably abundant with every species of dangerous wildlife possible to coming in contact with.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by nitram

Steve-o, yes you are still young. Since you're in Chicago IL area, are you the self appointed bug counselor for all 50 states about their bug/critters?
Personally I believe you need to change your Netflix selection.

Ive been on about 10 other state forums helping people out with their bug questions. So I guess Im the sole person on C-D who knows insects and invertebrates. I dunno, I just do what I can to help.

Now, what about Netflix?

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by carriekn8274

Someone said you can have your home stuffed or something to keep snakes out. I would definitely have that done. I was hoping for a little comfort, but I have decided that my worries are warranted. I am definitely afraid of snakes, primarily with my youngest child and am completely afraid to move out there. I am almost hoping we dont get the jobs when we fly out there next month. There is A LOT of very dangerous wildlife out there and am very nervous for the saftey of my children, as my youngest would be in most danger if bitten or stung by a black widow, snake, scorpion, gila monster, and the many other dangerous wildlife there. Sometimes I wonder if living in the second most dangerous city in the world is safer than moving out into the desert. I have a feeling that the place we are thinking about moving into is in the middle of the desert from my understanding and is probably abundant with every species of dangerous wildlife possible to coming in contact with.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.... hold up there Nelly! You need to worry FAR more about crime and human venomoids than anything nature throws at you. As for getting bit by a gila monster? Youre far more likely to get struck by lightning, put it that way. Here are the things you should be most worried about in Phoenix (in order). 1) People/crime 2) bad schools 3) selling your home 4) scorpion stings 5) snake bite 6) black widow bite 1,003,972) gila monster bite.

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by carriekn8274

Someone said you can have your home stuffed or something to keep snakes out. I would definitely have that done. I was hoping for a little comfort, but I have decided that my worries are warranted. I am definitely afraid of snakes, primarily with my youngest child and am completely afraid to move out there. I am almost hoping we dont get the jobs when we fly out there next month. There is A LOT of very dangerous wildlife out there and am very nervous for the saftey of my children, as my youngest would be in most danger if bitten or stung by a black widow, snake, scorpion, gila monster, and the many other dangerous wildlife there. Sometimes I wonder if living in the second most dangerous city in the world is safer than moving out into the desert. I have a feeling that the place we are thinking about moving into is in the middle of the desert from my understanding and is probably abundant with every species of dangerous wildlife possible to coming in contact with.

Carrie - I'm not a big snake fan myself. However, it's the fear of what we don't know or haven't seen that makes the danger seem much worse than it is. Like tornadoes in Kansas/Nebraska. When we lived there we had friends from back East visit, and they were literally scared to death that they were going to get whisked off to Oz by a tornado. Of course, having grown up in Tornado Alley, I had seen the devastation a tornado can cause, but in all my years of living in KS/NE, I'd only seen one twister at a distance and it didn't cause any damage. So I knew my friends' fears were very unrealistic.

It's the same way with these AZ critters. We'll see coyotes once in a while. The javalinas come by the house about once a week - they're a wild animal so you don't want to try to pet one and they're very protective of their young, so keep the dog out of their way - but outside of rooting up some of my plants, they're really fun to watch. They'll usually just run away if they see you, or else ignore you if they're eating something tasty like tulip bulbs or walnuts. I've seen one rattler. Not fond of those, and glad I've never seen one since we moved to Prescott. A couple of scorpions, so we had the house sprayed, and haven't had any since.

My point is, once you see one of these critters, you're not nearly as afraid of them. You see how they run (or crawl) away. Or how you can call your hubby to stomp on the scorpion and then call the exterminator. Life is full of dangers, but if we're aware of them and take precautions we can help our little ones avoid getting hurt (and us, too ).

Like Steve-o said, the human species is much more unpredictable and dangerous.

[popswatch]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

haha

A) I ran into a pack of javalinas in June, one was HUGE, probably 3' tall or so, just monstrous. It looked at us, turned its head and jogged off into the park.

B) Havent seen one personally, but have seen their scat in many areas. Quite freaky!

C) Surprisingly havent seen any coyotes in AZ yet, have heard them though. I see tons up here in Chicagoland, but none in the desert yet.

D) My only weapons when Im hiking are a swiss army knife and my snake hook. Id be in deep doo-doo if I ever ran into a mountain lion or bear.

i have heard of 50-80 lb. javalina but i'm not sure i ever heard of a 3' tall one,must be like a house fly,or horse fly,something like that.i can just see this woman putting her child in a suit of armor for protection from all the 3' javalina and deadly poisonous glow in the dark scorpions,lighten up a bit guys.

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by carriekn8274

Is there any way to keep snakes out of the yard? I read that you can put up special fencing to keep them out. I am primarily worried about our 4 year old boy, because he is a boy and very curious. Do you know anything about Magma ranch in Florence?

buy a mongoose??????

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by popswatch

i have heard of 50-80 lb. javalina but i'm not sure i ever heard of a 3' tall one,must be like a house fly,or horse fly,something like that.i can just see this woman putting her child in a suit of armor for protection from all the 3' javalina and deadly poisonous glow in the dark scorpions,lighten up a bit guys.

Uh, can you translate that for me? What about horse and house flies? And "poisonous glow in the dark scorpions"??

[popswatch]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Uh, can you translate that for me? What about horse and house flies? And "poisonous glow in the dark scorpions"??

you mean a guy with your vast knowledge has never seen a house fly or a horse fly,i forget,you have never even seen a coyote in arizona.i can't drive through nevada or arizona without having to break for the things,o.k. steve-o what grade in high school are you and hows the ritalin holding up?

[Stumblina]

TO THE OP: I currently live in Michigan and am planning on moving to AZ (if I ever sell my house). When I first visited this forum, the first question I posed was regarding snakes, scorpions, spiders, etc. I, too, am deathly afraid of snakes and the like. Steve-O's posts used to scare the hell out of me and I thought maybe he was a bit deranged. But, after reading hundreds of his posts, I have to admit he knows what he's talking about. Steve-O does come across somewhat "scary", but the truth is knowledge can seem "scary". Turn the "scary" around to your advantage and use it as a weapon against harm to you and your family.

I don't know what part of Michigan you live in, but we have rattlesnakes here too (yes, I know, nothing like in AZ). But, have you ever seen one? Nope, me neither. I live in Oakland County and rattlesnakes have shown up in many of the parks around here, as well as private yards and the like. Yet I never give a second thought to snakes when I go outside for a walk, hike, bike ride, to do gardening, etc. Yes, Steve-O's posts are definitely scary and intimidating, and he can come across as a "know it all", but his integrity is credible (except when it comes to hockey - he thinks the Black Hawks are a better team than the Red Wings - yeah, right). Anyway, everything everyone in these posts say about critters is true, but it's not like these critters are just lurking around waiting to attack you (except perhaps mountain lions?). Just follow the basic rules stated and use common sense and I'm sure you and your family will be just fine.