Kids/families/dogs & scorpions, spiders, tarantulas? (Tucson, Catalina Foothills: apartment, house)

[lylelovett]

Hi all,

I've read a bunch of the threads about scorpions, black widows, tarantulas, etc and accept the reality that they will live among us in AZ - or actual, we live among them.

But my question is how you've found this kind of wildlife affects how you deal with your toddlers/kids playing outside? I've seen a couple posts of people saying "now I'll never go barefoot outside again"... do you find it's that bad?

I currently live in California, so I'm familiar with black widows, and as long as you're not "digging around in a woodpile" it's never really affected how I enjoy my backyard and outdoors - but I still go barefoot outside.

How cautious do you find you have to be when it comes to kids/pets with the additional insect/arachnid wildlife?

Thanks,
J

[ElleTea]

I have had a lot of black widows on my property lately, most found when cleaning up the yard after the winter. There was about 4 or 5 in my pool shed (all females! EEK!) and one that had moved in under the lid of my pool skimmer. Not a nice surprise when opening that up! I let most spiders be but black widows I don’t mess with because I have small dogs that like to stick their noses in corners. They probably wouldn’t get bitten but why chance it? Those spiders are too venomous. All that I encountered were sprayed.

[TempeAZnative]

Black widows are a reality, scorpions are hit and miss trantulas are not really a reality. Don't forget rattlesnakes, coyotes, javalinas, bobcats, bats as well.

[kytoaz]

I've lived in phoenix going on 4 years now and have yet to see a single scorpion or rattlesnake. I have seen javelina, coyotes and bobcats but those were all on my adventures around the state.

[ElleTea]

I haven’t seen a scorpion since I moved out of my first apartment here, which was at the base of a small foothill. In my first year here I had 3 or 4 scorpions in my place. I have seen a couple of rattlesnakes, both when out hiking. One I heard it before I saw it. Those don’t bother me so much as if you give them plenty of room it’s fine, they literally are more afraid of you than you are of it. Scorpions seem to WANT to attack you! I’ve seen them run AT me rather than run away like other creepy crawlies

[lylelovett]

Like I said, I completely understand the fact that we'll run into these things, whether beast or bug...

I'm just trying to wrap my head around living with them with kids... I'm not an overprotective parent, but obviously want them to be safe when playing outside.

We have a couple dogs, so that helps with the larger beasts, but I don't want to be all paranoid that my 3 year old can't go run in the backyard and play.

Make sense?

[ElleTea]

I don't have children other than the 4 legged furry kind, but I don't see any reason why you should not be safe letting a 3 year old out in the yard with supervision.

[madison999]

8 years

2 scorpions
1 rattlesnake
1 tarantula

Tons of black widows and recluses if I wanted to see them.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by madison999

8 years

2 scorpions
1 rattlesnake
1 tarantula

Tons of black widows and recluses if I wanted to see them.

37 years - In my home or yard:

1 scorpion
0 snakes of any kind
0 tarantulas
lots of black windows, but never inside

Have never encountered a rattlesnake but don't hike much.

At a friend's house in Catalina Foothills near Tucson, saw 2 tarantulas, one outside, another inside. They are supposedly harmless but damned unsettling.

[TempeAZnative]

Originally Posted by lylelovett

Like I said, I completely understand the fact that we'll run into these things, whether beast or bug...

I'm just trying to wrap my head around living with them with kids... I'm not an overprotective parent, but obviously want them to be safe when playing outside.

We have a couple dogs, so that helps with the larger beasts, but I don't want to be all paranoid that my 3 year old can't go run in the backyard and play.

Make sense?

Nope, millions of kids including myself have somehow managed to grow up here and survived. Kids are not these fragile things and are not really that special since billions have managed to survive in worse conditions then living in the first world. Teach your kids commonsense not be over protected helicopter parents like it seems everyone is nowadays.