[floridaorbust]

Originally Posted by ChrisA70

I really try not to claim opinions are fact, believe me. I just know I sat through a week of 8 hour classes listening to the instructor go on and on about bugs, bugs, and more bugs... He said palmettos are outdoor bugs, they don't prefer to be inside. They just go inside to avoid an influx of water. They are common, but seen less. Palmettos don't freak me out, but if I see a roach, that's a different story. I have a manual somewhere I have not seen for years about pest control and in it, it says 90% of all homes, especially in the lower part of FL have them, NOW, it does not say IN the houses, but no matter where I have been in Florida, and I have been all over, I have seen them everywhere I went. Lakeland Yankee said after a rain storm they were in the house=yes, they are looking for a dry area, as not to be carried away in the rain.

I have a question We plan on moving to FL soon. And was concerned about the palmettos, snakes and all those critters. Do the palmettos come into your home even if you have the house treated? How or can you prevent them from entering your house? Are they distructive? Sorry so many??
Also, heard that the tiny lizards sometimes enter your home I guess the only way to prevent that would be not to open your doors, ever.
The "bug" thing will be new to us. Just wanted to know if by having your house treated does it totally prevent the critters from entering. thanks

[ChrisA70]

No, Palmettos will avoid being inside mostly, they like warmth, heat, they mostly live in the palms, bushes, under wood, mulch, etc. They are COMPLETELY harmless, and do not damage anything, unlike thier relatives the cockroach. Have your home treated monthly by a pest control company, or buy the indoor outdoor spray, and do the entire perimiter, garage, under the appliances, etc. You will be fine there. Some people make it out like the whole state is infested, crawling with things all over. It's not like that at all. I didn't see many snakes in the whole 15 years I was there. Mostly black racers are the ones you see, which are completely harmless, when they see you, they take off quickly. The little lizards are completley harmless little guys too, once in a while they get in, but they always dissapear. They are good to have around, they eat the bugs that get into the house, or are trying to.

You may want to ask tungsten-udder too, he is an authority on everything...

Originally Posted by floridaorbust

I have a question We plan on moving to FL soon. And was concerned about the palmettos, snakes and all those critters. Do the palmettos come into your home even if you have the house treated? How or can you prevent them from entering your house? Are they distructive? Sorry so many??
Also, heard that the tiny lizards sometimes enter your home I guess the only way to prevent that would be not to open your doors, ever.
The "bug" thing will be new to us. Just wanted to know if by having your house treated does it totally prevent the critters from entering. thanks

[Keeper]

As a reminder
Our opinions on a location or issue are just that, opinions. Highly subjective. Personal preferences. Quirks, even. Leave wiggle room for dialogue, others may not see things the same as you, or been there as long as you, and any one of us can be wrong. Pouncing on someone you disagree with runs contrary to the spirit of this board and its members. We are here to help each other.

[gypsychic]

I don't want to get into the middle of a debate about how many roaches we have in Florida, etc. but I would just like to say something to the newcomers who may be needlessly alarmed reading these posts.

I am a native Floridian. Yes, we have plenty roaches, I have seen them in every city I have lived. I don't always know how to tell which is which. What I DO know is that some houses I have lived in don't seem to have any get inside even without spraying.

One I lived in was a really old Spanish house in downtown Sarasota, where there was lots and lots of trees and overgrown foliage in the entire neighborhood. This house needed a lot of work and there were lots of ways for them to get in and they did. One needs to seal their house up good.

The house we have in Lakeland is another old house, but in the year I have been here I have probably seen maybe two that got inside. There is NO foliage up against the house here, and we do not spray. The house we recently purchased in Sarasota is a sealed-tight concrete block 50's house, and no bugs of any kind in that one without spraying, either.

Bottom line, I wouldn't worry about the roaches. Keep the foliage away from the house and seal the openings. Keep garbage, etc. sealed up and away from the house - nothing attracts vermin and bugs like garbage lying around. If you live in a neighborhood with overgrown foliage and/or people with unclean habits or have a run-down place you also may have problems, so pick a clean and tidy neighborhood, and it is my opinion you will not have a big problem with the roaches.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Lily15

Then, Fort Lauderdale, and again, the areas around it.

Changed my mind on all of them. Florida is full of crime, and everything else that I've heard in here........There's no place in Florida safe.

Here, pick your choices in safe areas, from north to south. This is just around Ft. Lauderdale which isn't that big...

Parkland, Coconut Creek, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs (get mugged in the festering slums by armed gang members who don't speak English every day on those 17th safest streets in the US), Margate, Tamarac, North Lauderdale, Sunrise (west of University), Plantation, Davie (west of University from here on), Weston, Cooper City, Pembroke Pines, and most of Miramar...

Take your pick. Those areas range from extremely upscale to no-frills working class type areas, but they are all at least relatively safe (and yes, by national standards, not by "Florida" standards). A 2 bedroom condo in a "safe neighborhood" could be had for under 200k in just about all of these areas except for Parkland. If all you need is safe, check out ANYTHING west of University Dr. There are plenty of safe areas east of that street too, but west is VERY consistent and leaves you a vast area.

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

I don't want to get into the middle of a debate about how many roaches we have in Florida, etc. but I would just like to say something to the newcomers who may be needlessly alarmed reading these posts . . .

Yes, when I was a kid in Royal Palm Beach, we used to see one, although never a palmetto bug, every once in awhile in our house. My mom had a pest control company come out every month for quite a few years--maybe 10-15 years. My mom is still in that same house and hasn't had ANY pest control in at least 20 years, and hasn't seen a roach in that house in all that time. She does have a lot of flora, including quite a bit close to the house, and she does get chameleons in the house occasionally.

I've lived in places in Florida where I never saw any roaches (or chameleons, or anything else) while I was there (although I wasn't the first renter or owner, so I can't say what the folks there before me might have seen). And I also lived in a very run down older place, a large apartment building with lots of neighbors who weren't very clean, where I not only had roaches--and regularly palmetto bugs that seemed to be there all the time with absolutely no correlation to the weather outside, but mice and termites.

But the same thing is true everywhere else I've lived, too. I've got a roach problem and have had mice a couple times in the apartment I live in now in Jersey City--it's another building with lots of neighbors, many of whom are not very clean. But I've lived plenty of other places--including close by here in Jersey City and in New York City, where I had no pests. Pests are not at all limited to Florida, and the same issues--cleanliness, proximity to neighbors, moisture, particular kinds of plants that attract particular pests, whether you have lots of entry points, etc. are a concern wherever you are.

[Keeper]

I agree gypsychic although I never really had a problem with what we called german cockroaches in our house, the palemetto bugs are a different story. They don't normally seek to come in the house but I have had them fly into my house at night.

To the OP.. there is good and bad about every place. What bothers me, might not bother you.

I also agree you can't take every person's opinion as fact, it is just their opinion. If you lived where they live under their circumstances you might have a different opinion or the same opinion. It is all boils down to what is important to you.

[Lakeland Yankee]

Originally Posted by ChrisA70

The little lizards are completley harmless little guys too, once in a while they get in, but they always dissapear. They are good to have around, they eat the bugs that get into the house, or are trying to.

Agreed , and the few times that the lizards do get in the house my cat has a field day chasing them around.......they don't stay for long .

Moderator cut: comment

Of course other states have some of the same problems as Florida, that is obvious, but this is a FLORIDA forum dealing with FLORIDA relocation issues. I moved here because I loved the state, but I will warn others about the problems.

For the last time : My fact and reality may not be yours and vice-versa. How can anyone tell me my experiences are not factual????

[Keeper]

Yeah, my cats love the lizards. My grandsons use to catch them too.

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by Lakeland Yankee

Agreed , and the few times that the lizards do get in the house my cat has a field day chasing them around.......they don't stay for long .

Moderator cut: comment

Of course other states have some of the same problems as Florida, that is obvious, but this is a FLORIDA forum dealing with FLORIDA relocation issues. I moved here because I loved the state, but I will warn others about the problems.

For the last time : My fact and reality may not be yours and vice-versa. How can anyone tell me my experiences are not factual????

Universal generalizations are not "your facts". If someone says, "If you move to Florida and it rains, you'll see palmetto bugs in your home", that's a universal generalization, and it is negated just in case there is someone in Florida who doesn't see a palmetto bug in their home after it rains.

No one would love it more than I if you'd instead say things like, "In every house I've been in in Florida, I've seen palmetto bugs after it rains". That would be a fact about you ("your fact"), rather than a general claim about the entire state or everyone in it, that I agree no one could very successfully dispute (the only way that could happen would be if someone claimed something like that that was either impossible or so improbable that it would be difficult to buy).