Snakes, Scorpions, Lizards...HALP! (Anthony: eat, yard, rattlesnakes)

[catriona]

Originally Posted by szk

I have been in San Antonio for less than a year and have seen a scorpion in the house! Dead ones in light fixtures. There is a snake right now that is in the backyard! It took residence this last week. Fire Ants galore that are very difficult to control. The Fire Ants are worse than anything!!! Lizards, just saw my first one outside in the front two days ago. Spider? Geez! The spiders are bigger and more than I have seen anywhere. Prior to moving here I visited a few times and saw a huge snake at the River Walk...and one by a pond near a friend's apartment. In all fairness, I am living in a new development. I hear it is like this in new developments where there is open area nearby. I am not used to this at all. I have not ever been afraid of insects, but I am terrified of the Fire Ants now...every time I do yard work I get bit and end up hypotensive and fatigued. My advice, move to a well developed area or Colorado!!!

Get a good exterminator to take care of your scorpion, spider and fire ant problem. Well, maybe not the fire ants. I don't know what kills those things... but you have every right to be terrified of them. Please be careful, my husband got stung by them trying to fix one of the sprinkler system heads. They got him before he realized they were there and he must have had 70 bites on his leg. He wouldn't go to the doctor, but he sure was sick. Said if it happened again, he'd go to the doc-in-the-box right away.

As for the lizards, they won't hurt you; they eat unwanted bugs. The snakes on the other hand....try and find out what they are. We have rattlesnakes, copperheads and coral snakes, and other venomous snakes around here. There are also the numerous non-venomous ones. For example, there's a rather large grass snake that lives between our yard and our neighbors and it scares me to death every once in a while when I walk out the front door and find it sunning itself on the sidewalk. It's a harmless snake, I think I scare it almost as much as it scares me!

We have all kinds of varmits here. Possums, skunks, raccoons, etc. Spend some time reading up on them and it may help you to not get too upset everytime you walk outside! One more example -- my husband went out the front door one night to check the recycling bin. He came high-tailing it back inside, claiming there was something hissing at him out on the porch. I went out with him to look, thinking it must have been a snake, but it was only a baby possum! I didn't know they would hiss at you, but evidently they do!

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by szk

I have been in San Antonio for less than a year and have seen a scorpion in the house! Dead ones in light fixtures. There is a snake right now that is in the backyard! It took residence this last week. Fire Ants galore that are very difficult to control. The Fire Ants are worse than anything!!! Lizards, just saw my first one outside in the front two days ago. Spider? Geez! The spiders are bigger and more than I have seen anywhere. Prior to moving here I visited a few times and saw a huge snake at the River Walk...and one by a pond near a friend's apartment. In all fairness, I am living in a new development. I hear it is like this in new developments where there is open area nearby. I am not used to this at all. I have not ever been afraid of insects, but I am terrified of the Fire Ants now...every time I do yard work I get bit and end up hypotensive and fatigued. My advice, move to a well developed area or Colorado!!!

Man, where do you live?? I've lived here for over 25 years and have never seen a scorpion and only have seen one itty-bitty snake, and it was dead. Other than that, just a few run-of-the-mill spiders and those little albino looking lizards/geckos, and lots of june bugs. Fire ants occasionally, but some Amdro gets rid of 'em. No big deal.

[seashells821]

I am visiting San Antonio next week and scared to death I may see any of these things. I am going to the Riverwalk, anything there to be looking out for??

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by seashells821

I am visiting San Antonio next week and scared to death I may see any of these things. I am going to the Riverwalk, anything there to be looking out for??

I don't think that there's 1 downtown in the US where you can find an animal bigger than a mosquito.
Just stay out of the water from the riverwalk.

[tvlgds]

I'm LMAO at some of these questions. You'd think we were still hitching our horses at the general store. This is a large metropolitan area, not some backwater hole. There are plenty of snakes and scorpions out in the undeveloped areas, but not so much in the city. I've seen grass snakes, which are no threat, geckos, which are no threat, there are scorpions around, but I've yet to see one. You've got more to fear from the 2 legged critters than anything else, particularly if they're behind the wheel.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I don't think that there's 1 downtown in the US where you can find an animal bigger than a mosquito.
Just stay out of the water from the riverwalk.

Not that you would want to jump in and swim, but there isn't anything dangerous in the river...maybe a restaurant chair, or someone's sweater! However, if you do happen to fall in, it's really fairly shallow....more "canal-like"...very quaint and picturesque and FUN!

Do not worry about anything creepy on the River Walk. It's very safe and has a very visible security patrol by the SAPD.

If you're lucky, you might see a palmetto bug run across the sidewalk, but they really are pretty shy. None of them like tourists or party animals!

[seashells821]

OK I survived my visit to Texas and the Riverwalk not seeing thank goodness any SNAKES or anything. The Riverwalk was fun but not much of anything but restaurants. Boy were we surprised to be hit with $48 in TAXES for one night at the hotel. You Texans do not pay income or state tax and rely on the tourists.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by seashells821

OK I survived my visit to Texas and the Riverwalk not seeing thank goodness any SNAKES or anything. The Riverwalk was fun but not much of anything but restaurants. Boy were we surprised to be hit with $48 in TAXES for one night at the hotel. You Texans do not pay income or state tax and rely on the tourists.

Smart, huh? Thanks for your business..and do come again!

[mrstxcop]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

Smart, huh? Thanks for your business..and do come again!

okay, that really cracked me up --- i tried to rep you but i gotta spread it around!!!

[tvlgds]

Originally Posted by seashells821

OK I survived my visit to Texas and the Riverwalk not seeing thank goodness any SNAKES or anything. The Riverwalk was fun but not much of anything but restaurants. Boy were we surprised to be hit with $48 in TAXES for one night at the hotel. You Texans do not pay income or state tax and rely on the tourists.

We do not pay state income tax, but we do pay state and local sales taxes, plus ridiculous property taxes, so don't think for a minute you're paying our way.