Still Looking: HSV, HS, or NWA? (Hot Springs, Bella Vista: estate, house, rent)

[HoneysuckleHobo]

Still looking for that elusive place to move.

Can someone shed light on these aspects of Arkansas:

Bugs
Mosquitos, chiggers (we called them redbugs when I lived in Ark many years ago), ticks in Hot Springs Village, Hot Springs, and NWA.

Also, when we are all saying NWA, is the Branson Missouri area also being included?

I have low-to-the-ground pets (wiener dogs lol) and like to go on walks is why I'm asking.

Humidity
How humid are we talking, and for how long? I've lived in N.O. and near Destin Florida as well as Houston is why I'm asking. It just goes on too long there. 3 months or so isn't bad, but 8 months stinks (literally).

Crime
I can see HSV is very low. What's with Hot Springs??? I remember it as so super-cute! I think tourist traps are cute!

Pretty/Wild Foods
I recall it as very pretty there, and with lots of dogwoods, scuppernogs, and maypops in the woods for your viewing and eating pleasure. Still have the wild foods growing?

Thankee kindly. Go Hogs.

[nmnita]

We just got back from looking at property in NWA, Bella Vista to be exact and we asked some of the same questions: BV is much like HSV with almost no crime to speak of. Of course no place in crime free, but BV is as close as you will get. We love the idea of a rural feeling area with all the conveniences within 15 minutes of our home. I just can't say enough about it.

As for humidity, compared to where you have lived it shouldn't be bad. From what we have seen, visiting a few times in the summer, the real summer weather normally isn't all that warm and the summers are pretty short compared to the deep south. this would be the case with bugs as well. Yes, they do have them, lots, but not anymore than Texas.

Hope this helps a little.

Nita

[HoneysuckleHobo]

Thank you kindly for your reply!

I think Bella Vista is more expensive than HSV? HSV is so cheap I can't believe the prices, just can't believe my eyes.

[luvarkansas]

I live in LA and go to a family cabin in NWA about three times a year (once in the summer). I have always found the humidity to be bearable compared to LA.

Redbugs, mosquitoes, ticks? Yep. But mostly in the woods, although from your comments about foraging for wild foods, I assume you would be spending a lot of time in the woods.

We once hiked a not-very-well-maintained trail in the middle of the summer, and we got literally covered with ticks. It was like some kind of bug horror movie.

But aren't ticks, chiggers, and mosquitoes everywhere in the U.S.? I've never lived anywhere but the south, so I don't know.

[DC at the Ridge]

I go hiking every weekend with my dog, and I've been picking off ticks since February. NWA has gotten a lot of rain this spring, so I expect mosquitoes to be bad this year. I never have any problems with chiggers except when I go into the woods blackberry picking. Use bug repellant if you're going into the woods, and don't keep any open containers of standing water around the house and it won't be much of a problem. Branson is not included in Northwest Arkansas, though some of the small Missouri cities like Jane or Anderson might sometimes be included.

[HoneysuckleHobo]

Thanks for the additional replies.

luvarkansas, bugs are not everywhere in the U.S. at all! We have no ticks, no fleas, almost no mosquitoes in the desert places I have lived, and also very very few desert creatures such as scorpions. So from a bug standpoint, it is lovely. But that comes with a price I'm tired of paying. Ditto for the Pacific NW where I have lived. We had no bugs, basically, of any trouble-making kind. But...very chilly and damp year-round.

DC, that is bad news about the tick crop being so prevalent this year. BTW I didn't have to forage way in the woods for the wild foods, they were just right at the edge of the yard in the part my family let be "wild." We had a creek running through the yard, too. We had it all, in my childhood memories! I pulled up and ate what we called "wild garlic" and I bet my breath was what kept the bugs off of me back then.

[Stormcrow73]

Ok...I grew up a real hillbilly but what the heck is a scuppernog??? I'm guessing maypops are what I call mayapples.

[Marianinark]

Hi, I live in the woods in NWA, in northern Newton county. We have plenty of ticks and chiggers, but the mosquitoes are not too bad.
We also have almost every wild critter known to Northern Ark. That is one reason the ticks and chiggers are so bad here. My DH spends every day deticking our bob-tailed cat. :-) He is an indoor-outdoor cat.
I moved here with my Arkie DH from my homestate of Idaho. It was a drastic change.....the humidity, and the bugs espacially. We have been here 31 years. It took at least half that long for me to pretty well adjust. :-(

It is beautiful here, and in most areas the folks are friendly. I think there are getting to be enough of us 'outsiders' that we are being accepted better than when I first came here. It really helps to belong to a religious group, or to join a club of some sort. I joined the Extension Homemakers right after moving up on this mountain 24 years ago. I became aquainted with a lot of women, both native and other 'furuners' ( LOL), that way. And we also attended the nearest group of like faith.

If you are already used to humidity, that would be no problem.

BTW, there are ticks in the desert areas of Idaho, but no where else that I know of, in Idaho. I never heard of a chigger until I came to Arkansas. They really are attracted to me. I do think garlic helps. I take the odorless garlic tablets daily, espacially in warm weather. ( It helps high cholesteral also, (I'm told), which I have.) I also take an antihistimine tablet in the evening. It helps stop the itch, and has the added benefit of helping me sleep. :-)

The local's and their children give little thought to the chiggers. They spend most of their time out where they abound, and doctor the bites. It is just a part of life here.

[Sam I Am]

Honeysuckle, I'll just weigh in on the dog thing...use Frontline or one of the other flea/tick products religiously and you should be okay. First of the month, every month. I don't take mine off the meds even for the winter. Advantix also repels those pesky mosquitoes, so less chance of heartworm, and heartworm meds are a must. Similar products are made for cats, but don't use the dog ones on cats - fatal. If you're anti-meds and pro "go green", I can send you a link to some concoctions you can make with essential oils but I can't vouch for them personally...yet. Got some for humans, too - again, can't vouch for 'em but I'm going to try since I'm the River Valley Mosquito Magnet.

[HoneysuckleHobo]

Thanks again for the additional replies!

Stormcrow, you have probably "et" 'em by another name. Scuppernogs are wild grapes, they are indescribably delicious and unusual in their taste. I think they are kin to Muscadine grapes, if you know them...we also called them "fox grapes." I get choked up thinking about the natural beauty back in Arkansas -- maypops btw are the fruit of the passionflower vine, same thing as the mayapples? Who has seen a maypop vine with dozens of their incredible exotic blooms twining up an old fence or tree? You will never match such a sight!

Marianinark, thanks for the heads-up about the ticks getting on dogs, and for the remarks concerning being kind of left out or adjusting to such a different area. I was born and lived in Arkansas as a child and have lived all over. I can always claim to be an actual born Razorback. But it's funny, I can't remember Arkansas very well at all. I have a child's memories of it, once I even told my husband that the "world's biggest" dam was in Arkansas, because I was evidently extremely impressed with Narrows Dam at age 3. *laff* I also remember getting ticks on me and running around screaming.

Sam I Am, excellent advice about keeping the dogs on Avantix. I have them on Revolution b/c I am petrified of fleas and ticks tho we have none here. And many thanks for the warning about not giving the cats the dogs' medicines, so true.

Sorry to be such a chicken about the bugs...