anonymiss

I'm considering a move to Tucson, but I'm admittedly weirded out by the critter situation. from what I've read, they're fairly common in residential areas, not just the open lands.

I live in nyc now, so I have to deal with cockroaches and those gross carpet bugs with all the legs. both of which are a major ick, but mostly just provide a unpleasant startle and inconvenience.

however, spiders are my one real freak-out bug and AZ has like 3 poisonous kinds, plus tarantuas (which I know are harmless, but creeeeeepy). plus the scorpions seem pretty common. and all of those things like to hang out in dark places that could commonly be found in a home (cupboards, bookcases, drawers).

so I'm a little wary of getting bitten/stung while walking barefoot to the bathroom in the middle of the night, or sticking my hand in a drawer or under the bed. or of drawing critters during the first months of a move due to the cardboard boxes.

I've lived in florida and we had some pretty weird bug things, but nothing really gross or dangerous -- 1 scorpion the entire time, in the bathtub. hundreds of little black frogs that would cover the roads a few times a year. those little green sticky frogs that suction to the windshield. unbelievably loud cricket things. --so it's not like I'm a bug-basketcase or something.

anyone have experience living in the area or with these critters?
are they mostly common in a specific area, or during a certain time of year?
how do residents handle them?

thanks.

ceg

I have lived in the Phoenix area almost 3 years and have seen my share of critter but fortunately just a couple in the house. They are more common in the summer months.
One of the first people we called when moving here was a pest control guy. If you remove the food source you have a less likely chance of having pests in the house.
Outside we have harmless snakes and lizards and a tarantua that lives in the back yard. The tarantua was pretty creepy when we first saw it but it is a scorpion eater so I love having her there.
Just remember to never put your hand in a place you can't see and if you see a rattlesnake don't try to attack it that is how most people are bitten.

E

Well, I lived in SE AZ--about an hour south of Tucson--for two years, and I think the bug situation out there is waaaay overrated. During that time, we cancelled our pest control service, because we just couldn't stand all that poison all over the place, and because we were told by locals to simply make a major effort to seal up crevices and the like that allow critters to gain entry in the first place. And it worked! Most of what used to get in wasn't trying to find food or make a nest, it just got in by accident.

I evacuated one tarantula from the house--harmless, as you say. We had some small scorpions in the garage one summer, but never any in the house. I don't recall any spider problems at all.

Also, there are very, very few flying insects out there, which I found a welcome break from the East Coast.

Besides, if it makes you feel any better, NY is home to the brown recluse spider, which carries a big bite in a small body and pariticularly likes to nest in shoes and drawers, dark places.

In conclusion: in NYC, I think you're dealing with a way bigger bug problem than any you'd find in AZ.

GoTravel

Don't laugh but how about a couple of cats?

My cats have declared open season on anything that doesn't live in the house with us including visiting guests dogs.

anonymiss

thanks so much for the info.

re: cats...I was actually more afraid that a cat or dog might get bitten or stung. it hadn't occured to me to get a cat to keep critters away.

nytraveler

Getting a cat to keep away that type of critter is not a good idea - and cruel as well. Cats are just as susceptible to snakes and scorpions as people are - and you can;t teach them how to avoid being bitten/stung.

Suggest you get a good exterminator. Or just don;t move where the wildlife lives.

ellen_griswold

Hmm, it may be different when you live there, but i vividly remember stopping at a highweay rest stop and seeing a BIG, BOLD sign warning people not to venture off the paths because of poisonous bugs and critters of all sorts etc. It was the one and only sign of that kind we've ever seen; DS took a pic of it!

Lacal

I have land in southeast Arizona and several friends and relatives in the Phoenix and Tucson area and I have not lost one yet to these critters. I think you pay attention to things like wearing slippers and not putting your hand in dark places. It is like living anywhere you need to pay attention no more no less.

My land is suppose to have two types of rattlesnakes and in six years I have never seen one.

mikemo

All good advice. A cat is always a wonderful idea.
Please remember that the cute little wild rodents there may harbor fleas carrying plague. Those are usually found at higher and cooler "camping" altitudes.
Watch for "black widow" spiders in woodpiles.
M

E

Sorry, a cat is not a wonderful idea. Cats may or may not go after insects, poisonous or not, which makes them unreliable and useless; my cats ignored the tarantula entirely, which made me happy b/c I didn't want to kill it, just put it back outside, but still. I also kept my cats indoors b/c I didn't want them to get stung or bit or eaten (by coyote, for example, or even large birds of prey).
I forgot to mention that ratlesnakes are notoriously shy and will avoid well-traveled and open areas. In two years of hiking, I heard one as it slithered away. Most of the snakes you see in driveways occasionally are gopher snakes, which are big but not poisonous.

Rosemary1

I hate bugs myself. I grew up in the midwest, plenty of spiders, crickets, etc. Lived for 15 long and horrible months in Florida. I simply cannot take roaches, thinking about them makes me feel creepy. Especially after a bad storm, they crawl out of the woodwork! My cat usually found them before I did though and usually played with them until they were almost dead by the time I found them. Usually in the bathtub or kitchen floor. She's my hero! Now we live in Colorado. Most bugless so far. But I must say I found a spider in the bedroom above my pillow on the wall this morning. I went to get some tissue to murder the little invader and came back and he was gone! I sent my husband to hunt him down with no luck, so I just stipped the bed. I'm hoping to get over it by bedtime!!! Good luck wherever you go and just keep your eyes open.

ladymermaid

Don't move from NYC to Tucson! I'm a native Phoenician and like it here, but absolutely love NYC...couldn't pay me enough to move to Tucson!

That aside the most common occurence is the scorpion and they don't kill you, but can hurt you and are a quite creepy. I've noticed them mostly in the summer when it's really dry out. I think you just get used to them, just make sure you shake out your shoes before you put 'em on.

bigtyke

Snakes are rarely a bother unless your house is newly built in desert.

Scorpions are not a real problem. We probably kill 20 a year in our house and another 30 in our garage. Just keep your clothes and wet towels off the floor and you should have no problem. Scorpions that are indoors are usually ones that have come in looking for/chasing food and then forget how to get back out!

I have never had one in my shoe. ONly one species is really harmful. Our family has been stung three times - not much different than a bee sting.

Actually, I like scorpions - since we have had them in our house (didn't see any in our first 6 years or so) our bug problem has gone to nothing.

azgrl

Just a note about snakes. While it's true that their rarely seen in the city, my neighbor (I live in the city --Tucson) got bit by a rattlesnake just yesterday. The snake wasn't in a dark corner, just relaxing in his backyard (the snake, not my neighbor). He said he must have walked by it a few times before it bit him. He didn't even know it was there.

kameha

I'm an East coast girl originally (Philly). I have lived in Tucson for 15 years and love it. Just recently moved to a home on 3.3 acres and was worried about critters. I'm still sure we will have them, but, as everyone else said - don't go outside without shoes on (this was good advice in the midwest as well, where I once stepped on a squishy gross slug while barefoot) and look where you are walking. In our old neighborhood house we had scorpions and my son and I were each stung by one. It hurt, but that was all. The very young and very old are most susceptible to the venom.
We also have roaches out here. Palo Verde beetles freak me out because they fly and are huge!
The advice from above is good - don't put your hand in anything that you can't fully see - visually inspect everything. Before we walk out of our door we look carefully for the possibility of a snake curled up on our doorstep. (Haven't had one yet)
On the topic of dogs and cats - we took our dogs to snake bite prevention class. It was hard to watch them go thru it, but kind of like making your kids get immunizations - it's for their own good.
Our cats DO NOT go outside - too many coyotes, bob cats, snakes and owls that could snatch them up!
Obviously this life would be very different from NYC but it is so beautiful here and open - you'll love the skies, the sunsets, the mountains, etc. The critters are scared of us too and shouldn't be a major problem.

anonymiss

thanks for the replies.

honestly, I've never been worried about the snakes...just the creepy crawlers.

um, one thing that no one has addressed...
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FIND ONE OF THESE STINGING/BITTING THINGS?


sure, you shake your shoes out, look before you reach, etc. but what do you do with the scorpion when it topples out of your shoe?
or when you go to reach for something and see a big/poisonous spider there?

doesn't seem like attacking one of these things in an effort to kill it is a good idea.

and if you're not supposed to leave a towel on the floor, what the hell do you do with your laundry (which is usually piled in a dark basket or on the floor?)
thx.

E

Well, if you're me, you swallow hard, go get a big pot from the kitchen, and, while in a cold sweat, get the bug into the pot, carry the pot outside, and deposit the bug outdoors, where s/he belongs. (I have a bug phobia, but I hate to kill an innocent bug just because I'm a head case! And cleaning up dead bug bothers me, too.) See, scorpions aren't, like, fiercer than other bugs--they won't stand up and fight you back! So if you must kill it, use a shoe, that's all.

GoTravel

For the record, I don't entice my cats to eat spiders, snakes, bugs, et al.

Scarlett

E...you are a good person! I hate to kill innocent things, but spiders that are reeeally big and scorpions are on the list of If I see it, It Dies!
Of course, so far in my life, I am the one screaming and someone else is the one killing.

We lived in NYC- hardly a creepy crawlie in sight.
We now live in Florida, the spiders are huge, the palmettos are huge, even the bees are humongous!
I have an exterminator who comes a couple of times a month, to control things, but after a while, you get a little better about seeing it and getting rid of it and not thinking that much about it.
Personally, I would rather see a spider than a roach.
PS- I was born in Tucson and my mom has her favorite stories about scorpions in slippers (that was Hawaii) and Gila monsters in the bushes, rattlesnakes in the yard..
Don't live in a house-move into an apartment of a high floor
Good luck~

GoTravel

Scarlett, if you find something or someone that can get rid of your palmetto bugs please let me know.

Not only are they big huge nasty cockroach looking things BUT THEY FLY!!!!!