Scorpions, Tarantulas, Snakes, Oh-My (Austin, Lancaster: how much, transfer, allergy)

[DisplacedMidwesterner]

Since moving here in 2005 Ive had 3 snake encounters and one was a rattlesnake on my front porch. I called animal control and the police and they told me it was my problem. I called my 75 yr old father and he told me to go out the back door and go to work. My mom called me later that morning and said my dad drove to my house and killed the 4 ft long snake with a shovel.

yeah I wonder would it still be my problem if I just left the snake on the porch and it went next door and bit the little kids. Kinda makes you wonder what animal control really does.


oh and BTW coyotes are dangerous. They kill cats and dogs so keep your animals inside at night.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

Do these fire ants get inside the homes?

Yes. Never leave any food out.

[Trainwreck20]

I have never (in 30+ years) had a fire ant in the house, or personally know anyone that has, but I suppose they could. More often it is the sugar ants or some wood ants that get inside.

[PeacePlease]

I find with a yearly treatment to the yard, the fire ant problem stays at a minimum.

We live in Steiner, and we ran into 4 snakes already and one tarantula. We did not kill any of them. Non of the snakes were venomous. One looked like a rattle snake but turned out to be a rat snake (they shake the tail in a similar way). Texas has snakes, bugs, spiders etc... don't just ran the other direction. Learn about them and know which ones you really should be scared of and which one that are harmless.

[GANKS]

Here's our experience with critters. Our first day while we were moving into our house we found 2 scorpions (had never seen them outside of a cage before until then)



Then I found a huge spider in our garage a few weeks later. No idea what kind it is but it looked like it had it's babies stuck to it's back.




And Monday I came home and found this snake in one of the gel traps I set out to catch critters that come into the garage

[Driftwood1]

Great pictures..

That spider I think is called a wolf spider, not much to worry about, but I think they "could" bite. We have dozens of them, and guessing by the babies on the back, you will too ...

The snake is harmless, but I was cautioned that those sticky traps could actually attract snakes, because they go after the other critters that get caught in them...

I would personally treat for the scorpions, with our service, they say chemical gets those spiders also... (both are actually aracnids)

Cheers.

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by GANKS

Here's our experience with critters. Our first day while we were moving into our house we found 2 scorpions (had never seen them outside of a cage before until then)



Then I found a huge spider in our garage a few weeks later. No idea what kind it is but it looked like it had it's babies stuck to it's back.




And Monday I came home and found this snake in one of the gel traps I set out to catch critters that come into the garage

Yes, you're definitely in Texas. Impressive photos....... .

[xsloane]

Well... let us try NOT to scare everybody with all the ugly companionship found in TX please
I took these pics in our backyard to send to my niece. The anole is so beatiful! It changes colors, it was bright green when I first saw it on a chair, but then my husband got it to climb on his (hairy) hand and it turned brown. Gotta love those little guys!

By the way, have you ever seen a silver (not gray, but actually metalic silver)bodied, brown legged little spider? Do you know anything about it? Its body is about 1/4 inch long.

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

I have never (in 30+ years) had a fire ant in the house, or personally know anyone that has, but I suppose they could. More often it is the sugar ants or some wood ants that get inside.

I've had them in the house before. One time, they made a large mound right up against the house and somehow made their way inside. The stayed in one room though, stung me a few times before I realized they were even there, and then I got rid of them for about 5 cents with several sprays of an insecticide.

[jwb123]

Ughhh we get those spiders in our pool, and trying to fish them out is pointless because, yes - then all those babies come jumping off. GROSS.

This might be your snake? Texas Brown Snake

But you can always email the guys at Bugs In The news and he will positively identify it for you.