Living inside The Woodlands. Please share the good, the bad & the ugly. (houses, install)

[millefiori]

Hello, I'm new, and interested in TW. I don't think there could be too many trees but I would be concerned about "southern" things that might live in those trees or hang down from them -- like SNAKES and spiders. What's the critter situation there with all those trees?

[Sampaguita]

There are a good number of flying roaches and spiders up there but I think you'll see a lot of critters when you're living in a forest. Unless it's a phobia, those aren't things that I think should dissuade you from The Woodlands.

[millefiori]

Thank you, Sampaguita. I hadn't thought about roaches. Not a phobia but not my favorite aspect. We lived in Miami once and had to have the house sprayed monthly because of palmetto bugs (roaches), I am supposing you have to do that in Houston, being so far south.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by millefiori

Thank you, Sampaguita. I hadn't thought about roaches. Not a phobia but not my favorite aspect. We lived in Miami once and had to have the house sprayed monthly because of palmetto bugs (roaches), I am supposing you have to do that in Houston, being so far south.

I'd say more like twice a year, early spring and mid summer.

[Sampaguita]

Originally Posted by tstone

I'd say more like twice a year, early spring and mid summer.

We typically just spray 2x a year as well. That pretty much takes care of those things.

[millefiori]

Thanks again Sampaguita and Tstone.

I guess I don't understand how this site works. I also got a "reputation comment" from someone, but don't see it posted here. What is that about?

[crone]

Houston is the sub tropics. You will occasionally encounter various forms of wildlife. It goes with the territory. At least we have no need to check our shoes for scorpions. There is a harmless snake who suns himself along the side of my house. A frog has resided in the french drain for as long as i have been here (12 years). We sometimes encounter snakes who have been run over, usually in the spring. Sometimes in damp Mays i see silverfish. No problems. If you are close to a creek or greenbelt you may see possums, raccoons, skunks, deer and a few odd snakes. We have all those but deer in our yard daily. Once, we had a bat trying to enter the bathtub drain. I called our semi regular pest control who gathered it up in a net and took it outside. For some reason it was deemed to be free of rabies.
The reputation comment was from someone who liked what you said. I rarely get them because I am an old grouch. Some of the nice helpful folk gets lots of them.

[BCEagles01]

Originally Posted by crone

Houston is the sub tropics. You will occasionally encounter various forms of wildlife. It goes with the territory. At least we have no need to check our shoes for scorpions. There is a harmless snake who suns himself along the side of my house. A frog has resided in the french drain for as long as i have been here (12 years). We sometimes encounter snakes who have been run over, usually in the spring. Sometimes in damp Mays i see silverfish. No problems. If you are close to a creek or greenbelt you may see possums, raccoons, skunks, deer and a few odd snakes. We have all those but deer in our yard daily. Once, we had a bat trying to enter the bathtub drain. I called our semi regular pest control who gathered it up in a net and took it outside. For some reason it was deemed to be free of rabies.
The reputation comment was from someone who liked what you said. I rarely get them because I am an old grouch. Some of the nice helpful folk gets lots of them.

Hahahaha. I don't know whats up with the skunks in The Woodlands. I never see them,but I smell them all the time when driving to work in the mornings.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by millefiori

Thank you, Sampaguita. I hadn't thought about roaches. Not a phobia but not my favorite aspect. We lived in Miami once and had to have the house sprayed monthly because of palmetto bugs (roaches), I am supposing you have to do that in Houston, being so far south.

You fill your house with poison to kill bugs? I hope you didn't let them put the stuff in your cabinets.

Why not set cockroach bait?

People worry so much about these insects. But Hawaii is even worse in that respect. There aren't any more bugs here than in East Texas, yet people are obsessive about killing bugs. Terminix trucks are always rolling around, spraying poison in peoples' homes, tenting them and leaving toxic gases in crevices and spaces. Just squash them or vacuum them up!

[crone]

If the house is sealed, bugs are rarely seen. We have had the exterminator 5 times in almost 13 years. It was for tiny spiders. DH tells me spiders are where there is some kind of air movement. He prefers caulk to exterminators.