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Well, we don't have as much as the south, but we dont hav the least. We have the average stuff (ants, spiders, bees, wasps, flies, gnats, centipedes, cockroaches, etc.) but we have a huge amount of mosquitoes,some that carry West Nile Virus, lots of ticks, many which carry Lyme Disease, we have poisonous insects, like the brown recluse spider, which is deadly if not treated, we have pretty violent black flies, leeches, japanese beetles, carpenter ants that can infest the walls of your home (yuck), spider mites and stuff, and toads. I remember that there used to always be swarms of thousands of toads that would always be everywhere during the summer growing up. Toads were always infesting our yard, rocks, garage, etc. and lawn mowing could be a mess. We have snakes too.
I live in the south/southeast(NC)&since I have lived in my home here,I have seen very few(4-5,in 3&a half years)bugs indoors&no mice. And that is without pest control of any kind,except for keeping a clean,well maintained home. We do get mosquitos/gnats here,in late summer,but not as many as MN(lived there,for 3&a half years),no biting horseflies. Also,while living in MN,we had a ginormous ladybug invasion! What a sight! No exagerration...we could'nt even eat a meal without eating ladybugs,too! >_< LOL I don't mind ladybugs,in normal amounts,but many MN homes,were invaded,inside&out,that year. Not just 50-60 or so,many more. Imagine waking up&finding them in your bed. I guess it depends on which pests/bugs you want to avoid the most. Every state has bugs,as you know,but some have more of some kinds,than others. I am happy with no roaches&mice&love my little porch lizards,for eating up the small amount of ants&other bugs there are. So,I stay here,in central NC.
I'm not into bugs and growing up in England, they were a none-issue. An ant here or there... a pill bug occasionally... the odd daddy long long legs. From that perspective, here's my 2 cents on the places I've lived in the USA. I'm very much an outdoors person and our homes have always been in the suburbs on around 2-5 acres and so more susceptible to seeing and dealing with bugs and outdoor critters.
SoCal: (Thousand Oaks + Woodland Hills + Malibu)
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No part of me can understand why anyone would rate SoCal low on the bug scale! :-) Ants, ants, ants, ants. No summer were we free from them. Ticks.... omg, try going hiking in the Santa Monica mountains and Santa Barbara with your dog and you can spend an hour pulling ticks from yourself and your pup. Ugh, really off-putting. Spiders and ants were just something I had to deal with every summer. Black widows? Every place we lived. Roaches are definitely not unusual, especially in apartment complexes (no matter HOW nice and upscale they are). Definitely have to watch out for rattlers when on hikes. My dad's border collie was bitten in the Malibu hills and only just made it after 2 nights intensive care. Over a 5 yr. period I saw around 10. I always seemed to get bitten by mosquitoes in the summer.
Fleas? Definitely an issue. All dogs have to use flea and tick preventatives, as well as heartworm medication due to mosquitoe. Friends were constantly battling fleas on their dogs. Enough said.
Colorado: (South Denver in Castle Rock/Parker)
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Bugs? What bugs?! Totally awesome. Not only did we not have to worry about bugs (occasional spiders), but never had to apply flea OR tick medication to our dog. Heartworm pills only in the summer (never had one mosquito bite personally). I never thought twice about napping in the grass in our back garden because there were just no such things as scary bugs in either Castle Rock or Parker. Never saw a flea.
PacNW, Washington State: (Vancouver)
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Very similar to Colorado. I could relax in my grass playing with our pups and never think twice. No flea or tick medication, no heartworm (although across the river in Portland, OR I hear it's a different matter). Seriously, the occasional spider was the only thing to ever worry about.
Texas: (Houston)
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Terrible. Awful. Bugs that look like they landed from another planet and could take you away. There was no way I would ever, ever go even barefoot on our grass. The bug zapper in the garden zapped so many bugs that the tray would be filled every night with the scariest array of creatures I'd ever seen in my life. Fire ants were a HUGE issue. Our neighbors dog had its leg chewed very badly from stepping on an ant hill (permanent damage - it was chewed to the bone). Cockroaches? OMG I almost ran from the state screaming. They are absolutely MASSIVE! Never, ever will anyone make me go back there again :-)
I remember seeing a bird fly into a window and fall to the ground. Within 15 mins it was absolutely covered in bugs. I'm shivering thinking about how fast it happened and where they all came from.
North Carolina: (Cary)
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Not as bad as Houston, but definitely not for anyone who does not like bugs (like me). Cockroaches - definitely, and that's enough to make me want to run. On a walk yesterday, a huge one scuttled across the road. And no-one told me they could FLY! Ugh, ugh ugh. Spiders, creepy-crawlies, unmentionables... all here. Along with venomous copperheads (the local vet said they gets dogs in every week with bites). Ticks? Jeez... the absolute worst I've ever seen. You couldn't pay me to lie down on a bed of grass here! Every single time we go for a walk in the parks, we find ticks unless we spray ourselves (we use wondercide, a cedar/lemongrass spray that works great). But seriously, I don't want to have to do that! Lyme disease is a problem here based on feedback from the vet and an ER doc we met at a gym.
And pets? You MUST use flea, tick, and mosquito preventatives. Not fun at all.
Conclusion?
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Southern part of Washington state or Denver, Colorado are awesome for dealing with few bugs. I personally much preferred Colorado as I love the four distinct seasons, long summers, and the amount of constant sunshine The sun is literally always shining. There seemed to be more sunshine in Colorado than SoCal. All through the winter, snow or no snow, it's bright sunshine. I think every Christmas day we enjoyed fun time in the snow with bright sunshine, no matter how cold it was in the 9 years we were there
Our neighbors dog had its leg chewed very badly from stepping on an ant hill (permanent damage - it was chewed to the bone).
I loved your story, made me chuckle. However, this bit here is BS. No dog is gonna sit there and let ants chew its leg to the bone. Do you know how long that would take those tiny ants (even if they numbered in the thousands) to bite off little chunks? lol Sorry, the dog would be howling in pain, and moving around to the point where they couldnt get to it in numbers needed to do damage. Sounds more like it suffered from a brown recluse bit, or had some gangrenous wound. Definitely NOT fire ants. lolol
I lived in So Cal most of my life... The pest control industry is HUGE there!!!! Why? Because there's more bugs and pests there than anywhere!!!! Those of you who say they don't have pests have never been/lived there!!! If you think I'm full of crap, look in the phone book under Pest control....
You people should really refrain from speaking of things you know nothing about!!!!
I lived in So Cal most of my life... The pest control industry is HUGE there!!!! Why? Because there's more bugs and pests there than anywhere!!!! Those of you who say they don't have pests have never been/lived there!!! If you think I'm full of crap, look in the phone book under Pest control....
You people should really refrain from speaking of things you know nothing about!!!!
how can we be sure that you know what you're talking about?
while your anecdotal evidence seems compelling, without providing a list from Forbes or Travel & Leisure, we'll have to take your opinion with a grain of salt...
I remember as a child my Uncle took me hiking in the Wisconsin woods. We got so attacked by mosquitoes that I started crying in terror and we cut the hike short. A few years ago I took a hike in the Cascades outside Portland OR and was in total awe that I didn't see any insects. It was so much more enjoyable.
Here in central WA there are ants, spiders, and flies. In the winter I see no bugs at all.
I loved your story, made me chuckle. However, this bit here is BS. No dog is gonna sit there and let ants chew its leg to the bone. Do you know how long that would take those tiny ants (even if they numbered in the thousands) to bite off little chunks? lol Sorry, the dog would be howling in pain, and moving around to the point where they couldnt get to it in numbers needed to do damage. Sounds more like it suffered from a brown recluse bit, or had some gangrenous wound. Definitely NOT fire ants. lolol
Yes. It sounds like a Fiddleback bite (what we call 'em here in Oklahoma).
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>_< LOL I don't mind ladybugs,in normal amounts,but many MN homes,were invaded,inside&out,that year. Not just 50-60 or so,many more. Imagine waking up&finding them in your bed. I guess it depends on which pests/bugs you want to avoid the most. Every state has bugs,as you know,but some have more of some kinds,than others. I am happy with no roaches&mice&love my little porch lizards,for eating up the small amount of ants&other bugs there are. So,I stay here,in central NC. 
The sun is literally always shining. There seemed to be more sunshine in Colorado than SoCal. All through the winter, snow or no snow, it's bright sunshine. I think every Christmas day we enjoyed fun time in the snow with bright sunshine, no matter how cold it was in the 9 years we were there 
