What is the real story of "critters" in Tucson? (Scottsdale: apartments, to rent)

[daaver]

Originally Posted by ecloebl

Thanks for the informative reply. I was more concerned about the frequency with which these animals are encountered in and around homes in the Tucson metropolitan area. Do people often find them inside their homes, yards, swimming pools, etc? TIA!

It depends on where you are at. You _can_ get them anywhere. Having said that, you are LIKELY to see some scorpions if you live at the edge of the desert. Period. Before I lived at the edge of the desert I never saw one anywhere near my house. Once we moved, I saw 4 or 5 in my yard and garage over as many years, and one in the house. I never saw a rattlesnake in a yard, but the neighbors in the next house over got one in their backyard once. I saw one in the middle on the cul-de-sac once. We called the city and they picked it up. I also saw coyotes in the are a few times, and also a desert tortoise from time to time.

If you are in the middle of the city, I doubt you'll see them, but it is possible. If you are on the edge of the desert, it is likely you will run across some.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by ecloebl

Thanks for the informative reply. I was more concerned about the frequency with which these animals are encountered in and around homes in the Tucson metropolitan area. Do people often find them inside their homes, yards, swimming pools, etc? TIA!

Yes, they are often encountered. Alot of people will say "Ive lived in AZ for 15 years and havent seen a single scorpion!" and yada, yada, yada. To that I say "thats because you havent LOOKED for them". Scorpions are nocturnal, while you sleep, theyre awake and hunting. All scorpions in AZ are also tan colored (Xeric morphs) so they can blend in with the desert surroundings, making them VERY hard to see, even in daylight. My father in law "hadnt seen one" in his house and within 15 minutes with a blacklight I turned up 3 baby bark scorpions, one adult bark scorpion, 2 devil scorpions (Vaejovis spinigerus), one other Vaejovis species, a baby rattlesnake and a Latrodectus mactans (western black widow). And they wonder why I thought they were insane for going shoeless in the yard. And yes, he skims dead scorpions out of the pool quite often actually. If you have infants or elderly around, proper precautions must be made to ensure they dont get stung.

Also, when my FIL lived off of Shea, in the heart of Scottsdale, they found LOTS of scorpions, both inside and out. In fact, theyve had LESS (or so they say) living in North Scottsdale on the edge of the desert. If you have several bark scorpions in an old house, they breed like crazy, and within a few months, the population will have tripled. I keep bark scorps as pets, one male and one female to begin with. Not even a year later Im up to 23!!!!

[tucsondesertdweller]

Like some are saying if you live right in the city, you may never see any critters, or I should say you have less chance
Scorpions, yes we have them in our garage, see them routinely, we have outside of house sprayed and little glue traps right nside the garge,there is almost always a dead scorpion or a few of them all the time. Yes have seen them in the yard. We live in an area that is still being developed, sadly the desert is being bladed and graded at super speed, ok, so this stirs the creatures up, also it was a neighborhood joke of sorts that when someody was digging up say for a pool, more scorpions would be found in adjacent yards.
Snakes, well they are here, I absolutely sceeve them, there have been some in my neighborhood, we always look around, but as we become more developed there is less snake sightings. I never go out at night without a flashlight.
Last rattlesnake I saw was around this time of year, it was frozen dead on somebody's front yard.
In my opinion as more and more of our beautiful desert is destroyed, there will be less habitat or home for the animals, so it will be less common to see wildlife.

[Ponderosa]

Scorpions are VERY common. We kill probably a dozen scorpions a year in our house. You find them walking on the floor, ceiling, and walls. I have been stung 3 times, my wife 4 times in the last 30 years mostly from walking around barefoot. We don't pay them much attention, just squash them and forget about it. Some do die from stings, but it is pretty rare, the last being around 40 years ago. More have died from killer bees in recent years - yes, we have them too! Anyhow, the sting is nasty and you get really numb and tingly in the limb where it got you. Snakes, on the other hand are rare visitors around the home - they can't get over the block walls. I did have a little one in my garage a couple years back. We swept it into a bucket and let it go in the desert. Coyotes are frequent visitors over my back fence too. They sit on the ridge about 50 yds away and yap and drive my dog nuts. Love it. (my dog is big enough to whip them so they leave him alone, but they would eat those little poodle types if they could figure out how to get over the fence)

[Woof]

Do chickens eat scorpions, if you keep them in the yard will that pretty much take care of the problem .... at least until you eat the chickens?

And speaking of chickens, do rattlesnakes really taste like them? Any good recipes?

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Woof

Do chickens eat scorpions, if you keep them in the yard will that pretty much take care of the problem .... at least until you eat the chickens?

And speaking of chickens, do rattlesnakes really taste like them? Any good recipes?

Yes, they are reported to eat scorpions, and in Mexico the gov't advises the keeping of chickens in the yard to keep the scorpion population under control. And no, I didnt find rattlesnake to taste like chicken. It reminded me more of a cross between pasta and calamari.

[tucsondesertdweller]

Well you could get some chickens in the yard, but they would just be "dinner" for the other critters, like coyotes, bobcats, etc.
Unless you plan on watching your chickens like a hawk!!!!!

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by tucsondesertdweller

Well you could get some chickens in the yard, but they would just be "dinner" for the other critters, like coyotes, bobcats, etc.
Unless you plan on watching your chickens like a hawk!!!!!

LOL

Dont forget theyd also be dinner for illegals making their way through.

[daaver]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

And no, I didnt find rattlesnake to taste like chicken. It reminded me more of a cross between pasta and calamari.

Although I agree that it doesn't taste like chicken, that is the oddest description I have ever seen! Surprisingly enough, in all my time in AZ, I have never had rattlesnake there. I've only eaten it in FL, go figure. I've seen plenty of rattlesnakes out there though. A would call rattlesnake a "white meat", along the lines of chicken or roasted pork, but it tastes different than either of those for sure.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by daaver

Although I agree that it doesn't taste like chicken, that is the oddest description I have ever seen! Surprisingly enough, in all my time in AZ, I have never had rattlesnake there. I've only eaten it in FL, go figure. I've seen plenty of rattlesnakes out there though. A would call rattlesnake a "white meat", along the lines of chicken or roasted pork, but it tastes different than either of those for sure.

It didnt to me! Perhaps we have different tastes, but its not a reason to say it doesnt taste like that. To me, it tasted like a cross between cooked pasta noodles and calamari, with a hint of chicken tossed in. It was quite good, Ive eaten it a few times at Rawhide in Scottsdale.