Snakes spiders and scorpions in the southwest
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Anonymous
| In SE Colorado there’s an annual tarantula festival during their peak migration time. |
Anonymous
Wtf is a cave cricket and is this a DCA thing? |
Anonymous
| OP and these posts are confirming my suspicion that I can never live in this l otherwise very attractive part of the country. |
Anonymous
But you can sit outside and not get eaten alive by mosquitoes. |
Anonymous
Scorpions are a big problem for parts of Tempe. It's a small, but fairly defined area within Tempe. So I'm not too surprised that you've not seen any. I did see a snake in my house as a child, but we were in a rural area, and there was a lot of construction likely upsetting their habitats. In other words, this isn't common at all. Most places likely you'll be fine OP, but if you can find a more local forum for your new city, you might get more relevant responses. |
Anonymous
Yes, they’re also called camel crickets or spider crickets. They like damp basements and are creepy AF. You don’t need screens or bug spray in New Mexico. |
Anonymous
Well, that’s a good point. The mosquitoes in the DMV are also approaching dealbreaker status. |
Anonymous
| I lived in Arizona for 8 years and had all of those in the house at least once but not often. Some houses have serious scorpion problems though, so have it inspected for that. |
Anonymous
Which is when exactly? I think I might be sick. |
Anonymous
This makes it seem like humans should not even be living in those areas. Seriously how can you ever relax with this as a constant possibility? |
Anonymous
| These answers are why I will be retiring to New England despite the cold weather. |
Anonymous
You've never seen one? They have these huge hind legs. They are everywhere and not just in the mid-Atlantic. Variations are worldwide in many places around the world. They are harmless, except that they are exceptionally loud. You'd know if you had one in your basement based on the noise. 
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Anonymous
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My grandparents lived in AZ and I remember having it drilled into me to never leave shoes outside, always look all through the patio furniture cushions before sitting down, etc. There were frequently scorpions and snakes lurking around. They lived in an HOA, and there was a number to call and someone would come and deal w/ them, but it scared the crap out of me. I used to dread sitting on their gorgeous patio.
A friend now lives in NM and regularly posts photos of the large snakes she finds on her terraces. She also has said you get used to it and they leave you alone, but I just couldn't live there for that reason. |
Anonymous
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We have ticks here that cause debilitating illness or lifelong allergies, with a high risk of picking them up just when you walk outside. And you can’t even see them part of the year. Ditto mosquitoes, but more for the constant nuisance than anything. My grandmother was bitten by a brown recluse in Virginia and she had problems for months.
I’m just saying there’s “dealbreakers” everywhere. |
Anonymous
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I lived in Arizona for 13 years and never saw any of these inside our house and rarely saw them outside. (Agree lizards are more commons.) My brother did an expansion on his house and then seemed to have a Tarantula problem for a while.
The pack rats are what drove me nuts though—they steal the wiring from your car or hot tub/. |