I live in Tucson. I'm on the far northeast side. I've lived here for a few years. The vermin are traumatizing me. I just had an encounter with the BIGGEST SPIDER I HAVE EVER SEEN INSIDE. I'm still shaking. I realized after I saw it that it was too big to kill with a shoe. Long story short, it has left this world and its corpse is on my patio.
I am moving to Phoenix for nursing school soon, when my pre-reqs are done. I know that the newly developed areas have the most insects indoors, but still? Are certain areas worse than others? Does Phoenix have as many 'vermin' as Tucson? Here's what I experience outside: tarantulas on my sidewalk last week, bobcat by trash can a few days ago, a snake by my drive a few weeks ago, and javelina come by my bedroom window at night. Indoors: spiders, roaches, and the occasional scorpion. I have been stung by a scorpion. It actually wasn't too bad. A little nausea, cramps, rapid heart beat, and numbness. (((It's the large spiders that I cannot handle.)))
Thank you for the recommendation! Phoenix College is my first choice for my Maricopa application. I just hope I can find an apartment in downtown Phoenix for less than an arm and a leg in rent. I imagine Phoenix is probably like Tucson, in that it's the new housing in 'wilderness' like areas with the most vermin?
I recently discovered that that we have flying roaches in Tucson. Who knew? My mother purchased a lovely home in a central Tucson neighborhood recently. We were sitting on the couch when I saw a roach, a big roach fly by us in the living room?! It didn't fall from the ceiling, because it was flying quite vertically. Who knew.
*******************
Living in Arizona sounds like it's, "Living in the WILD"
EIK....
I love northern California.
Yes, we have critters here, but it's a farther walk (or flight) for the cucarachas.
You guys are giving me the heebie-jeebies, and I am sitting in an office cubicle on the 8th floor in a building in downtown Pittsburgh! I have the shivers, shakes, chills, everything else.
My thoughts exactly, as I also sit here in western PA!!!
A spider too big to kill with a shoe???
My heebies have jeebies!!
The worst thing I've ever encountered were South Carolina's palmetto bugs - average 3-4 inches long, like roaches but with a flatter, harder shell - you have to drop something HEAVY on them to kill them, and if you don't seriously maim them on the first try, they run AT YOU!
last week my dh claimed when walking the dog he saw a dead roach as big as his shoe, lying on the pavement. He wanted to take me back to see it, I say absolutly no way-what if it has a family!!!!!!!!!!!
ternerzero- Thanks for your posts. However, those of us who have lived in this desert our whole lives know pretty well how to deal with critters and vermin. Heck, they teach us in grade school how to survive out in the desert, and how to identify said creatures. We even had to learn poision control's number. I've even used it a few times.
But, I have to tell you-you can have the cleanest house. You can leave no food out, and spray all you want. We live in the desert and it's monsoon time. The bugs are-a-coming. Telling people that we have roaches (or in my case, roach legs) is not saying that we are filthy people incapable of taking care of ourselves. I have seen one alive roach in the past few months. It was the day after our 3 straight days of awesome monsoons. It's been dry a few days now and I don't see any.
ternerzero- Thanks for your posts. However, those of us who have lived in this desert our whole lives know pretty well how to deal with critters and vermin. Heck, they teach us in grade school how to survive out in the desert, and how to identify said creatures. We even had to learn poision control's number. I've even used it a few times.
But, I have to tell you-you can have the cleanest house. You can leave no food out, and spray all you want. We live in the desert and it's monsoon time. The bugs are-a-coming. Telling people that we have roaches (or in my case, roach legs) is not saying that we are filthy people incapable of taking care of ourselves. I have seen one alive roach in the past few months. It was the day after our 3 straight days of awesome monsoons. It's been dry a few days now and I don't see any.
That's just the way it goes around here.
You had monsoons?? When we've not had any yet and I dying to see my first. I live outside Phx towards Prescott
4th of July, right on schedule. I was at a resort and right when the fireworks stopped the rain came. Then all afternoon/evening on wed/thurs of last week for a few hours, and then a few days ago-I think Friday. Friday it rained so hard I couldn't see my neighbors house. That was at 3pm. By 4pm it was all dry outside!
But my nicely lanscaped front yard now has grass everywhere where it shouldn't be!:angryfire
I Soooo recommend cats. But my cats were stray kittens that I found on a trip to Albuquerque. I stole them from their mama (who already had a new litter) and brought them home. They have never lost that part of 'street' in them. Getting 2 is awesome because they will work as a team, one in front and one behind whoever decided to wander into my home. Every now and then I will find the roach leg or gecko tail, but usually they eat the whole thing.
My older cat who was adopted from the pound will just look at bugs and look at me like, "you expect me to do something with that...?":stone
I Soooo recommend cats. But my cats were stray kittens that I found on a trip to Albuquerque. I stole them from their mama (who already had a new litter) and brought them home. They have never lost that part of 'street' in them. Getting 2 is awesome because they will work as a team, one in front and one behind whoever decided to wander into my home. Every now and then I will find the roach leg or gecko tail, but usually they eat the whole thing.
My older cat who was adopted from the pound will just look at bugs and look at me like, "you expect me to do something with that...?":stone
This is so true, about the 'street' scrappy quality. My older cat has been coddled and spoiled by me for years. Usually when he sees a bug now, he does nothing, or he howl-meows for me to do something.
Lori, that is awful!!! I am so sorry to hear that you had to go thru that. I hope you don't mind me asking, how were you bit? Indoors? Outdoors? How did it happen?
I have no idea how I was bit, that's what's scary... I noticed a perfectly circular bruise on my inner right ankle about a year and a half ago... didn't think much of it b/c I am a klutz. However, it turned black, then gray. When it was gray I looked up close, the reason it looked grey was that there were thousands of tiny holes going deep into my ankle *shudder*. I put neosporin on it with a bandage, that evening when I took off the bandage there was about a 3/4 inch deep round hole. I tried to get it to heal, then threw in the towel when bone began showing at the bottom of the hole. I went to the MD and was told it was a brown recluse bite and that I should have gone much sooner. Who knew?
I had to have surgery to cut out the ulceration, have a nasty scar but learned a lesson!
I have no idea how I was bit, that's what's scary... I noticed a perfectly circular bruise on my inner right ankle about a year and a half ago... didn't think much of it b/c I am a klutz. However, it turned black, then gray. When it was gray I looked up close, the reason it looked grey was that there were thousands of tiny holes going deep into my ankle *shudder*. I put neosporin on it with a bandage, that evening when I took off the bandage there was about a 3/4 inch deep round hole. I tried to get it to heal, then threw in the towel when bone began showing at the bottom of the hole. I went to the MD and was told it was a brown recluse bite and that I should have gone much sooner. Who knew?
I had to have surgery to cut out the ulceration, have a nasty scar but learned a lesson!
ternerzero
26 Posts
Living in Arizona sounds like it's, "Living in the WILD"
EIK....
I love northern California.
Yes, we have critters here, but it's a farther walk (or flight) for the cucarachas.