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I have a question for people who live in CA, FL, or TX. I don't like spiders AT ALL or Bees lol. Especially big spiders. In NY we dont really have big spiders or at least I havent encountered any. How big are the spiders that I would likely encounter in CA, FL, or TX? Also is there bees there? Any other bugs I should know about?
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
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Originally Posted by whuh
I have a question for people who live in CA, FL, or TX. I don't like spiders AT ALL or Bees lol. Especially big spiders. In NY we dont really have big spiders or at least I havent encountered any. How big are the spiders there that I would likely encounter in CA, FL, or TX? Also is there bees there? Any other bugs I should know about?
Spiders are not really a major problem in Austin, Texas (I believe that was the place you wanted to see into).
Bugs are in every state, but honestly you don't have to worry about them in Austin, or Southern California. I have spent minimal time in South Florida so I wont make a comment about that.
A dry climate definitively helps in keeping bug populations down and why the Southwest has a lot less things like mosquitoes and flying cockroaches. There are, of-course, mosquitoes but occur more often in late winter after days of rain than during summer [since there is virtually no summer rain in coastal California]. There are, however, some nasty spiders that can bite and cause painful injury. Black widows are very common in California and the more deadly recluse spider is also around though mostly in the hills. Both tarantulas and scorpions are native but generally found in more remote areas [rarely in the cities]. Termites, on the other hand, are a huge problem in California and very costly.
uhhh the bugs are way worse in fl, fire ants, mosquitos (west nile carrying), palmetto bugs, plenty of spiders.... and all sorts of lizards, alligators too.
fl pretty much has the most of everything, bugs, alligators, lizards, tornados, hurricanes, lightning strikes, etc.
1. FLORIDA - while dining outside on Clematis Street, one of my favorite places, in West Palm Beach, I was attacked by a huge Palmetto bug (i.e. huge flying cockroach flew onto my shoulder and was crawling to my neck and my dining-mates warned me about it). It was disgusting and I flipped out when I saw it, much to the amusement of my two co-workers from L.A. who were dining with me, both of whom to this day (since over 6 or 7 years ago) still occasionally send me text messages that say "PALMETTO!!!" to rib me about it. Kind of funny, but it was definitely gross. I have seen many, many Palmetto bugs throughout Florida (WPB, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, etc.) and it is disgusting, but I was only "attacked" that one time.
2. DALLAS - My first extended business trip (i.e. several nights), on the third night I finally got to go out with some co-workers for dinner. We ate at a chain restaurant on the outer edge of the parking lot of the Grapevine Mills Mall, and after dinner headed to the mall to shop around. I left my cell phone in the restaurant and went back to get it as the others went on without me. Once I got my phone, I started the trek across the mostly empty parking lot. There seemed to be the kind of common debris you'd see on the ground - sticks, leaves, etc, not too many but a few strewn about - the kind you don't really pay attention to. As I was walking, I stepped right in front of what looked like a leaf or woodchip (as I wasn't paying much attention to it) and it suddenly FLEW straight up in front of me! I stopped short, stunned, and watched this HUGE GRASSHOPPER fly up and over to land a few feet away! I THEN noticed that much of what I presumed to be "debris" was just MORE GRASSHOPPERS, all over the parking lot! Literally EVERY 10 feet or so in every direction were these Grasshoppers, I was freaked out by it! I carefully walked this minefield of grasshoppers to get to the mall and inside to safety. As we waited for the shuttle back to the hotel, some kid was playing with the grasshoppers, catching them and throwing them and whatnot.
Years later, I went to Dallas for a couple weeks, and on the weekend went to the Texas State Fair (which is AWESOME by the way!) and on returning to my car in the evening I encountered a HUGE grasshopper sitting on my car's roof, right above the driver's door. I looked around and saw no others so at least I wasn't in an infestation, but still disgusting to see that one, and I threw sticks at him till h flew away.
3. DALLAS (again) - I had heard from a female co-worker (from Florida) that when she went to Dallas she had crickets everywhere. She said they were in her hotel room, all over the outside areas everywhere, in the office - one even fell on her in the office while she was giving her presentation! I thought maybe she was exaggerating, but then I went a couple weeks after she did and I experienced the same thin - crickets in my hotel room (a nice Hilton hotel - didn't matter, all the hotels had this problem) and in our office on LBJ highway, a big, modern office building that was immaculate in every other way but they still had crickets here and there inside. The Dallas-ites we worked with said this happened every year at some point. They also confirmed to me the grasshopper infestations I mentioned above, adding that those were "OK" because at least the grasshoppers stay outside.
I have never encountered bug problems in California.
1. FLORIDA - while dining outside on Clematis Street, one of my favorite places, in West Palm Beach, I was attacked by a huge Palmetto bug (i.e. huge flying cockroach flew onto my shoulder and was crawling to my neck and my dining-mates warned me about it). It was disgusting and I flipped out when I saw it, much to the amusement of my two co-workers from L.A. who were dining with me, both of whom to this day (since over 6 or 7 years ago) still occasionally send me text messages that say "PALMETTO!!!" to rib me about it. Kind of funny, but it was definitely gross. I have seen many, many Palmetto bugs throughout Florida (WPB, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, etc.) and it is disgusting, but I was only "attacked" that one time.
2. DALLAS - My first extended business trip (i.e. several nights), on the third night I finally got to go out with some co-workers for dinner. We ate at a chain restaurant on the outer edge of the parking lot of the Grapevine Mills Mall, and after dinner headed to the mall to shop around. I left my cell phone in the restaurant and went back to get it as the others went on without me. Once I got my phone, I started the trek across the mostly empty parking lot. There seemed to be the kind of common debris you'd see on the ground - sticks, leaves, etc, not too many but a few strewn about - the kind you don't really pay attention to. As I was walking, I stepped right in front of what looked like a leaf or woodchip (as I wasn't paying much attention to it) and it suddenly FLEW straight up in front of me! I stopped short, stunned, and watched this HUGE GRASSHOPPER fly up and over to land a few feet away! I THEN noticed that much of what I presumed to be "debris" was just MORE GRASSHOPPERS, all over the parking lot! Literally EVERY 10 feet or so in every direction were these Grasshoppers, I was freaked out by it! I carefully walked this minefield of grasshoppers to get to the mall and inside to safety. As we waited for the shuttle back to the hotel, some kid was playing with the grasshoppers, catching them and throwing them and whatnot.
Years later, I went to Dallas for a couple weeks, and on the weekend went to the Texas State Fair (which is AWESOME by the way!) and on returning to my car in the evening I encountered a HUGE grasshopper sitting on my car's roof, right above the driver's door. I looked around and saw no others so at least I wasn't in an infestation, but still disgusting to see that one, and I threw sticks at him till h flew away.
3. DALLAS (again) - I had heard from a female co-worker (from Florida) that when she went to Dallas she had crickets everywhere. She said they were in her hotel room, all over the outside areas everywhere, in the office - one even fell on her in the office while she was giving her presentation! I thought maybe she was exaggerating, but then I went a couple weeks after she did and I experienced the same thin - crickets in my hotel room (a nice Hilton hotel - didn't matter, all the hotels had this problem) and in our office on LBJ highway, a big, modern office building that was immaculate in every other way but they still had crickets here and there inside. The Dallas-ites we worked with said this happened every year at some point. They also confirmed to me the grasshopper infestations I mentioned above, adding that those were "OK" because at least the grasshoppers stay outside.
I have never encountered bug problems in California.
Florida was recently ranked the worst state in the US for bug problems. And it is, with its humid warm climate. There are bugs everywhere and its just something people have to live with down here. Roaches and reptiles are more of a problem IMO then spiders and bee's but of course there aer plenty of those too. In my home I have seen many spiders but never ones that are very large. But if I go into more remote parts of the state the spiders do get pretty big.
Seeing a roach or lizard in the homer etc.. Its a daily to weekly thing down here and its just a waste of money getting rid of them because they will always come back.
uhhh the bugs are way worse in fl, fire ants, mosquitos (west nile carrying), palmetto bugs, plenty of spiders.... and all sorts of lizards, alligators too.
fl pretty much has the most of everything, bugs, alligators, lizards, tornados, hurricanes, lightning strikes, etc.
Lol, Florida definitely doesn't get the most tornados. How many tornados has Florida had like 1? And knock on wood, I haven't seen a hurricane ever since I started coming here 3 years ago.
Lol, Florida definitely doesn't get the most tornados. How many tornados has Florida had like 1? And knock on wood, I haven't seen a hurricane ever since I started coming here 3 years ago.
Interesting site for you, then: LINK (recent years are on page 7 of the chart)
I get some spiders here in CA. Mostly outside, but every now and there i find one in the house. Small ones mostly ... nothing all that crazy. As a general rule, I hate spiders. I've seen a a few "big" (in my opinion) ones outside in our garden ... about the size of a silver dollar. But this has been maybe 3 times in 10 years.
Bees ... not really? But there are bees in CA. I live in the city, so that probably has something to do with it.
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