Pets and Scorpions, fire ants, etc (Austin: rent, how much, hotel)

[Megan1967]

I just read a thread about how you can have fire ants and other stinging, biting critters *in* your house. While it doesn't thrill me in terms of my own comfort, now I'm worried about my cats and dog. Are they in danger? Can you effectively control these things? Do you have to have anti-venom on hand? This may make natives laugh, but I'm in Madison, WI and given our climate, I'm inexperienced in dealing with this kind of "wild life."

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by Megan1967

I just read a thread about how you can have fire ants and other stinging, biting critters *in* your house. While it doesn't thrill me in terms of my own comfort, now I'm worried about my cats and dog. Are they in danger? Can you effectively control these things? Do you have to have anti-venom on hand? This may make natives laugh, but I'm in Madison, WI and given our climate, I'm inexperienced in dealing with this kind of "wild life."

A friend of mine still lives in Austin; she has not only fire ants and scorpions but rattlesnakes to deal with. Her cat is strictly an indoor cat; her dog has been stung by fire ants but not scorpions and has come close to being bitten by a rattler before. I would assume vets in Austin are well-equipped to handle these kinds of eventualities but maybe you could google a vet in Austin, call them up, and ask.

[Lumerian Feast]

I've never had fire ants indoors. Outdoors they are really annoying but you kind of learn to live with their existence, as long as you don't let them take over your yard. You can control them fairly well in your own yard if you put down poison on their nests (just be sure to keep kids and pets clear of the area for a few hours after putting the poison down). But then if you're at a park or on a schoolground there are likely to be fire ants, so you have to remain vigilant. It's usually easy to spot their mounds and avoid them, but if you're outdoors enough you'll get bitten by the little SOBs at one point or another. They're worse in some years than others (I didn't think they were all that bad this year.) My dog once sat near a bunch of fire ant activity and got a bunch of nasty bites on her belly. She was okay, but it looked pathetic and was itchy for the first day. If your child steps into a pile of fire ants, be prepared for a lot of screaming and hope you're near a hose. You don't need anti-venom (unless you're allergic) -- it's just a little localized burning & itching sensation, and sometimes the next day a small white pustule forms that you squeeze. The main inconvenience is that I'm in a green area away from my house I don't sit in the grass. More of an occasional annoyance than a threat.

We've had some common non-dangerous garden snakes in our yard, but no rattlers. Maybe they're worse out in the hill country or something. The scorpions around here are pretty small and not that frequent -- not too much of a concern.

The thing that's most annoying, though, are the mosquitoes. They're huge and constant. Also, in the summer you will occasionally get a "tree cockroach" come into your house. They're pretty hard to miss, because it's a huge two to three inch cockroach running across your floor. Don't freak out -- they don't live inside, and they're not behind the walls or anything. If you see one, he just happened to wander in while the door was open. Depending on your disposition, step on him or shoo him out the door. Or put a saddle on him and let the kids go for a ride.

[Megan1967]

Depending on your disposition, step on him or shoo him out the door. Or put a saddle on him and let the kids go for a ride.

Too funny. Actually I was more worried about the cats than the dog, even though they are indoor only. My cats are accident prone. I just pictured coming home and finding a cat covered in fire ants.

How much does it cost to have a company treat your yard and/or house? I'm not very handy and don't want to have similar experience with the poison like one with the nail gun.....

Mosquitoes? Please. I said I'm from Wisconsin. Our mosquitoes can take small children.

Our humidity is about 98% most of the time and July and August have similar temps to Austin though we usually hover in the 90's rarely going above 100.

I'm just looking to get away from the overcast grey and frigid cold - wind chills get down to -38 in January are not uncommon.

[gigi927]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...kes-oh-my.html
read the above thread for everything you want to know about Austin critters.

We usually pay around $35-$45 to have our house and yard treated for bugs. FYI, our house is 3500 sf.

You will have no problem handling the Austin weather at all, being from Wisconsin. I'm from Chicago and find the summers here very similar to Chicago summers. Best of luck.

[orionid]

Originally Posted by gigi927

http://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...kes-oh-my.html
read the above thread for everything you want to know about Austin critters.

We usually pay around $35-$45 to have our house and yard treated for bugs. FYI, our house is 3500 sf.

You will have no problem handling the Austin weather at all, being from Wisconsin. I'm from Chicago and find the summers here very similar to Chicago summers. Best of luck.

Hi Gigi, remember me? We are back in decision-making mode betw SD and Austin, after taking a break for about 6 months ...
Are you serious about comparing Austin summers to Chicago? I grew up there, and I remember humidity of course but there were also stretches of beautiful summer weather with the humidity lower than normal. Does Austin really have these breaks or is it pretty much constantly oppressive?
Do the bugs (mosquitoes) compare to Chicago also?

[gigi927]

Hey, Orion! Good to see you again. Back reconsidering a move?

I also was born/raised in Chicago, lived there til I was 28, and maybe it's having lived in nicer climates since, but I don't remember any stretches of beautiful summer weather with low humidity in Chicago that were longer than, oh, 2 to 3 days all summer long . This summer seemed pretty humid to me in Austin; some of my neighbors said that the temperatures were generally lower this summer but the humidity was higher due to all the flooding we had. I don't know if that's correct or not, but it made sense to me. It felt hot and muggy just like Chicago in August, but the temps were, IMO, mild compared to Phoenix.

I think it's all relative to where you're immediately coming from; having moved from Phoenix, my "misery index" in summer is whether I can play tennis mid morning outside. In Phoenix, you can't; in Austin, you can and I did probably 4 times per week all summer. I did as a kid in Chicago, too, so to me the summers are similar.

I think the bugs are about the same. I know everyone says mosquitos are not that big a deal here, but I can tell you in my part of town, the mosquitos are rampant due to the limestone and they love me and my kids In Chicago, I had to go to the ER once after spending an hour after dark in a forest preserve without bug spray. I had over 200 mosquito bites on me! Maybe it's just me??!!!

[Megan1967]

Thanks for the link. Maybe I didn't go far enough into that thread as I didn't see anything re: pets and the stinging, biting "natives." I'll go a little deeper.

I'm not sure yet whether I'll have the guts to move. I'd be doing it solo as I'm not married or in a relationship. Scary stuff. Easy to sit in my office and dream, not sure I have what it takes to take the leap.

First I have to figure out how to get down there for a visit. Can't seem to find anyone who can go when I can.

A group of us wannabes should ban together and meet up to explore the city....

[orionid]

Originally Posted by gigi927

Hey, Orion! Good to see you again. Back reconsidering a move?

...

I think the bugs are about the same. I know everyone says mosquitos are not that big a deal here, but I can tell you in my part of town, the mosquitos are rampant due to the limestone and they love me and my kids In Chicago, I had to go to the ER once after spending an hour after dark in a forest preserve without bug spray. I had over 200 mosquito bites on me! Maybe it's just me??!!!

Yes, re-reconsidering actually. We keep trying to convince ourselves to work through our problems with SoCal and failing.

Re mosquitos -- Your blood must be sweeter than others!!

[tanyagail]

Hi Megan1967!

We just moved to Austin from Madison, WI in July. I have to say, I love Madison (born and raised there) but am IN LOVE with Austin. It reminds me so much of Madison's laid-back vibe but is bigger and has more to offer. I almost feel like it has the vibe of Madison but is the size and feel of Minneapolis (fair size downtown with lots of suburbia surrounding it). Lots of areas to explore, so many outdoor hiking and biking options, very dog friendly, great outdoor music/restaurant scene. Best of all, and I don't know if you are a smoker so please don't take offense if you are, but we LOVE that smoking is not even allowed on the outdoor restaurant patios.

Now, I haven't live in Pacific NW which I hear is beautiful, but Austin is beautiful to me. I don't miss seeing miles and miles of flat corn land and cows. I love all the hills and trees here. Lots of rock croppings and biggest blue skies I've seen. I love that a lot of businesses are using natural/cultured stone is used for building material vs Madison's typical brick or cement block. Even the local Dairy Queen is a nice stone building!

Definitely try to make the trip down here if you can. I wouldn't worry about coming on your own either. Stay in a nice hotel downtown, rent a car with a good map, and just get lost exploring. When you are closer to coming down, search the forum for all the sites, restaurants, etc not to be missed.

Twange put it well in a different thread, but we were also looking for a new challenge, a new way to live life, something to explore and break out of our comfort zone. Both my husband and I are from WI/MN and have been "talking" about moving somewhere warmer for over 10 years--I agree, WI winters just plain suck. Finally, I took a trip down here to visit a friend, and came back knowing it was the right move for us. Within a month, the house was on the market and we were signing papers to build. Sometimes you just have to take the plunge and start swimming.

We haven't looked back yet...