Are The Bugs Really That Bad??? (San Antonio, Austin: houses, water heater, neighborhood) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

falnlovewtx · 07-19-2007, 04:47 AM

I've been excited about moving to TX. I had my sights set on Austin until I found a thread that talks about the scorpions, snakes, ants, mosquitoes etc. So now I'm looking at Corpus Christi. Would the bug problems be the same. Really guys, this is the worst phobia ever. Couldn't do it. Please say it wouldn't be so bad in CC. Thanks.

Marlow · 07-19-2007, 08:02 AM

If you move to CC, you will slap a lot of mosquitos and you will see big roaches (or Palmetto bugs, if it sounds less disgusting), mostly outside, but also inside occasionally. If you move into an older house, you'll most likely see more of them. I hate them, although they don't bite or sting or anything. They do fly though--which can be unnerving. You may occasionally have an ant hill in your yard, but there are ways to get rid of them--some better for the environment than others. I live in an older part of town and have seen 1 scorpion and 1 tiny snake since I've lived here. I would love to see more of both because it would mean I've created a good ecosystem in my yard.

Outside you may also see a fair number of bees and wasps. Unless you upset a hive or a nest, they won't bother you.

We have had some awesome spiders outside lately. One built a web on the front porch and because he was fairly large, I moved him to another part of the yard. It's very cool to watch them spin their webs at night.

If you move into a brand new neighborhood, whether in Austin or CC, you'll see move scorpions and snakes because they're being displaced from their habitats. It's not their fault.

All the houses have screens on the windows to try and keep the critters out.

We also have cicadas every summer, but they don't bite or sting or anything. They make a loud noise, but I like it. It means summer is definitely here. When it's hot and dry we sometimes have a tick problem but we can get on top of that by treating the pets. Hasn't been much of a problem this year because we've had so much rain. But with the rain come mosquitos, so....

Anyway, we have bugs, but rarely think about them. You can get a contract with a pest control company to spray your house every month and will probably never see anything. IMHO having the poison in and around the house is worse than the bugs, but most people don't see it that way.

KewGee · 07-19-2007, 09:04 AM

I'm just curious as to where you now live where the bugs aren't plentiful. I lived in CA and there weren't many there at all.

I would think CC would be worse than Austin because of more humidity, but I could be wrong. You're not going to find any place in Texas that is bugless.

I does take a while, but one can get used to the swarm of this, that, and the other. I must admit though after 28 years in Texas, I still get the heebie-geebies with some of the bugs.

My daughter is worse than I am and she was 5 when we moved here and is now 34. She is living through it.

The worst in my opinion are the roaches and mice (although I have none at my house or I'd get the heck "out of Dodge" very quickly), mosquitoes, June bugs, rattlesnakes (few and far between where I am), copperhead snakes (another one with a deadly bite), scorpions, crickets, moths by the hundreds, and fire ants.

No, they aren't all harmful, but very disgusting and bothersome. By the way, I never have my house sprayed, and I don't have any bugs in the house unless they fly in while opening the door. Therefore, I'm not really too sure all that servicing from a bug man is that helpful.

The one time fire ants did get inside my house, I was able to eradicate the problem myself very quickly. I did have to have a professional take care of my termites though. Here is a photo of what I found practically overnight in my 1/2 bathroom. They made those mud tunnels from the floor up to above the hot water heater. I figured that job was a little too big for me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/VAUGHANMARIE/Termites2004.jpg (broken link)

lilypad · 07-19-2007, 09:10 AM

There are just alog of critters here! The humidity is high in most places except maybe Panhandle and far West Texas. I lived in Wichita Falls, and we had the infestation of the week, a new outbreak of something it seemed in spring and summer. Marlow mentioned many of them. I also had a problem with crickets, frogs, lizards and mice! The worst is the waterbug, huge roachlike creatures. They will fly at you, but supposedly harmless. So you will need to really want to be here, and am sure you will get used to them.

Mom2Feebs · 07-19-2007, 09:20 AM

It's Texas. I'm afraid that means a little bit of the devil resides in Paradise.

clawson26 · 07-19-2007, 10:25 AM

I actually thought the bugs were worse in Corpus than in Austin just because of quantity. Maybe because of the humidity? (I hate them too!!!)

NOTAM · 07-19-2007, 10:36 AM

i think the bugs are worse in Corpus and South Texas than Hill Country and North Texas and West Texas, but probably not as bad as East Texas.
however i definitely know that there are more snakes, and much much bigger and that terrifies me every single day

clawson26 · 07-19-2007, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

i think the bugs are worse in Corpus and South Texas than Hill Country and North Texas and West Texas, but probably not as bad as East Texas.

You know it's weird...I was born near Tyler in East Texas and the bugs weren't as bad as they are along the coast. Maybe the humidity and the fact that it freezes less often on the coast? Just a guess... my husband used to joke that people were "take-out" for mosquitos in Corpus because after they sucked on you for a while they would carry you off to save the rest for later!

lilypad · 07-19-2007, 10:59 AM

When I lived in Tyler, I never saw larger water bugs! Except maybe San Antonio (made a mistake by spending a summer there!). They will "attack" or seem to by flying at you, ugh, shudder.....

Also there are deadly water mocassins in East Texas, stay out of the lakes!

clawson26 · 07-19-2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilypad

When I lived in Tyler, I never saw larger water bugs! Except maybe San Antonio (made a mistake by spending a summer there!). They will "attack" or seem to by flying at you, ugh, shudder.....

Also there are deadly water mocassins in East Texas, stay out of the lakes!

East Texas has water mocassins but less rattlers...they both creep me out

but I swim in the lakes all the time and as long as you stay away from underbrush and swampy areas you don't see the mocassins.

What are you calling water bugs? Is that the same as June Bugs?