Moving to Alpharetta/Milton - silly questions.... (Atlanta, Marietta: houses, transfer)

[BGbg]

Getting transferred to Alpharetta in October - will move down with family soon after, with wife, 3 young kids, dog, etc. After doing extensive research on the area, we have read horrible posts/stories, etc. about the bugs, spiders (Brown Recluse, Black Widow), fire ants, snakes, etc., in and around the ATL area.

How is it in Alpharetta/Milton/Johns Creek, really that bad, or more prevelent in the more rural areas? We are actually starting to reconsider....as it seems that my kids can't play outside, can't let the dog out, etc. My kids love to play in our backyard, let the dog out in our fenced yard, etc. We'll need to check our sheets every night before we get into bed, shake out our clothing and shoes before putting them on, etc., to avoid getting bit by the BR spider, etc......

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by BGbg

Getting transferred to Alpharetta in October - will move down with family soon after, with wife, 3 young kids, dog, etc. After doing extensive research on the area, we have read horrible posts/stories, etc. about the bugs, spiders (Brown Recluse, Black Widow), fire ants, snakes, etc., in and around the ATL area.

How is it in Alpharetta/Milton/Johns Creek, really that bad, or more prevelent in the more rural areas? We are actually starting to reconsider....as it seems that my kids can't play outside, can't let the dog out, etc. My kids love to play in our backyard, let the dog out in our fenced yard, etc. We'll need to check our sheets every night before we get into bed, shake out our clothing and shoes before putting them on, etc., to avoid getting bit by the BR spider, etc......

I live in Cobb County about 25 miles away, but there is nowhere in the area where you "can't play outside, can't let the dog out, etc." "Check your sheets every night" ....are you serious? That's just hysteria, and I think you're taking some comment to the extreme. This isn't the Amazon rain forest. My kids play outside and people have pets outside, and everything is fine. Being outside in the extreme heat will be a bigger threat to your safety than the bugs or animals.

I don't know where you live now, but there are insects, reptiles, and animals everywhere. If you have fire ants in your yard, you call an exterminator or you buy some insecticide and you deal with them. You may have different bugs where you live now, but nothing is fundamentally different.

[ericsonga]

People sometimes tend to exaggerate. I'm not sure where you are coming from, but this is the south. My mother comes from upstate New York, and there is a considerable difference in the amount of pests.

I have lived here my entire life, and have seen a brown recluse just a couple times. There are snakes, but once again, only seem them a few times. Anywhere you move in the country there are going to be bugs/snakes/things that go bump in the night. I wouldn't worry that much about it, especially in a suburban environment. Just get some bug spray, because mosquitoes smell newbies!

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by ericsonga

My mother comes from upstate New York, and there is a considerable difference in the amount of pests.

We lived in central Massachusetts and had garter snakes and other snakes there. We had mosquitoes the size of bats during rainy spring and summer months, and we had mayflies, beetles, spiders, carpenter ants, and all kinds of bugs. The only difference here are the types of bugs and the fact that you don't get the hard ground freeze and cold temperatures that stay below freezing for days in winter. That prevents killing off many bugs.

We had some fire ant hills in my yard when we first moved here, and I called Arrow and the guy came the next day and no more fire ants. We have a contract with Arrow for termites and for other pests. One thing we did was get the natural pesticide plan that uses natural and not manmade pesticides to minimize the chemical exposure.

[RainyRainyDay]

There's over 5 million people in metro Atlanta ... certainly we're not all keeping our kids and dogs shut inside all the time.

I moved here a few years ago from the Pacific Northwest. We haven't been especially bothered by the bugs here. Our lawn seems prone to ant hills, but they're just regular black ants, not fire ants. The one thing that caught us out was the poison ivy. We weren't acquainted with this plant, and the first couple of summers we were here, our elementary school aged kid got poison ivy reactions a couple of times, from playing on the edge of the woods with the neighborhood kids. She eventually learned to be appropriately cautious of wild vegetation.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by BGbg

Getting transferred to Alpharetta in October - will move down with family soon after, with wife, 3 young kids, dog, etc. After doing extensive research on the area, we have read horrible posts/stories, etc. about the bugs, spiders (Brown Recluse, Black Widow), fire ants, snakes, etc., in and around the ATL area.

How is it in Alpharetta/Milton/Johns Creek, really that bad, or more prevelent in the more rural areas? We are actually starting to reconsider....as it seems that my kids can't play outside, can't let the dog out, etc. My kids love to play in our backyard, let the dog out in our fenced yard, etc. We'll need to check our sheets every night before we get into bed, shake out our clothing and shoes before putting them on, etc., to avoid getting bit by the BR spider, etc......

You can't be serious. Do you really think our children don't play outside? I'm a GA native, and I don't believe I've ever done a 'bed check' in my life.

[Zimbochick]

You don't mention where you are moving from, but there are certain things already mentioned that will make your life here more pleasant with regard to creepy-crawlies. The biggest issue with kids playing outside is honestly mosquitos. You have to get into the habit of removing standing water, etc. My kids are now in the habit of using bug spray if they are playing outside for extended periods. We pressure wash the outside of the house every year, that definitely cuts down on spiders moving indoors. I've never seen a black widow or brown recluse, but haven't really inspected every arachnid either. Most suburban lots here are larger than in other parts of the country, and a lot of people leave portions of their yards wooded, and that is where you find smaller snakes. Honestly they don't want to be where humans are. We have been here 3 years (NE Cobb/Marietta), seen 3 small snakes who slithered off when we came near them. Common sense rules apply. Rake up leaves, especially around the house, walkways, swingsets. We put down snake repellent in the beds around the house, and haven't seen any activity since. Because of the climate kids play outdoors a lot. Most yards around here have swingsets and trampolines, and I have never heard of a snake biting a child or a dog. There is a huge upside to the critter situation in my opinion, we have sharp-shinned hawks nesting in our trees every spring, we have a lot of deer, and beautiful owls out most evenings. Spray the spiders, and enjoy the rest. Good luck with your move.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by BGbg

How is it in Alpharetta/Milton/Johns Creek, really that bad, or more prevelent in the more rural areas? We are actually starting to reconsider....as it seems that my kids can't play outside, can't let the dog out, etc. My kids love to play in our backyard, let the dog out in our fenced yard, etc. We'll need to check our sheets every night before we get into bed, shake out our clothing and shoes before putting them on, etc., to avoid getting bit by the BR spider, etc......

I moved down to suburban Atlanta from the suburbs of the Twin Cities, and the only thing I've noticed down here in terms of pests are the following:

(1) You have to pay for termite protection down here. Didn't have to do that in the great white north. Never seen one, and hope I never do!

(2) There are cute little lizards here and there (blue-tailed skinks by our garage, and little green anoles living in/around our holly hedge). I see them as a plus.

(3) The house spiders down here seem to have longer legs. Easily taken care of by having someone spray, though I don't bother at this point.

(4) The scariest thing we've seen thusfar are a few little scorpions out by our garage door, but thusfar they haven't penetrated into the house proper, and I think we've seen three in total in four years. Two were outside.

Outside it's noisier in the early evening than it was in MN due to all of the different cicadas and perhaps other bugs doing their mating song thing, but I'd rather hear that than the hum of mosquito armies that I remember from central and northern Minnesota.

Black windows exist, so I've been told, as do brown recluse spiders, but that doesn't mean you'll encounter one unless you're rather unlucky. I do tend to wear gloves in the garage (which is full of boxes) just in case, but other than that it's no different than it was back where I came from.

There's no reason to overreact. Bugs are all over the country, and down here is really no different from anywhere else I've lived. Our house is 21 years old now, and we have no issues with insects or spiders indoors.

[OhioNative]

I have seen 3 or 4 black widows in my yard, but only when I have picked up the bottom piece of wood on a woodpile or when reaching under the cover in my front yard to turn off the water to my sprinkler system. They tend to like to hide in wood piles and places where they can stay hidden. I just wear gloves if I am moving wood, etc. I have never seen a brown recluse. BTW, my kids tend to be outside just about all the time!

[tnuro]

I live in the Alpharetta- jonhs creek area. I wondered what some of these people were talking about in some of the threads. I've lived here for 15 years. I haven't had any problems with bugs. My kids play out side all the time. I have a 4.5lbs dog. She doesn't have any problems either! And everything is bigger than she is. I'm in a very populated community. Lots of houses and stores. It's beautiful. I've seen 2 snakes in 15 years!

Please don't let bugs stop you from doing something!