I don't like spiders and snakes..... (Stuart, St. Augustine: foreclosed, house, neighborhoods)

[liney59]

Okay so my husband and I are moving to a new location in late Fall. We are from the WNY state area (you know, snow, cold, gloomy, gray winters that stretch on and on...)....so one area we have been researching is Stuart and the surrounding towns.

I have read all of the posts on the forum that I can and now I hope to hear from some locals who can give me a real perspective on the critters. We don't have many snakes and if I do see one it is usually a small brown grass snake. Maybe I see two a year. I am an avid gardener and really those two I might only see in the spring. We have poisonous snakes here but mostly they are very well into the back country. I hate snakes. Make that HATE with a capital H. I understand they eat bugs, they eat rodents, all the good they do. That does not make a difference to me. I had an extremely horrifying situation with a very large spotted atter in our kitchen, yes in our kitchen, when I was about 10 and from that day forward I have been very afraid of them. So now I read the post of snakes on the forum....it took all my strength just to read it (seriously)......what I read really made me wonder.....so my questions are this.....do you see a snake once in a while (and I would mean by that every few months), every day, every week, maybe only a couple of times a year? And what do you do to be sure they are not around your property or god forbid in your house?? Does it help to NOT live near one of the "lakes" (I would call them retention ponds) that I see in some neighborhoods/developments?

Now on to bugs....does everyone have a bug man? Does that mostly control the population around/in your home? I am not deathly afraid of bugs but I am not a fan either....again we don't have a large insect population (something about the zero degree gray cold cloudly weather I know!!).....

So please - a local perspective of someone who lives there would be greatly appreciated!!!!

[wireyourworld]

Snakes are there. I saw one yesterday. You are moving into their world. They move around looking for food. They usually sleep in weeds, leaves or holes. Avoid having those around your house. Black snakes of a few kinds are the most common and harmless. And they hunt in the day looking for that other thing you don't like, bugs. Best just to know the difference between poisoness and harmless.

Bugs are common. Very common. Many people treat their own yards and homes, other hire out. With palmetto bugs and other roaches they are attracted to dampness, undergrowth, leaves.

Good management will keep bugs at bay but its impossible to eliminate them completely.

[newred5]

A good pest company and good habits from all those that live in your home will keep the bug issue a non issue.
Snakes, they are here , I see a few every week or so walking around the Hillmoor lake park lake ....

[pslhomie]

I wouldn't worry too much about the snakes. If ants are a problem you can just do pest control. They spray for Mosquitos here so they are not that bad. Now if you do see a snake unless it is by the water and it is black it is more than likely harmless.

If you are by the water then be careful around the edges of bushes because water moccasin's hange out in these places. I have only seen one. If you have a pool you need a fence for safety and to keep the occassional gator out. And again unless your house is very close to a waterway then I doubt a gator will end up in your pool. We do have armadillos, opossoms and ratcoons as well as the occassional bobcat but they usually don't want to have anything to do with you. Oh yeah and the pig invasion is going on.

Come on down and enjoy the nature.

[SeetheUSA]

Cleanliness is more than just next to Godliness- it is also a desert for critters. If you keep a clean house, bugs will not come in. I spray every 6 months or so at the door jams and windows just in case, but I never have any problems. As for snakes, I have seen 1 or 2 since I moved here a year ago. Both were black snakes. The most I have seen of anything is spiders. But it really is not bad.

I lived in NY, and the worst for me is field mice. Every spring we had to find the nests in our barn and eradicate them. I HATE mice. Every locale has their own "issues".

[MINITRUCK83]

Originally Posted by SeetheUSA

Cleanliness is more than just next to Godliness- it is also a desert for critters. If you keep a clean house, bugs will not come in. I spray every 6 months or so at the door jams and windows just in case, but I never have any problems. As for snakes, I have seen 1 or 2 since I moved here a year ago. Both were black snakes. The most I have seen of anything is spiders. But it really is not bad.

Keeping the house extremely clean, and a 10"-12" border around the house clear and poisoned will keep most of them out, bringing cardboard boxes inside is a no no, (not even for a 'minute' empty them outside) storing excess foodstuffs like pasta or sugar, etc, in glass is good.

palmetto bug= big roach that flys around knocking out streetlights.

[sware2cod]

The bugs are not as bad as you might think. You will barely notice a difference from your home state other than the pesky ant hills. They are easy to treat on your own. One you get here you won't even think much about bugs again(any more than when you think about them at your home state.)

[PortStLucieWater]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

The bugs are not as bad as you might think. You will barely notice a difference from your home state other than the pesky ant hills. They are easy to treat on your own. One you get here you won't even think much about bugs again(any more than when you think about them at your home state.)

Except when it is lovebug season :P

[pslhomie]

Which has just about started. I have been seeing a few. If you have a dark colored house and the season is bad then look out!!

[pattybee]

I lived in the same house for 30 years in a quiet subdivision. I did not have pest control but I did keep the place clean—opened pantry food stored always in canisters or sealed plastic bags and dirty dishes not left out for long—never had an infestation of roaches. Almost every winter a large roach or two would find its way into the house and go hide in an under-the-bed drawer or some odd place but never appeared to breed. I also never had an ant infestation in the house except at the very end. It appeared they had, over the years, made a civilization within the concrete blocks of the house and I would see them marching across the exterior walls and into whatever cracks. I assume we should have had a professional come in to deal with them but we were being foreclosed upon so we didn't bother. I was also very fortunate regarding fire ants outdoors—we had a healthy thick St. Augustine lawn and they just never set up housekeeping on my property in all that time. Now we have moved to a rental, and the lawn is barren in lots of places and the fire ants are here, but they can be controlled with insecticide granules. After two months in the new place, no roaches, no other bugs and nary a snake.

As for snakes, I guess it's just a matter of where you live, but once in a great while would describe my experience. There are the occasional black snakes which are harmless, sometimes a beautiful corn snake will turn up, but I would never say that either on my property or walking in undeveloped areas with my dogs were they ever a problem. In the undeveloped areas they are surely there but would prefer to avoid you if possible. I understand if you have a tropical garden you're likely to see them more frequently.

Good luck.