Deal Breaker

[G Grasshopper]

We have just been here for 5 months, and our apartment is not new construction. We found (or rather, our cat found) one scorpion and, when it was still warm, we had lots of little millipedes around. (The cat ate one once, and I thought she was going to throw up. Obviously it was nasty to her. After that, she just played with them - no more urge to eat them. I don't know what would have happened if she had actually been able to make contact with the scorpion - it was between a couple of boxes. She tore off part of the cover of one box, trying to get to it, but I got there first.) We had some teeny tiny ants in the kitchen when we first moved in, (so small, you had to look carefully to tell they were ants), but they didn't last. But no roaches or bigger insects. We did notice, outside, that there seemed to be a period of time in the fall when crickets were dying all around. I think we only had one in the house, though. So while we have had some critters, it has been tolerable. I have seen numerous lizards outside, and several beautiful green anoles. We have no problem with the "wildlife", but I can understand that some people might. Texas is definitely an area where all kinds of insects and other critters love to live. If that is bothersome or makes life unlivable, I think it would be best to avoid living here.

[soontobetexan]

We saw a couple of scorpions in the house after we moved in ... hard to keep them totally out. We were pretty freaked out by them, and put some glue traps by the doors. Caught a few more. Freaked out by that, too, as well as the amazing population of tiny bugs, spiders and crickets we caught in the traps, too. (Just how many of those are we NOT catching?) But it all got put in perspective when I awoke to see a 7-inch redheaded centipede dragging the glue trap down the hall with it. Those things are terrifying. I lived with palmetto bugs in Florida for years, they are nasty ... but the centipedes that are fast as hell and bite and can sting with each leg? As we say in New York, fugheddaboutit.



Between the giant roach-like katydids crawling all over our porch and deafening us in the trees, the scorpion my wife found in the utensil drawer, the spider that bit her in bed, and the centipedes ... if you're bug phobic, take it seriously. My wife? Bug phobic.

Me: "Before we moved, I told you about the spiders, scorpions and giant vicious centipedes." Her: "I thought you were kidding about that."

Disclaimer: I live in a more "natural" hill country setting. Can't wait for the first snake encounter.

[TexasHorseLady]

FWIW, while, yes, there are times when there are crickets seemingly everywhere around store entrances, I've never had one get on my legs or in my hair. Mostly they just crunch underfoot, but that's bad enough.

[DanielWayne]

After reading the Austin forum thread titles - y'all have some funny people moving to your city. Please keep them in Austin and away from Houston. Thank you

In general I am not bug-phobic, but centipedes do give me the creeps. But no they do not sting with each leg, although I hear they give a nasty bite, although even that is not truly a bite.

[soontobetexan]

Originally Posted by DanielWayne

But no they do not sting with each leg, although I hear they give a nasty bite, although even that is not truly a bite.

"The Texas giant centipede can inject venom into a human with its pincers but also by dropping venom from their legs as they crawl on the skin."

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by soontobetexan

... but the centipedes that are fast as hell and bite and can sting with each leg? As we say in New York, fugheddaboutit.

It was a centipede, as pictured, that bit my younger daughter in her sleep one year. She wailed for several hours afterward. We didn't know what it was as it had hidden by the time we got in there. We thought it was a scorpion that must've got her. Called the emergency room and they told us to keep an eye on her, and told us the symptoms that might trigger bringing her in, but to otherwise just monitor her. She eventually fell asleep and was ok the next day. She was about 4 at the time.

The next night at bedtime I heard a frantic whoop from my wife as she saw the centipede crawling out of my daughter's room toward the hall. It was huge. I grabbed some metal kitchen tongs and got it. It wiggled fiercely trying to get away and I panicked and headed straight for the commode and flushed it down.

Steve

[DanielWayne]

Originally Posted by soontobetexan

"The Texas giant centipede can inject venom into a human with its pincers but also by dropping venom from their legs as they crawl on the skin."

Technically we are both wrong. They truly do not "sting" with their legs. They scratch and drop venom with the legs and bite (really pinch) with the mandibles. And I was unaware of that nasty Texas giant centipede. I thought centipedes in Tx could only bite. I just looked up the Texas giant on a Texas A&M website it said they can grow to 12 inches. Holy cow!!! I can stand snakes, roaches, bats, opossums, millipedes, scorpions, any kind of spider, etc. But I hate centipedes. I was in Austin over the weekend. Glad I did not know about this until now. I recant my previous post.

[CptnRn]

I saw one of those giant centipedes out at Pedernales Falls one time, so strange looking, and it is amazing how fast they can move.

[atxcio]

Luckily I was trained on how to handle centipedes at an early age.