Grannyh67

When I was a little girl I was picking up rocks by a fence row and got stung by a Scorpion, the pain was so bad, it felt like someone had poured acid on my hand. It swelled up bad too. I didn't got to the Dr. but it was an experience I never want to have again. To this day I am horrified of them. While living Vegas I had to watch for them as well, always looking in shoes and under your sheets. Every time I would take cloths from the closet I would shake then out. Hate creatures, lol.

lildinks2013

ok guys ,since ya talking bout bugs and critters, which thoroughly creeps me out. I migrated to tn from wisc 15 yrs ago, and was introduced to palmetto bugs quickly. Ugliest critters i ever saw along with the cecada's here. Don't have these creepy crawlers in wisc. First time i seen a palmetto in my house was in the shower. omg! freaked me out, ran out of the shower naked and wet , screamin for hubby to come and be my hero and kill this monster. Ever since that episode, i walk very gingerly in the bathroom before taking a shower and inspect the room carefully. Even the cats i had then wouldn't have nothing to do with them. That speaks for itself. I now use D.E (diatamatious earth) inside cabinets, under sinks, in between window sills and doorways and any other place they can crawl in. I told folks back home that the criitters come big down here, so big one could saddle them up and have their own rodeo. hmm maybe is the reason for not too many visitors thru out the years. Well to me a roach is a roach no matter how fancy the name gets.

Retired Fire Chief

I will take a lizard anyday to misspriss's scorpions! I saw my first one in-person when I was at my step-daughters in Oregon. It was a "small" one according to her and she found it in the laundry room. I worried about those darn things until I left Oregon, they are as creepy as spiders! Snakes, lizards, mice - count me in, spiders and scorpions no way! (I do think lizards have their place, not in our beds!)

Dodie

that is why I live here and love the cold long winters thought I hated mosquitos but guess they are not to bad

QKO

Never have had a lizard in the house, although we've had a few scorpions. The scorpions are usually small, about the size of a 25-cent piece. I imagine that it's difficult for the larger ones to get in, plus they usually live closer to the river.

We have the occasional small lizard around the yard. They eat bugs, which is a good thing, but our main worry is that the dogs will get them. Whenever they do, the dog that gets one ends up getting ill for a day or two. I think they're poisonous to dogs. Our dogs are rat terriers, so they're hunter/killers. Oh well...

sewnsewer2

Don't feel too bad, I found a dead baby SNAKE on my BDR floor the other morning! I think it is a rat snake. One of my 4 cats brought it in.

ladydukes

I'm originally from South Texas (between Houston and Corpus Christi). When I was younger, one night I awoke to something crawling on the bed. I flipped the cover as high as I could, and a mouse hit the wall and took off. I was mortified at night after that. I made sure the covers were NOT touching the floor anywhere after that in case of mice (not knowing they can climb anywhere!)
In 2009, my husband and I moved from TX to WA. We are in the arid, desert like part of WA with only 7" of rain a year, so we have a lot of spiders, which I hate! Last year early in the morning, I saw a spider on the ceiling, so decided to get a flyswatter to kill it. I had a long robe on at the time. I got a fold-up stool/chair with cross legs from WalMart. The chair/stool is NOT meant for standing on. My husband warned me not to get on it, but I didn't listen. I said, "I don't know what I'll do if the spider falls on me." About that time, I swatted and the spider, and it started falling toward me. I panicked and flipped the chair and fell. I heard three crack, crack, crack sounds. I thought I sprained my ankle. It was the very morning we volunteer at the American Legion to assist with breakfast. I hobbled around on this foot for about a week. When I couldn't take it any more, I went to an orthopedic surgeon to get an x-ray. Lo and behold, it was broken in three places. He put me in a walking cast, but told me not to put any weight on my foot and to use crutches.
So, here I was on crutches with my step daughter and two kids coming in a couple of days to stay a month! THAT was not a pleasant experience! As soon as they left, I boarded a plane - on crutches from WA to Cape Cod for a month where my DH would be working for six weeks. I left my big suitcase with my husband for my flight home so I wouldn't have to deal with it at the airport. On my trip home, my plane got delayed due to weather, so I missed my flight out of Boston - on crutches, and had to stay in a hotel in Boston overnight. I sent my big bag home with my DH Thank goodness I had one change of clothes in my overnight bag, but no night clothes or tooth brush. Thank goodness the hotel had complimentary toothbrushes and toothpaste because I could not see myself on crutches trying to find a store! I just wrapped up in a big towel after my shower to sleep in.
My neighbor who planned to pick me up when I had my original flight in couldn't pick me up the next day, so my BF's teenage son picked me up. And - thank goodness I kept my house keys in my purse so that I could get in the house when I got home rather than in my big bag with my husband (I did that one time!)
Anyway, I survived it all, but what a lessons learned - no more climbing on something I shouldn't. It is NOT worth a broken foot all summer long - and all because of a spider.
We have a garden tub, and some mornings I see spiders in it because they can't get out.

lillybeck

These are so funny.

DebbE

When I was a small child we lived in Texas - my father was in the service. My mother woke up in the middle of the night, feeling something on her chest, and flicked it away. Turned on the light, and it was a scorpion. Just before we moved to another state, a 'friend' threw his tarantula at me....and yes, they DO grow everything bigger in Texas.
Between those 2 experiences and the HUGE spiders and misc bugs, I am forever scared to death of spiders.

Stitchit123

Thank goodness it wasn't a gator My sister lived in Fla. and came home late one night after doing a double shift to find a 4 ft gator in her kitchen and apparently she looked like a nice snack it chased her out the front door back to her car. She called gator control and after not finding it or how it got in she did the same thing. She had our brother go over the next day and move her stuff to his garage. He is a good brother -he never told her about the 7 ft gator he found under his work table in the same week after putting her stuff in there until just before she moved back to Fla a month ago and he teases her about gators loving her scent. He has a quirky sense of humor -he got her deer whistles to attach to her shoes to scare the gators off her scent