What is the real story of "critters" in Tucson?

[.45acp]

Originally Posted by ripleysb

Blue lights and searching for scorpions in my bedroom ??????! Is that really true? I have a cat which I have recently started letting outside (here in Ohio), she usually stays close to the door of my apt. Is she going to have to become an indoor cat again? Although, inside doesn't sound all that safe either.
The snakes don't scare me too much, but the thought of scorpions in my bedroom gives me the shivers. How often do things like this actually happen?

DO NOT let your cat out in this (or any other) desert region. Forget about Ohio.... this is the Sonora Desert. Any smallish animal is nothing more than a meal to much of what inhabits this region. Bobcats, Coyote are one thing... but the raptors (hewks, eagles, owls) are the main cause of little Fluffy's or Fido's disappearance. I see signs posted most every week for some 'lost' dog. The last one being a Chiuahua (that'd I'd seen wandering around the neighborhood). Now it's 'missing'. No... it's not lost... it's lunch.

Keep your doors and windows SHUT! Check your clothing before you enter the house... or bring anything from 'outside' into the house. You have to look... always look. This high desert is not just the patch of sand that surrounds the mall. It's (compared to Ohio) another planet.

[csmda]

I've lived here most of my life (moved here at 9 from PA and was born in glendale), except for a 4 year time period in NM.
I've had a scorpion on me 3 times but thankfully have never been stung. My mom's house is full of them. She's on the east side, golflinks and hearthstone. Every month they find at least 1 scorpion and they've all been stung. Don't know how I got so lucky! Had one on my hand folding laundry, one crawling around on me under a blanket and one in the roll of my sock. I freaked out everytime lol. In my defense, I was a teenager during all encounters lol.

I have seen a rattle snake 2 times and other snakes a few times. They just had a rattle snake on my kids field at school yesterday morning. The PE teacher killed it and disposed of it (vail district and school backs up to desert area)

I have seen a lot of black widwos and TONS of wolf spiders. I've seen a tarantula 2 times. I have seen a few bob cats, javelina and tons of coyotes. I have seen a mountain lion 1 time about 11 years ago running across speedway. Very interesting lol. My grandparents have seen a mountain lion twice over by silverbell, around gates pass area.

I would never walk alone at night without my dog and a flashlight in the area I live. I think the farther in the city you are, the safer you are at night when it comes to "wild animals".

I think it's all rather interesting!
And, I've lived in my home for 6 yrs and haven't found a scorpion inside yet.

[Marcy1210]

I had one bark scorpion the other day in my kitchen (see my other post), and I've had two almost dead, but not quite, belly-up cockroaches in my son's bathroom (I wonder what that says about him?).

He and my dh have seen scorpion "dances" where 20-30 or them prance around, tails high, which I assume is a mating ritual, right on the curb of the driveway, and he's seen a couple of tarantulas while taking out the trash. We also have a horrible ant problem in and around our garage with piles of "sawdust" all along the bottom of the garage door, so we've been spraying. But, they're not as bad as the carpenter ants we have in Colorado which are almost like termites in the way they eat wood.

We have lots of coyotes, owls, hawks, etc., so our Yorkies are now "pee pad" trained in the laundry area and are strictly indoor dogs.

So far, knock on wood, haven't seen any rattlers here (have lots in CO), and no black widows, brown recluse or wolf spiders (again, which we have tons of in CO). So bugs are everywhere. I'm just glad we don't really have mosquitoes. Wish we had fireflies, though.