Fire ants? Flying COCKROACHES?? (Myrtle Beach, Central: beach, area, summer)

[agb]

Originally Posted by sameboat

8 inches??!! That could eat a bird! I'm terrified of any spider (and we don't have any more than 1 inch. It's the fat hairy ones that freak me out. Are tarantulas native to SC?

Hi I just moved here a few weeks ago from MI. I hate spiders too. Mostly the big fat hairy, jumpy ones,but to be honest I have not see a spider since I have been here I believe like any where you live if you dust regular and have pest control spry you will be just fine.

Good luck
agb

[rustybuckets]

Hello,

I grew up in Mississippi; my family has been there for generations, and I can tell you from all of our first hand experience that there are flying cockroaches (we call them "woodroaches", because they live in bushes, trees, etc.) in the deep south.

They are large, coffee colored, and yes, they will fly.

Right at you.

Be very afraid.

[collateraldamage]

spiders...just watch out for the brown ones and the black ones...same with snakes watch out for brown snakes....look up the wiki and learn to identify the ones to stay away from.. i was born and raised in the lowcountry of south carolina.. beaufort county....snakes leave em alone..spiders leave em alone...watch you youe step...thats it..i have never been biten and i camp in the woods at all time of the year here as a boy and as a man...but please if you must move here take some drivers ed courses because its getting crazy here lol

[usc_gal98]

Palmetto bugs are just roaches. I think they are disguisting!!!!!

The best way to get rid of them is Bengal (sp) gel. It kills them quicker and is much cheaper than having someone come out to spray.

Palmetto bugs are easy. It's those german roaches with the brown spot on their backs you need to look out for. Someone told me once that those things can live up to 7 years in abandoned houses. Gross!!!!

[Ceezer]

Yeah, I don't care what you call them... they're roaches.

I don't know about wolf spiders that much but I do get a lot of Black Widows nesting in my garage. It used to freak me out, but since they've never bothered me (as long as I'm aware of where they are) then I just leave them be.

I've spent hundreds of dollars on the best fire ant repellants and killers and all they seem to do is hinder growth. I've not found a way to get rid of them.

Then there are the "cow killers" that are actually wasps, from what I've read, but look like big fuzzy orange ants. Their bites aren't lethal as they sound but apparently very painful.

There are all kinds of odd and freaky looking insects in this region that I've not encountered elsewhere.

My favorite regional creature is the skink. I found one on the side of my house once that had no stripes on it's back. It was solid black from the head back but around the middle it faded into a deep red, like some custom paint job you'd find in a hot rod shop.

[RCfromGreenville]

As someone said earlier in the thread, humidity, relatively warm winters and lots of vegetation mean that wildlife of all kinds will thrive. I've lived in Greenville for 31 of the last 34 years, however, and have never seen a poisonous snake. Mosquitoes can be a problem, especially if you have standing water nearby. But otherwise mosquitoes are not bad in Greenville. We go down to Edisto Island every summer and the mosquitoes are much worse, as you would expect, especially near the salt marsh.

In Greenville I have maybe seen 10 cockroaches in the time I have been living here. We've never treated for them. At the beach we always see the large coffee-colored roaches - I think those are the official Palmetto bugs. One time we rented a house that hadn't been treated recently and the roaches were awful. When we were at Edisto last month, I only saw one the whole week, so apparently that house had been treated recently.

I think I saw a brown recluse spider once. I'm sure that there are plenty around, but I don't like spiders so I tend to be very careful around the places that they are reputed to live. Usually when the weather starts to get cool in November a few spiders invite themselves into the warm house, but I tend to be a poor host.

We did have to deal with fire ants beginning last year. I assume that they will be a permanent part of our yard from now on, unless we continue to treat for them. There are other creepy crawlies, but compared to mosquitoes and black flies and no-see-ums in some of the places up north, we have it pretty good.

There are no alligators in the upstate. There are black bears in the mountainous parts of the upstate, but the only time you see them in the suburbs is when the mama bears kick the adolescent males out (something my mother always thought sounded like a good idea) and the young males go wandering in search of food. Every spring there is a story or two about a young bear up in a tree somewhere in the northern suburbs. There are supposed to be some coyotes around, but I have never seen one.

Most of the problems that I am aware of come from the behavior of that most nefarious species - homo sapiens.

[slaintemaith]

I lived in Salem, MA years ago. I guess you have to put up with things everywhere you live. In CA it's car chases and earthquakes. MN, it's the dreadful winters and mosquitoes and ticks. MA it was the extortionate cost of living, nor'easters and insane drivers.

Here in SC, it's the summers and the critters. I've heard people swear that the "Palmetto Bug" is a variant of a water bug. Science may even back this, but make no mistake: They're gargantuan flying cockroaches. Annoying, yes. Life threatening, no. (Apparently people can be allergic to cockroaches--Palmetto Bugs don't trigger this, however)

There's a saying here, "South Carolina is home to 205,391 insects. And all of them bite." (Okay, I made the number up)

Our back porch (we live in Mount Pleasant, which is right on the coast--but we're about three miles away from the ocean) has been a cornucopia of random critters. Apart from the daily supply of mosquitoes & biting gnats (yes, they bite too, here) we do have fire ants--I've had the pleasure of being bitten by one once--they infested an unused flower pot--and are comparable to a bee sting on the 'pain' scale. The problem is fire ants are smaller and much more numerous than bees--unless you're playing "Pinata" with a hornet's nest.

...what was I saying? Oh yes. Our back porch has hosted the following critters: One Black Widow (drowned by me), more brown widows than I care to count (all splatted by me) ... Oh, in case you're wondering, a brown widow looks exactly like a black widow in shape, but is brown (obviously) with an orange hourglass on it's belly. My research online has shown that they're just as (if not doubly) venomous as its darker cousin, however, they don't inject as much venom per bite, and they're more likely to run away from you than try to bite/kill/main you. We have children, we have pets. I'm usually not the sort to smite critters that eat mosquitoes, but in this case, I make exceptions.

...back to the porch... We've had several fiddler crabs, (tiny cute ones about an inch and a half across) a crayfish, (who was domineering our cat) a "Toe Biter" (which can be seen here:
What's That Bug: Giant Water Bug, Water Scorpions and other Water Bugs

a green lynx spider, (harmless, but odd looking) two spinyback orb weavers:
Images of the bug Spinyback Orb Weaver Spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis)
(also harmless)

And of course, various small frogs, toads, skinks and annoles. (I don't mind any of these, as they eat the rest of them, and the annoles are cute.)

We have two dragonflies patrolling our back yard (literally running a continual quartering pattern) at any given time during the day. I just wish they'd catch more prey.

[skyfire43221]

Don't let the palmetto bug jazz freak you out.
They are horrifying and I saw one in my apartment the other day. Although I was born in Myrtle Beach, I moved to Ohio when I was seven and lived there until I just recently moved back to Florence/MB 2 mos ago.

I had nightmares about the bugs before I moved and I still am terrified of seeing another in the apartment--but they don't like to infest in the house. You may never even ever see one, and they don't like to fly as often as they like to run--VERY quickly-- away from you. Monthly professional pest control is almost necessary for survival and sanity lol.

Wolf spiders while disgusting and scary are not harmful so that's a good thing. I don't really want to see one but if I do I'll be in the hospital guaranteed.

[jal20708]

Holy Moley! We just purchased a home in Hartsville, in a very rural setting and I am officially freaking OUT!!! I have lived in Maryland my entire life. We have mosquitoes in our backyard and camel back crickets in our basement. We are moving in November. Does anyone have any suggestions for me on how to prepare for the bug problem, or what products to purchase, or what company to use? Holy crap!! Is the dog ok with those ants? How do the pesticide affect animals and small children? I have both.

[Dave-O]

Folks, if you're considering moving to SC, don't be freaked out by the wildlife. I moved here from Seattle and was originally warned (from people who lived elsewhere) that we're moving into the snake and alligator alley. Yes, we have gators in the ponds behind our home--no big deal. They don't like people and unless they are fed by people, are a non-issue. And the snakes...they don't like people, either. They stay where they are supposed to most of the time, and those that do come into your pathway quickly move away. The statistics regarding snake bites in this state tell you that the problem is not as big as people make them out to be. I live in a jungle-like environment and have had no problems with either.

The biggest issue I have are the no-seeum bugs and the mosquitoes. Like another poster in this thread, my body chemistry seems to attract them, as was the case in Seattle and various other parts of the world (Montana, Wyoming, China, etc.). Don't be out at dusk BBQ'ing dinner on a warm night without some DEET and Skin so Soft. DEET pushes the mosquitoes away and Skin so Soft from Avon (believe it or not) works with these little biting gnats. The gnat bites last a week or more...the mosquitoe bites are gone in a day.

The beauty of the low country and the quality of life makes up for all of the above, in my opinion. I'm not moving back to the west coast (unless someone gives me a large chunk of change to do so )