Greeneville-spiders, snakes, and bugs (Greenville: house, camping, live)

[soapgirl]

Hi,

My husband and I are looking into moving our family from Maine to Greenville or Winterville. Can anyone tell me what the spider, snake, and bug issues are there? Are there lots of them there? I really hate them. When there is a spider or bug in my house in my house it freakes me out. I have heard that in Florida there are tons of bugs etc, and I'm wondering if it is like that there.

Thanks for the help!

Chris

[p2y2r7o]

There are definitely plenty of spiders and other insects! Just make sure you have a routine pest control visit and you will be fine, though. As far as snakes...they're definitely here but I rarely see them. We just saw a black snake in our driveway the other week and it was the first I had ever seen in our yard. A friend of mine has a creek running through his back yard and they have copperheads every now and then.

[justNancy]

Hi, soapgirl. I move to FL from NH. I wonder if the black snake P2y2r7o is referring to is the Black Racer which is very common snake in the Southeast although you don't see too many any more, which is sad to say. It's very long and slender and is more afraid of you than you are of it. Like most creatures, they try to keep away from people, but once I got home late and one was on my front lanai (what I always called a porch before I moved here!) I have no idea how he got in! It was very black and about 4 or 5 feet long. The snake was so frightened that it began to shake like crazy and threaten me. Fortunately I know they are harmless to humans, so I opened the screen door and coached it outside.

Any hot and humid place is going to have bugs, but I can't imagine it's that bad in Greenville since I actually had more problems with bugs in NH than in FL. Once I had a monster hornet's nest removed from my house in Nashua. I thought the black flies in the Adirondacks were worse than our no-see-ums, and when I was camping in Maine, they were chasing me. I could have sworn I heard them calling my name in a high, squeaky voice. Much worse than anything I've experienced in FL. Spiders are everywhere, including Maine. The majority of them are harmless too. If you keep a clean home and don't leave food out, you won't get a lot of pests like ants and roaches, since they are all manageable.

[sojones]

Yes, routine pest control will keep most things down

if you move into an area just cleared of woods, you can't avoid some spiders and insects.. may'be more

There's NO city in the south that's free of bugs .. and usually some more abundant species will exist and you kind of get used to them b/c they really dont' bother you

Palmetto Bugs are the only thing I hate but they are not in Greenville

If you live near woods, probably will come across a snake every so often.... I'd expect a few of those in a 5 year span.. like 2 or 3 sightings maybe.....

Racoons, Oppossums, Dear, and Rabbit are the main wildlife you will see with 4 legs outside of the domesticated pets (inside the Greenville City limits)

[myrc60]

You have to remember that Greenville rarely experiences a freeze hard enough to kill overly hardy bugs. There are a lot of bugs here compared to Chicago where I came from. We get a lot of bugs in our house but I can't afford that pest service so it is something that has to be lived with. We have cats and they are good at disabling most bugs that get in the house. I know that sounds gross but anything that makes me scream that high pitched scream just has to take a chance!

[NoodlesKnowles]

I see plenty of palmetto bugs, must be because I live on the edge of greenville, ugh they are gross, I also see plenty of snakes, but I live on a lake, in the woods, so I see all kind of critters, it comes with the territory not too bad though, considering

[p2y2r7o]

Roaches are different than Palmetto Bugs, don't forget. Palmetto bugs are usually bigger and they fly...gross. They're more common near the coast. I hate them all.

[Art123]

While I agree that "Palmetto Bug" sounds much more appealing. It is, indeed, a cockroach. Periplaneta americana is the latin name.

American cockroach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Species Periplaneta americana - American Cockroach - BugGuide.Net

Originally Posted by p2y2r7o

Roaches are different than Palmetto Bugs, don't forget. Palmetto bugs are usually bigger and they fly...gross. They're more common near the coast. I hate them all.

[justNancy]

I agree with both of you:

(a) A palmetto bug is definitely a type of cockroach

(b) They're really gross!


By the way, I know this has nothing to do with Greenville, but I thought I'd share. When I lived on Sanibel Island in 1994-95, I kept seeing a large lizzard (wasn't sure what it was) crawling on my house at night, but nobody believed me. 12 years later I'm seeing them again. This is weird. Obviously they were pets and people were irresponsible. Does Greenville have anything like this?



Wanted: Iguana trappers! | WINK News - Southwest Florida | Local & Florida

USATODAY.com - Non-native iguanas sink their claws into Fla. island

[p2y2r7o]

I'm pretty certain Greenville doesn't have iguanas! There are definitely lizards, but I'm not sure how big they get.