Spiders and Snakes around Dallas (Sherman, Weatherford: house, neighborhood, scorpions)

[wertman94]

I am so close on convincing my wife to move to the Weatherford area as soon as a job vacancy opens up. She is concerned about dangerous insects and snakes in the area. Has anybody in the area had any problems, and what kind of critters are we looking at?

Please help me get out of this bleeding heart liberal infested S*#@HOLE!

[MurphyPl1]

I've been here 25 years and have not has any problem with spiders or snakes. Have seen them yes but being aware is always a good idea.

We really only have 2 bad spiders. Black widows and brown recluse. I've never even seen a recluse in person. And aerosol hair spray will suffocate a black widow

We have garden snakes in our yard and a couple times a year someone in the neighborhood will run across a non-poisonous, non-aggressive rat snake that eats rodents.

If you get out by the lake there are cottonmouths a d water moccasins. But again I've never actually seen one in person.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by wertman94

I am so close on convincing my wife to move to the Weatherford area as soon as a job vacancy opens up. She is concerned about dangerous insects and snakes in the area. Has anybody in the area had any problems, and what kind of critters are we looking at?

Please help me get out of this bleeding heart liberal infested S*#@HOLE!

Please don't move here. We have enough people like you here already.

[EcoDeb]

Copperhead snakes and Brown Recluse Spiders are very common, as well as fire ants, chiggers and scorpions.

[nurider2002]

Originally Posted by Katana49

Please don't move here. We have enough people like you here already.

Is that your idea of humor?

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by nurider2002

Is that your idea of humor?

Don't think I could have been any more serious.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by wertman94

I am so close on convincing my wife to move to the Weatherford area as soon as a job vacancy opens up. She is concerned about dangerous insects and snakes in the area. Has anybody in the area had any problems, and what kind of critters are we looking at?

Please help me get out of this bleeding heart liberal infested S*#@HOLE!

My mom has a home in Weatherford. She reports no issues.

The snake bite thing is such a non-issue around here..............most hospitals do not keep anti-venom on hand.

In Texas you are about 500 times more like to drown than die from a snake bite. Every year between 0 and 3 and - I think one year 4 Texas - die from snake bites. So far as venomous arthropods......every year in Texas between 5 and 9 people die from bites. Between the two you are literally hundreds to thousands of time more likely to die in a car wreck.

Unlike the other guy I don't have a left/right litmus test for new Texans..........Welcome to Texas! Further, I predict you will really like Weatherford. It's a neat place, a small country town literally a few minutes from the big city.

[BongoBungo]

You do need to be careful when it comes to animals like copperheads, brown recluses, and black widows. Take basic precautions like don't step or reach into tall grass where you can't see, wear gloves and long sleeves when handling objects in less frequented areas of the garage and attic. Don't keep clothes on the floor and then wear them (I got bit by a brown recluse by doing this - I was lucky because it wasn't a bad bite, I still have a small scar though). Keep up with pest control. Don't allow a lot of vegetation to grow right up against your house or keep piles of wood near your house. If you see a black widow or brown recluse, kill it and get pest control out asap. Sticky traps can help immensely because these kinds of spiders are often not as deterred by insecticide. At my old house I had a problem with brown recluses and caught at least a dozen of them a month with the sticky traps in the attic. Keep your house clean and make sure you don't have an issue with other insects that might attract black widows and brown recluses, or rodents which might attract copperheads.

If you have a copperhead problem in your area, don't let your dogs outside at night without checking the yard first. You can scan the area with a flashlight quickly to make sure.

One of my friends has some family that lives on a farm up near Sherman and they are bit by something nasty once a year or so. A copperhead bite almost killed the wife a few years ago and she was hospitalized for over a week. They came home from vacation after a week one time and a group of 5-6 black widows had taken residence in their kitchen sink. Black widow bites can be horrific experiences but rarely result in death or permanent damage. One of the people I worked with a couple years ago was bitten by a black widow after turning on an outdoor hose faucet at night with a bare hand - she was out of commission for almost a week and said she wanted to die because the pain was so unbearable. So do be careful.

If you follow some basic precautions and you live in an established urban or suburban neighborhood you should be fine and most people live in DFW without ever getting bitten by a snake or nasty spider.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by wertman94

I am so close on convincing my wife to move to the Weatherford area as soon as a job vacancy opens up. She is concerned about dangerous insects and snakes in the area. Has anybody in the area had any problems, and what kind of critters are we looking at?

Please help me get out of this bleeding heart liberal infested S*#@HOLE!

For venomous snakes in that area you can see Cottonmouth, Copperhead, and even Rattlesnakes are indigenous to that area although not frequently seen.

For venomous insects you have the Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders. We do have scorpions but they are not typically venomous but can cause some pain and severe allergic reactions.

Other types of critters we have are coyotes, bobcats, wild pigs, and Black Vultures (yes they can be a problem with small domestic animals). These can be problems to people, property, and domestic pets.

Everything above will typically avoid you if you avoid them and do not get near their lairs, nests, etc.

Now we do have a problem here that is very dangerous but it is a common beast found everywhere just about. They still have not figured out how to handle this one. This one is very aggressive and you have to be very careful as they are not afraid of anything and will approach you. It's called the Bloodsuckingpolitician!