Rural Texas is a living NIGHTMARE - snakes and spiders! (Austin: house, employment)

[MikeSherman]

I grew up on a farm in Kansas. I am used to the outdoors. My family relocated to Texas after living in Virgina most of our lives. We lived in a nice country house in Virginia, but after being laid off in 2007, moved here to Texas for employment reasons. We found the countryside of Texas to be beautiful - but underneath that beauty is a hidden world of three animal species that have cost my family our sanity, nearly broken up my marriage, cost us the lives of two dogs, nearly killed one of my children, and cost us over $30,000 in hospital/vet bills. The brown recluse spider, the black widow spider, and the copperhead snake are the real culprits, but fire ants, mosquitoes, and wasps have certainly also played a factor.

Let's rewind about four years ago. My wife and I had two kids at the time and five dogs (yes, we are dog lovers). We both love the country. We could not imagine ever living in a normal neighborhood. We found this beautiful house on three acres of land near Sherman, sort of near the border of Oklahoma. The property was beautiful. Trees everywhere, a creek running through the edge of the property, and the peace and quiet and solitude we love about the country.

When we first looked at the house, we noticed something that alarmed us - nearly three black widows in the kitchen sink. The realtor assured us it wasn't a problem and that they would be taken care of.

When we first moved in, we found a wolf spider in one of the bathtubs, which freaked my wife out completely. We both HATE spiders and are not used to the horrible species of spiders found in Texas. I was able to trap it in a jar and get pest control out the next day. But when we first moved in, we also found lots of these spiders we had never seen before, which to our alarm we discovered to be brown recluse spiders. We found these INSIDE! They would be in bathtubs, on window sills, on the floor, under furniture...

I do a lot of work outside. The first year we lived in that house, I was bitten by a brown recluse twice. Both were extremely painful and I still have scars. My wife was bitten once, and had a very bad reaction. she ended up in the hospital, and her calf is still disfigured to this day. i was bitten by black widows four times since living in this house. I have discovered I have a bad reaction to their bites, and was bedridden for nearly two weeks each time after being bitten. I was bitten once when hauling off branches off our property, twice in my shed when moving things, and another in the backyard when turning on the hose.

Copper head snakes are nearly a daily occurrence - I have killed over a hundred of them coming into our yard. They have killed two of our dogs, one of these incidences happening inside - we basically came home to see a dead copperhead in the kitchen and one of our dogs breathing heavily with a swollen muzzle where she was bitten. By the time we got to the vet she had died.

One of our kids was bitten by a brown recluse in bed. Horrible bite, horrible spider. These creatures from hell will hide in your clothes, in shoes, and even under the sheets of your bed.
Our kids have been bitten by black widow spiders so many times when playing outside that we no longer let them play outside. Our youngest child, when four months old, was bitten by a black widow spider WHILE IN HER CRIB! She was rushed to the hospital and almost died, but did make a full recovery, thank God!
My wife has threatened to leave me several times and take the kids with her because she just cannot live in this house anymore, but not until recently have we had the financial means to move. We have had to tear the sheets off of beds every night to check for spiders. We check shoes for spiders constantly (how one of my kids was bitten by a brown recluse actually!) Basically we have become paranoid and scared to live in our own home.

My wife and I love the outdoors, but after the first few months of living here, we never go outside anymore thanks to all the mosquitoes and allergies. We used to spend nearly all our free time outside when we lived in Virginia.

I do not know how anyone can live in the countryside in Texas like this. My hats are off to anyone who is able to handle rural Texas. Our pest control guy did say that this is one of the worst places in the country in terms of snakes and spiders, though.

I also did not even mention the horrible allergies we have here in Texas, and the time I had to go to the hospital from being stung by hundreds of fire ants while mowing some tall grass on our property.

Rural Texas has just been a nightmare for all of us, and has damaged my family financially, physically, and psychologically. I do not know how anyone can live here. We are moving next month to the suburbs, to a neighborhood that is ugly, but has relatively few trees and no creeks nearby (which are what attracts these pests)

[lonestar2007]

I think I remember you posting about spiders quite a while ago. Anyway, yep, Texas does have spiders, snakes, wasps, fire ants, etc. What you are describing seems excessive. It sounds like the house you bought is completely infested and for starter's, I sure would do my own poisoning or at the very least, find a different pest control other than the one you hired that obviously wasn't doing you any good at all.

I've killed some copperheads on my place before, but nothing like you have described. I'm rural, have a lot of trees and had a seasonal creek (which has now completely dried up due to the droughts) that ran down one side of my property. Unless you are just down in a swamp area I wouldn't think you'd be over run with snakes during the entire course of a year. While you always need to be on the outlook for snakes or dangerous spiders, I'd say those copperheads are usually more active and seen in the springtime.

It just makes common sense to not go wading through tall grass/weeds in flip flops and not looking where you are going. Also, since a snake can appear anywhere, yes, you need to be alert, but that should be just second nature. But what you are describing is just wild. I would have definitely invested in strong pesticides and other alternative measures to let all your 'unwelcome guests' know it was time to move on somewhere else.

I've been through that area so many times and love that countryside. I am curious as to why your particular place is so infested. I am not buying the trees/creek theory. LOL There's rural areas with trees/creeks all over Texas.

Again, I would just have to say your particular house is infested with spiders and that is something that can be addressed and taken care of. As to the snakes, yep, it can be a problem, but be aware of them and teach your children to be cautious and you need to kill everyone you see. There are things you can do around your yard to minimize the snake problem in it as well, I'd say.

But since you are moving, this is all immaterial now. I'm just curious if others in your area have experienced what you have described.

[ChristieP]

I've long said that living near a body of water in Texas brings its share of problems. Copperheads are not water snakes, but Cottonmouths are, and they are well known to be aggressive when defending a nest. As for the spiders...I've never been bitten, but we have killed some brown recluse spiders in our house. I've also had scorpions in the house, too.

Sorry that country living didn't work out for you. I do wonder if the house's prior owners didn't keep up on pest control and allowed the house to become infested with spider nests?

[hoffdano]

Many many Texans live in rural and semi rural settings and never experience anything like what the OP describes. I don't believe he has killed over 100 copperheads. The entomologists at Texas A&M would probably want to see this place because that kind of concentration of venemous snakes must be a record. I bet some of these killed snakes died out of paranoia.

My uncle raised quarter horses on a ranch in Seguin for over 50 years. Rattlesnakes? (often around hay bales) Yup a few. Poisonous spiders? Yup a few. Scorpions? Yup.

My father grew up on a 800 acre ranch and saw lots of wildlife. But nothing like the OP's post.

I live outside Austin in a semi rural setting on a lake. I see lots of bugs. The most common poisonous thing is scorpions (I have been stung several times). Then giant centipedes. I see snakes, including non-venomous water snakes at the dock. But most of the critters I see are harmless.

There is much to like about rural living in Texas. Find another place more to your comfort level.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

I've long said that living near a body of water in Texas brings its share of problems. Copperheads are not water snakes, but Cottonmouths are, and they are well known to be aggressive when defending a nest. As for the spiders...I've never been bitten, but we have killed some brown recluse spiders in our house. I've also had scorpions in the house, too.

Sorry that country living didn't work out for you. I do wonder if the house's prior owners didn't keep up on pest control and allowed the house to become infested with spider nests?

Ive heard that diamondbacks will hang out around the water too.I knew a fishing guide who saw one swimming.

[elan]

Originally Posted by Westerntraveler

Ive heard that diamondbacks will hang out around the water too.I knew a fishing guide who saw one swimming.

My Dad and I saw a huge diamondback while fishing at Lake of the Pines. It was definately swimming, creeped me out.

[TOkidd]

I've never been to Texas, but I know a fair bit about the pests you're dealing with and have heard of severe infestations like yours in the Southeastern US. I think you really need to find a better pest control company as others have suggested and learn more about these critters and how to manage their population. There is obviously something going on that is bringing all those critters on to your property and a good pest control company should be able to help you figure out what it is and how to take care of it.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by elan

My Dad and I saw a huge diamondback while fishing at Lake of the Pines. It was definately swimming, creeped me out.

I bet.They swim in the bays on the way to the islands.One time I was at Lake Colorado City and we saw 9 water snakes that looked like cottonmouths but we were not for sure.

[lonestar2007]

I just realized you never mentioned bees. Good thing you didn't have a swarm of killer bees get after you, or on the much milder side, some bumblebees. This just goes to show, there's always a silver lining.

[love roses]

My sister and her husband have a house on Lake Texoma, and it sits on a little over 5 acres. She also has problems with spiders and snakes. It seems everyday she posts or sends emails about catching them and throwing them out. She was also bitten by a copperhead while out walking down the road. I'm curious if it's just the area, because her problem doesn't sound quite as dramatic as yours, but nevertheless, she does mention bugs and snakes a lot. My dad lives South of Tyler on 20 acres and only occasionally has problems with anything. Sometimes he'll find the random rat snake or scorpion or something, but not very many and not very often. It sounds like you ended up with one of those properties from that show "infested" on animal planet.