Bugs/Lizards In Melbourne (Miami, Orlando: condo, hotel, house)

[Locutus of Board]

I'm a considering a job in Melbourne, FL.

One of my concerns about the place is that I'm not a huge fan of bugs, spiders, or lizards. I live in the Northern U.S. currently and keep my place bug free. I hate the snow here, hate the cold, but I don't want to trade one nuisance for another.

Now I am aware that there's more of these creepy crawlies in Florida and that they grow bigger. I've been to Florida before including Orlando and Miami. I had seen a few lizards (<5 altogether) outdoors before on these trips and luckily didn't deal with all that many flying insects. I've actually been to Florida at various different times of year. Maybe I just got lucky. I always figured I could live with a few small lizards seen occasionally outdoors.

But in Melbourne it just seemed way different. Whether I was on the coast (where my hotel was) or inland (where the job is), there were just insects, insects swarming everywhere. Go out and its bugs in your face. Everytime I cracked open the blinds there were huge 5"-10" insects all over the window screens like it was an invasion. It was unpleasant even to have to look at from inside. Cracking open any door/window just seemed to be an invitation for trouble.

What's worse, it seemed like any outdoor wall had literally dozens of lizards crawling all over it. I felt like I had to dodge them left and right to get to the car as they were falling off the walls. I think luckily I did not have to deal with any indoors.

Is there something unusually humid about the Space Coast that makes it more prone to bugs and lizards than elsewhere in Florida? Was it the hurricane that brought these things all out?

What's the likelihood that I will have to deal with huge spiders and lizards (of any size) coming inside the home? Are any kind of living environments (tall condo buildings, near the beach, away from the beach, etc.) better suited to being away from them?

[MartinEden99]

Hmm....I'm surprised to hear you say you saw a lot of bugs at the beach areas. That would have been where I'd recommend you go as the further inland you go, the closer you get to swamps or undeveloped woody areas which can saturate with water and produce a lot of mosquitoes & other insects during the rainier times of year. Not a ton of really big spiders but there are some here & there.

Where have you been to in Melbourne? I'm sure there may be some increase in the amount of bugs over parts of Orlando but would be surprised if it was dramatic. As a general rule, the more developed an area is, the less swarms of bugs you're apt to encounter, so perhaps its the difference between where you've been in Melbourne vs where you've been in Orlando? And BTW...the lizards are your friends in all of this...they eat the bugs for you.

Its probably going to be hard to give you an opinion based on "how many bugs are there" as most residents are used to the local bugs & insects here. I'd say that mosquitoes are really the annoyance/concern to be careful of and during the late summer or spring (or when it rains most) they & the rest of the bugs tend to be in full force. But screen rooms & screens on your windows generally keeps them out. It won't keep everything out forever, though so I'd suggest getting a pest service if the occasional bug will freak you out.

[Rabflmom]

Used a wee bit of exaggeration in your post, did we? LOL

Don't worry about the bugs......the little lizards (mostly anoles and a couple Cuban varieties) which are quite harmless eat them. So do the snakes, mosquito eaters, etc. and then there are a billion bug companies you can call to keep them out of your house and they will spray your yard, too. Or go to any store and buy the do it yourself sprays and powders. The fire ants do sting and bite and you have to keep treating for them. As for spiders.....you will see them everywhere and the prevention sprays and powders don't kill them because their legs keep them above the bug killers-gotta squish them or suffocate them with spray.

Do the bugs and spiders get in your house. Yes. Often? Not if you are diligent to keep them out. No matter where you live in Florida you will have a few bugs in your house every year-even if you havea bug company come in like we do. Saw a palmetto bug just this week, but it is the first I have seen in a year. company coming out to treat house next week. Biggest problem we ever had was when we lived in a house that had a lot of oak trees up close to the house. The trees were full of Palmetto bugs and hard to keep out of the house.

Even on the beach there will be ants, palmettos etc, but less mosquitos than on the mainland. Even living 3 stories up in a condo we had to have exterminators in each month because previous owners brought down the little roaches( in their boxes) you find up North and they were harder to get rid of than any bug native to Florida.

[Reptoid Humidian]

5 to 10 inch insects!? Tell me... Did any of these insects have white or gray fur, a whiskery snout, oversized boll0cks and a bald tail?

[Locutus of Board]

Maybe they weren't quite 10". But they sure looked big and mean. LOL.

[John1881]

I used to live in Melbourne and Palm Bay, and what freaked me out was while living in Palm Bay at a certain time of year we had these big spiders that ran on the outside of the house and the car. It was like a horror movie! I remember one day I opened the front door and one fell off the door and ran into the house and up my leg! I knocked it off and clobbered it with my shoe. Let me tell you, I would have rather fought a grizzly bear instead of that HUGE spider! Now, someone else can tell you about love bug season.

[PreciousDays]

The lizards are cute enough once you get to know them- they won't hurt you (though two have bitten me when I rescued them from my cat who thought I brought her home a new toy! I only knew they were biting because I looked - and they didn't jump out when I opened my hand. :-) they are really fast and easy to ignore - as for the bugs - get a decent exterminator once a year - and that will take care of everything but the flying love bugs twice a year. Beats snow every day- and having grown up with the white devil - I would take our bugs over that snow - any day of the year!

[Gettingouttahere]

Depends on your tolerance. I live in the NE now and in Florida as a kid - I will NEVER forget some bug horror memories I have, and the snow kind of fades into a blur shortly after March. I will take a dozen blizzards over a particularly intense encounter with a few roaches (what y'all euphemistically call "palmetto bugs.")

[me ma mo]

Lizards are harmless and they EAT the bugs. That being said, I own a house beachside and most people hire a pest control company to keep the roaches and ants at bay (approx. $75 every 3 months). If you live in any hot, humid climate (Florida, Louisiana, etc.), you will have to tolerate a lot of bugs; they live and thrive year round indoors and outdoors. Bug populations are generally smaller in the northern part of the US because the winter cold kills them. You'll probably notice more bugs as you move further south in FL as well as further inland.

[alfbroker]

Everyone has a different tolerance level for bugs, heat, etc. If you live in FL surrounded by concrete and macadum you will have less of a problem, 8th floor condo in a high rise? They don't have high rises everywhere though.

Yes you can have a home on the ground sprayed with pesticides regularly. Have any concerns health-wise about that?

Trading 3-4 months of cold for 6-8 months of humidity is another thing to think about. You are correct, if you move you will be trading a known issue for many new ones that you won't know how they will affect you until you move.