Living in Colorado for so long, I got pretty spoiled not having any bugs. Most of the insects you see in Colorado are wasps, moths, flies, and small spiders. There were bugs we just didn't see a lot of them and didn't have to hire an exterminator.
Now I have to shake my shoes or gloves before putting them on to make sure scorpions aren't hiding there, watch where I walk for fear of standing in a fire ant mound, and be on the lookout for brown recluses and black widows. We've only seen five scorpions since being here and no black widows or brown recluses so we have yet to hire an exterminator and have instead been relying on diatomaceous earth as a greener alternative.
So far, I've been pretty fortunate in the bug department and have yet to be stung/bitten by anything (knock on wood). My husband has not been so lucky – he's stepped into fire ant mounds at least three times and has had pretty severe blisters as a result. And one of my dogs (the white one) has been stung by a scorpion on the nose and broken out in hives and severe facial swelling from standing in a fire ant mound. He's such a friendly boy and wants to make friends with all the creepy crawlies – poor guy!
Kassandra @ Coffee and their Kisses says
April 29, 2011 at 1:43 amWhat part of Tx do you live in? I live in Houston and have never seen a scorpion yet lol. What the hell what that first spider?? I like the lizards. Your poor doggy 🙁 Yea I stepped in a fire ant hill on Easter, super fail! lol
Simply Being Mommy says
April 29, 2011 at 7:30 amI live close to Houston and I've never seen a scorpion here. How scary. But I have seen my fair share of snakes and spiders…
Brandy says
April 29, 2011 at 9:25 amOH my goodness, no way! I may have to think twice before visiting my best friend in Texas. I have never seen a scorpion except at the pet store, nor BIG spiders like that, except a pet store! I would freak. As for lizards and frogs, well if they are not poisonous they don't bother me.
blueviolet says
April 29, 2011 at 9:55 amYou probably shouldn't take a job on the state tourism board. LOL
Lisa Noel says
April 29, 2011 at 10:51 ameeeeeeeeeeeeew i wouldn't stick around most of those things long enough to get a photo
Stephanie says
April 29, 2011 at 8:44 amMy husband would love to move to Texas (we live in Illinois now) and bugs and HUGE spiders are always my reason why I wouldn't want to move there! Those first few pictures are enough reason for me to stay up north. haha
Amy says
April 29, 2011 at 9:37 amGirl!! Sadly the thing that grosses me out is that frong! *shiver* — hate 'em!
That's alot of little critters there, friend. I totally think you need to become a bug nerd and start collecting. 😉
Shop with Me Mama says
April 29, 2011 at 11:07 pmEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!
BethElderton says
April 29, 2011 at 11:29 pmYou left out the "Water Bugs"—that is, freaking 2" flying, kamikaze Cockroaches! (Houston)and Kassandra, we had scorpions in Tyler.
♥ Ty @ Mama of 3 Munchkins ♥ says
April 30, 2011 at 9:03 amI can't stand bugs as they make my skin crawl. Ewww!
Tammy says
April 30, 2011 at 10:26 amI am not a big fan of creepy crawlies at all – that's the one thing I'm glad about living in a cold climate – we only have to endure them for about 3 months! LOL!
ohkeeka says
April 30, 2011 at 4:14 pmIt's so funny that you posted this because I was going to post something about how I'm obsessing about the snakes and spiders in NC. I found out they have fire ants, black widows and brown recluses there too and also copperhead snakes and I spent all last weekend freaking the freak out. It's like my worst nightmare. I'm glad to hear that you've avoided any run-ins with these things. It gives me hope! I'm worried that my cats are going to end up like your dog though–they love bugs.
Theresa Gould says
April 30, 2011 at 6:00 pmEw! I'm not a bug lover……:)
Lori A. says
April 30, 2011 at 12:16 pmWe have the same problem here..I'm in the DFW area of Texas. We had tons of spiders and bugs before they built the elementary school behind our house (which, sadly, also rid our yard of the cute little bunnies we used to see). I have only seen a scorpion once, though. When it was just a huge field behind our house, rain would flood our backyard. One of those times there was a HUGE black scorpion out there. I had never seen such a big one. Of course, I didn't get a picture of it (duh). But it had to have been at least 4-6" long.
We still get some spiders in and around the house. Wasp seem to love our house, too. Right now we're getting those nasty june bugs everywhere. Yuck. Very crunchy.
Yellow Tennessee says
May 3, 2011 at 10:17 amI'd move if I ever saw a spider that big. Yuck!
Dana says
May 6, 2011 at 10:23 pmI want you to know I suffered a touch of PTSD the other day from that taranchula on the bag picture! 🙂 I was shoveling sand out from a bag and imagined one of your Texas bugs in there and jerked my hand out quickly! I would die if I ever saw one of those in the wild! Really.