question about bugs and heat down south

[katerkat]

We lived in Mississippi for 15 months and I did Florida for the summer a few years before that. Mississippi was hotter and muggier, because at 4 hours inland, we didn't have the sea breeze to cool things down. (The coast was nice though!) And oh, the cockroaches! The cats loved chasing those things!!

PG - I visited a friend with a ranch outside of Houston and they had Kitchen Spiders. *shudder* Those things were scary! Here we deal with hobo spiders.

 

[Kendra17]

My husband is from Boston, and I'm from Cleveland. Now we live in Tennessee. Before we moved here, I didn't even really consider Tennessee the "south". I certainly had no idea it was as warm as it actually is. And, geesh. . . the BUGS! OMG! There are bright RED wasps and bright royal BLUE wasps (yes!). And, just all sorts of bugs. We were at a beach and I dug my feet into the sand. Later, I had bites all over my feet and ankles. I guess they were sand fleas. Yuck.

I know ticks are all over, but I never saw any until we moved here and had to pull one out of my son's tummy!

A few months ago, we saw a lizard in our kitchen, and it ran into the laundry room under the dryer. I told my kids I'd pay them $20 if they watched for the lizard (yes, I know. . . ). Anyways, we all watched for a couple of hours. The lizard never came out and we never saw it again.

Our exterminator comes out every two months or so to spray, and we still get those disgusting centipedes (huge here).

Last year and the year before, there was a ladybug infestation all around the city. They would pour into the houses all over. I'd vacuum them up on a daily basis-- they'd make a clicking sound as they'd go into the hose. I hate that sound! The exterminator told me that ladybugs are a protected species, and he wasn't "officially" allowed to spray for them. Even so, the spray only killed the ones that were right there, more would come in from outside. Our windowsills were filled with them. Oh, I can't even express how absolutely gruesome that was. I was so grateful this year that they just disappeared.

To top it off, the spiders here are HUGE and we've seen a couple of black widows and a couple of brown recluses. Both of those can be fatal, I think. And, we have fire ants. They can really hurt, and I constantly have to warn my kids when we go to the pool, because we see them on the patio there.

Even with all this, though, I still love the South. Yes, I loathe the bugs, but the people are so friendly and I love the weather. We have so little snow, it's such a pleasure to be here. Whenever my husband and I are outside-- even driving in the car-- we can't get over how beautiful it is here and how lush everything is. Cleveland was always so gray and dreary. Here, the sky is blue, the air is clear. We love it, but hate the bugs.

 

[EEYOREMAMA]

Now you really had to post all that, didn't you. Are you trying to tell me something? I think you just want to keep Florida all to yourself, but it's not going to work.

If only I could keep newbies out. I'm just trying to help you make a decision with your eyes wide open. It is not a paradise, like the tourist bureau would have you believe. There's a lot of stuff, just like everywhere else. I wish I had known some of these things, but it probably wouldn't have changed my mind.

Forewarned is forearmed and it's better to have too much knowledge than too little (can you tell I'm a teacher). This is all true and there's much more that I could put down. But as I said, I still love it, warts and all.

 

[tigerdragon]

I live in Arkansas and I don't think the heat is quite as bad as Florida, but it is bad. The humidity, too. As far as bugs, we have wolf spiders, mosquitos, ticks, ants, bees, hornets, wasps, etc. I lived in Orlando for a short time as a kid and the only thing that really seemed to bother us was the fire ants. It makes my legs itch just thinking about it.

 

[luvflorida]

If only I could keep newbies out. I'm just trying to help you make a decision with your eyes wide open. It is not a paradise, like the tourist bureau would have you believe. There's a lot of stuff, just like everywhere else. I wish I had known some of these things, but it probably wouldn't have changed my mind.

Forewarned is forearmed and it's better to have too much knowledge than too little (can you tell I'm a teacher). This is all true and there's much more that I could put down. But as I said, I still love it, warts and all.

I hope you know I was just kidding. I'm the kind of person that can never get enough information, and I appreciate any replies, good or bad.

I've spent time in Florida in almost every month of the year, but never for longer than a few weeks at a time. I've never come across many of the types of bugs, snakes, etc. that people have mentioned, so I didn't realize how prevalent they are. However, it does sound like it isn't much different than other southern states. I love the warmth and sunshine, but then again I've never spent an entire summer in Florida.

So far, the pros are far outweighing the cons, for me anyway!

 

[pozey]

Well, right now, according to weather.com I came up with this:

Tulsa, Ok - Temperature - 103, Humidity - 29%, Heat Index - 107
Tampa, Fl - Temperature - 90, Humidity - 54%, Heat Index - 97
Kissimmee, Fl - Temperature - 91, Humidity - 46%, Heat Index - 94
Miami, Fl - Temperature - 82, Humidity - 73%, Heat Index - 87

That's just a sampling......

I'm not sure if Oklahoma is considered "the South", but we get very extreme temperatures. And we have bugs, spiders, snakes, scorpions, and other creepy crawly things.

But Florida does not have harsh winters to kill off some of the above mentioned things.

 

[da-winnie-pooh]

I live in TN and it's HOT. We are looking at houses in DeLand, FL and it doesn't usually seem to be as hot there. We were in Daytona Beach in July, and it was breezy and pleasant compared to here.

About bugs - in our first house, we saw nothing but ants and crickets. In our second house, we'd have the occasional giant palmetto bug (a ROACH!!). I think they came in through the fireplace. Those things are nasty-looking. We've been in an apartment for a couple of months now, and have yet to see a palmetto bug inside. Thank GOODNESS! I think it was because our house was close to a river, maybe. I was walking once in a park near our house and saw a SNAKE!!! EWWWW. I also saw the occasional shedded-off snakeskin.

We have friends who used to live in the Knoxville area, and it was much cooler in the summer, but they also had a lot more snow and cold weather. I live near Memphis.

I'm sure Florida has more bugs, and I know they have more lizards, snakes and gators. I have a bug phobia, but I also hate cold weather. It gets COLD where we live and I don't like it. I'd put up with the bugs to be able to wear shorts in December.

 

[Cantw8]

Even I am afraid of the bugs in Florida

 

[EEYOREMAMA]

I hope you know I was just kidding. I'm the kind of person that can never get enough information, and I appreciate any replies, good or bad.

I've spent time in Florida in almost every month of the year, but never for longer than a few weeks at a time. I've never come across many of the types of bugs, snakes, etc. that people have mentioned, so I didn't realize how prevalent they are. However, it does sound like it isn't much different than other southern states. I love the warmth and sunshine, but then again I've never spent an entire summer in Florida.

So far, the pros are far outweighing the cons, for me anyway!

I'm sure you'll love it as much as the rest of us. It grows on you just like Florida mold. Did I mention the mold and mildew problems?