[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Nephler

Bugs, mosquitoes! I now live in Alaska, but lived in Northern MI for over 45 years. Michigan has many more mosquitoes then Alaska could dream of.

Originally Posted by needing more

I live in SW MI. We have lots of mosquitos.. this summer was one of the worse so far...

Originally Posted by magellan

Mosquitos are the only things that seem to be really bad at times. I'd invest in a mosquito spraying service. We did this year and loved it!

Sorry, but I laugh every time I hear this.

I thought the same as well... until I spent years in Northern Maine. Honestly haven't even bought a bottle of bug spray the last 2 summers back in Michigan. I don't even notice them here there are so few compared to there.

We have bugs of course, but compared to other places I have lived (Texas and Maine), this is almost a bug-free zone.

[KMSFLA]

The worst mosquitoes I've experienced were on the eastern shore of Virginia (Wallops Island area). I looked up at a light on the side of a building and it literally looked look a snow storm. Unbelievable.

>> We have bugs of course, but compared to other places
>> I have lived (Texas and Maine), this is almost a bug-free zone.

Compared to here in Florida that is a true statement. I once watched a huge spider fend off an attacking bird here in Florida. Simply being able to sit on the grass like you can in Michigan would be nice.

[wagonman76]

Worst I know of is wood spiders (that's what I was told they were called) that are 3" to 4" across at the legs. I grew up with these in the house. They run and jump and click their feet when they move. Jump out at you from under the fridge or from behind the toilet at night. Another one jumped out from a sock in the laundry basket, chomping on a fly. They're predators, they don't passively catch food by spinning webs.

[Coldjensens]

You are most likely to encounter mosquitoes. Mosquitoes will keep you indoors between 7 and 9 p.m. (exact times vary). IN places they come in big gray clouds. Other places, they are not too bad. Except during the witching hour, you cna keep them away with DEET based bug spray. Those new little fan things that you wear on yur belt seem to work pretty well if it is not windy.

Probably the next most annoying bug are Yellow Jackets (wasps) that appear in force in the fall. You will learn to dispose of food, espceially sweet foods carefully so you do nto attract them. The traps work great and cna help keep the populations down if you put them out early enough to get the queens.

The Orange lady bugs supposedly will bite, but I have never encountered anyone who was actually bitten by one. They are nowhere near as bad as they were about three years ago. They seem fairly rare now. We used to find thousands of them in the window sills, light fixtures, pretty much everywhere. I have no seen one ina the past two years. Not sure why.

Brown Recluse spiders are really not a Michigan issue:

"Because the brown recluse cannot live in temperatures below 40°F, Michigan is not high on its list of vacation hotspots. In fact, the brown recluse is extremely rare in Michigan, having been documented here only once. In this case the spiders were found in a heated building and were probably introduced in materials shipped from the southern United States."



Black Widow spiders are fairly common, but mud wasps eat them and keep the populations down. THey will bite you if you squish them and the bite is like a bee sting. It is only dangerous if you are allergic to them.

Fish flys are really messy and get into everything as do little tiny bugs that we call No see ums. (Probably the wrong name for whatever these are) They swarm in clouds along the road and if you ride a bike into a swarm it is pretty icky.

Horse Flies, deer flies and black flies can be really awful in some areas. We do not get them where we live, but in places, they are really horrible, especially int he late spring/early summer.


Lots of ants, normal spiders, crickets, and misc bugs, but we have encounterest nothing to really bother you except discussed above.

Good bugs include LIghtening bugs by the thousands (really cool in wooded areas). Crickets (sound pretty at night), Praying Mantis, Walking sticks, and leaf bugs. Butterflies and moths are beautiful for part of the year.

June bugs feed your cat for you for a week or two in the spring.


Fleas do nto seem to be a very significant problem. At elast not like they were in California. Roaches of course exist everywhere.

No scorpions. No tarantulas (except as pets).

[Giesela]

Did anyone mention ticks? Not as bad as some more southern places or the pararie (why can't i ever spell that?) states but you'll run into bad spots. Dog ticks you can feel and see and aren't as dangerous as deer ticks which are both teeny tiny and can carry Lyme Disease.

[KMSFLA]

Originally Posted by wagonman76

Worst I know of is wood spiders (that's what I was told they were called) that are 3" to 4" across at the legs. I grew up with these in the house. They run and jump and click their feet when they move. Jump out at you from under the fridge or from behind the toilet at night. Another one jumped out from a sock in the laundry basket, chomping on a fly. They're predators, they don't passively catch food by spinning webs.

Yup, those are the ones. I had one in a stack of wrapped firewood I bought at Publix. I chased it around the garage with a broom. It actually made a sound when it ran on the wall. Never had a big one "in" the house. I had a small one (1.5 inches across maybe) in the bedroom that ran into my wife's closet. Never saw him again (yet).

[Coldjensens]

I have not seen ticks here (but have seen chiggers). However my sister and my brother both got Lymes disease at different times from being bitten by ticks one while visiting Main and the other while visting California. It is a horrible disease.

However I do nto think that deer ticks are that small. You certainly could see the one that bit my sister. She took a pitcure of it. Ick.

Chiggers are almost impossible to see they are so tiny, but then they do not hurt when they bite you.

All of them (ticks and chiggers) generally come from trees. If you walk in or sit under trees, have soneone check you over carefully for ticks.

[funymann]

Originally Posted by REIRehabber

Besides your typical house spider every once in awhile, what are the spiders, bugs and critters situation there in Michigan? With more emphasis and focus on suburban subdivisions, not out in the woods or boondies. PLEASE DON'T POST ANY PICTURES. Thank you.

Nothing is poisonous there. Snakes are able to be picked up. Spiders and such are pretty harmless. Lots mosquitos. Crickets and such. Nothing to be overly concerned about.

[YAZ]

Originally Posted by funymann

Nothing is poisonous there. Snakes are able to be picked up. Spiders and such are pretty harmless. Lots mosquitos. Crickets and such. Nothing to be overly concerned about.

Au contraire.

MI has rattlesnakes. The Massassauga (sic?) is the only species in Michigan but can pack a helluva bite. Pretty much located only in the southern half of the LP but they are around.

My old neighbor picked one up in his garden to show his kids. He was out of the hospital 3 days later. Glad the kids didn't get to see it....

My granny would call me in late spring from the U.P. to inform me of the Mayfly hatch. While quite messy, a great opportunity for those who like to fly fish.

I can't count how many times I've been stung by yellowjackets. I seem to have a knack for stumbling upon their "in ground" nests.

I seem to attract deer flies and horse flies too. DEET works well against them and mosquitoes.

It's a good idea to do a "tick check" after hangin' in the woods all day. Light colored clothing makes it easier to spot 'em. I found one attached to the back of my ear once. Yikes.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by funymann

Nothing is poisonous there. Snakes are able to be picked up. Spiders and such are pretty harmless. Lots mosquitos. Crickets and such. Nothing to be overly concerned about.

Yeah the Massasauga Rattler has a heck of a punch if you get tangled up with one. I have seen 2 in the Ludington area. We also have Brown recluse and Black Widow spiders. All of which I would be concerned about if in close contact with them. All of which I do keep an eye open for when poking through the woods. Nothing to get all bunched up about, but they are there, so you do have to be aware that the possibility to run across them does exist.