Centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas (Austin: apartments, houses, scorpion)

[MELANIE_17]

If you live in an apartment in central Austin, what are the chances of having any centipedes, scorpions, or tarantulas coming into your apartment? Can you spray for them or do any kind of treatment in an apartment?
Do they ever get in peoples cars? Thanks for any information or advice!

[Eastcoasting]

Where ya coming from?

[Idlewile]

I lived in one apartment and two houses in Austin.

Tarantulas: kinda big to get inside. But did see on on the driveway when we first moved in -- pretty cool.

Never had a centipede inside.

Scorpions galore! Our friends once found one in one of their shoes and in their closest -- my friend was stung when she put on her shirt. NICE 3500 sq ft house in NW Austin. Had monthly pest maintenance too.

Perhaps it's better in a second floor apartment?

At least you won't have to worry about rattlesnakes in an apartment. Well, unless you live in the apartments off 620 by Wal-mart.

[centralaustinite]

One time in 26 years did I have a tarantula inside! Nearly stopped my heart. But they are easy to corral and shoo outside. I live in central Austin and see them from time to time outside. They are super cool.

Only see centipedes outside, maybe 5-6x a year? They don't bother me so I don't really register them. Never scorpions in the house. They are most common in disturbed soil, so new construction is where they are usually found.

I honestly never give any of them a second thought.

[JT-3]

I've only seen a scorpion once and it was because I lifted up a log. Would love to see a tarantula!

We've had a few geckos and worm snakes in the house, that's it.

OP didn't ask about the giant cockroaches that are everywhere.

[petro]

Originally Posted by MELANIE_17

If you live in an apartment in central Austin, what are the chances of having any centipedes, scorpions, or tarantulas coming into your apartment? Can you spray for them or do any kind of treatment in an apartment?
Do they ever get in peoples cars? Thanks for any information or advice!

I was watching TV in a darkened room one night when I caught a peripheral glance of a tarantula sauntering up my living room wall. Caught it and dropped it outdoors. They are completely harmless to humans.

[Westerner92]

In the five years I've lived here, I haven't seen any centipedes, scorpions, or tarantulas, inside or out.

[CarnivalGal]

I've seen scorpions inside. Never seen centipede in person (thank God), although my neighbor spotted one in her yard recently. Have only seen tarantulas outside.

You can't really spray for any of them. But you can spray for things they eat. No food, no reason for them to hang out around your house.

I did notice that when they were building something behind us, our scorpion sightings increased dramatically. Guess they stirred them up somehow. It wasn't even that close to us.

[ATX Wahine]

We have all three in great supply here in far west Oak Hill. Tarantulas don't bother us a bit; they're the sign of a healthy ecosystem and they aren't the slightest bit aggressive. We often step out on our back porch to find one clinging onto our limestone brick wall. We just say hello and carry on. Now, watching one being dragged away by a tarantula hawk is an entirely different story that I'll save for another thread, however. Suffice to say, the tarantula hawks scare me the most.

We also have centipedes and scorpions but - as of today - this is the first year we've got all the way to mid-July without seeing one in the house. Miracle! We get every other month pest control through Bulwark and they've told us that our home is a scorpion target due to our creek and active spring on our property. They're usually slow-moving and half-dead by the time they get inside, but we still use an abundance of caution and deploy the "don't put your hands or feet where you can't see them" strategy. Follow that advice and you will be ok.

[MELANIE_17]

I am in Iowa now, but would like to keep my options open should the opportunity to move arise. When I lived in Florida we sometimes had those big tree roaches in the house. Thankfully not very often! Don't like things that fly in my home! Had a giant flying roach fly up inside my nightgown once. Not fun!