Moving to Texas--EEEWWW??? (Tyler: tax, living in, dangerous)

[Rose Red]

Yes - my in-laws gave us a hard time but they sure loooove to visit!

[lilypad]

The bugs are here because of the heat and humidity. The more east and south you go, the more bugs! I lived in Wichita Falls for 7 years and we had the infestation of the week starting about April. For a few years I lived in a charming little house next to a shed and open field. Had a huge back yard sloping down to a ravine. We had regular visitors every night, racoons and possums, came up and trashed the deck if I did not feed them! There were wasps and bees, moths, flies, mosquitos, you name it. Centipedes and all manner of creepy crawlies. And the scorpions! Once found a dead baby scorpion in my teacup! Wondered where the mother was....eeeeeek!! The only bug I did not encounter there were roaches. I had a book on bugs because I saw so many I didn't recognize. One positive about living on the outskirts of civilization were all the beautiful birds which came to the feeders, many different kinds of birds in Texas.

[FarNorthDallas]

We get possums looking into our back atrium door and I live in the city of Dallas. They can climb fences. I have seen tarantulas around - in the yard. They live in holes. Wasps, oh yeah, wasps. Yes, have those, too. And ants, besides the fire ants, every spring we get littly teeny tiny ants that come in the house in a line. There are also those grub worm things in the soil and those catepillars that drop off of Fruitless Mulberry trees, they are green. We also had the black fury catepillars this year. The cats find mice sometimes outside and bring them to us. Geikos are everywhere now, too. Another cat play thing. June bugs aren't nearly as common as they used to be, but we see a few every night. Lightening bugs we get only at the lakehouse.

[lilypad]

Yes, forgot about the mice, lizards and frogs! My cat loved to bring those into the house on a regular basis. Also the crickets... I would follow their chirping, try to find them and put them outside, a full time job!!

[JamesAbilene]

We have not had any of the aforementioned vermin in our houses in Abilene. Each time, before we moved in, we had the houses exterminated. Then, it is just a matter of keeping it clean. We do have ants get in each spring, but a little spray around their trails on the exterior foundation takes care of that.

However, when we lived on the Gulf coast in Louisiana, we would exteminate, the roaches would move next door, she would exterminate, and they would move back in with us. I assume it is the same on the Texas coast....

[wackattack69]

We are living in Euless for six months-rented an apartment-till we figure out where we want to buy. Hubby has seen nothing but chameleons(sp?) for the past 4 weeks.They have been outside only.Honestly,the crap people have told me. My best friend got me a new set of tupperware...she said I had to have one cuz it's the only thing "all those cockroaches" can't get in. We are from Minnesota originally and understand heat/humidity. Life is always a trade off and as long as we have central air,we will survive.Incidentally if you ever move to Idaho-from anywhere-people will always refer to you as a "non native".Can't stand it. Even in Minnesota,we were always happy to have people from other states move in.

[MaryS80]

I'm Texas born and raise and have never seen a Scorpion or a Tarantula. Yes you will have bugs in your house even if you are clean and tidy person. Ants, spiders, and roaches are the most common. You also have to watch out for termites.

Taking a few proactive measures can cut back on the number of unwanted guests. Never leave bowls of pet food on your porch. That can attract not just bugs, but rats, mice, possums, skunks, raccons etc. I take my garbage out on a daily basis, and keep the floors mopped and counters wiped. Ants and roaches are attracted to food, even the crumbs.

Make sure all your doors and windows seal tight and check for any other cracks that bugs can enter through.

A few simple things can keep out most pests, but not all.

[ShaneSA]

I haven't seen San Antonio mentioned. I keep the bigger roaches in the corral in the back yard. I feed them the ants that I catch with a net. The scorpions and bigger spiders I put in a bucket for the birds to feed on. Then the oppossum and racoons can get them too.
If bugs were a real problem, I'd have left 20 years ago when I got here. I consider myself a naturalized Texan. I've never had roaches, scorpions or spiders in the house or seen one outside. I live in the older part of the city. I do know that the new developments have some problems becasue they built houses on the bugs habitat. They (the varmits) dont't relocate well, so they hang around a look for a new nest.
Most of my family back east won't come to visit because they think I live like John Wayne in Rio Bravo. That's another positive. Family stays 2000 miles away!!!!!!

[tstone]

Scorpions are more of a central Texas thing. (Maybe west TX?) You'll find them from the hill country to San Antonio, and it's been said they've been found around Katy's newest development, too. They're pretty small (1-2"), not that common but are definitely around. Same with centipedes but to an even lesser extent.

The Texans who have never dealt with them may live in N or E regions, or along the Gulf coast. Or some other region I'm not familiar with.

[Dangerous Dave]

Originally Posted by Miami305Kid

I would love to live in Texas and I'm orignally from the northeast. Being from the northeast many people tend to be politcally correct and nothing ever gets accomplished. Texas seems like a state where people believe criminals should be punished and they aren't afraid to say whats on their mind.

I'd have to agree, and when I was down there last (mar-april '08) it just seemed like everyone was in a good mood. I lived in Oregon up until the last few months, and everyone seemed to be in a crummy mood. Texans seem to not care about what's going on around them, just throw a ribeye on the grille, crack a beer, and chill on the pontoon boat.