# A question for Floridians about bugs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058 "2014-08-21T02:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/21 "2014-08-21T19:30:02Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > So far we’ve apparently been OK on the gators. Although she is relatively close to a lake, so I’m sure she’ll come across one eventually What sort of job has she taken that required her to move to _Mount Dora_? There’s, like, a Wendy’s and a big flea market and that’s pretty much it? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/22 "2014-08-21T19:44:08Z")
I live down near the tip of the state and don’t have bug problems. It’s lizards that get in the apartment. Their presence doesn’t bother me, but I don’t want them to die and become little lizard mummies under the couch. I knew I was living somewhere different the first time I picked up an empty glass off the table and found a lizard stuck to the dried up soda at the bottom. At my current place, they like to hide above the door which can cause them to fall on my head and shoulders when I’m going out. Sometimes the door has squished them when I open it and their corpse lands on me. One time there was a big guy (4–5 inches) on the front of the door and I reached up to shoo him away. Whereupon he jumped onto my face before bounding away. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/23 "2014-08-21T20:09:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What sort of job has she taken that required her to move to _Mount Dora_? There’s, like, a Wendy’s and a big flea market and that’s pretty much it? She’s actually gonna manage a new hybrid retail idea called Flendy’s, it’s a Wendy’s/flea market hybrid. 😛 She actually took a job at a start-up golf academy that’s located in Howey-in-the-hills. She lives in Mt. Dora because apparently Leesburg was too far/inconvenient. Plus she liked the apartment complex she lives at the most (I’m assuming still does…despite the bug problems) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/24 "2014-08-21T20:12:11Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I live down near the tip of the state and don’t have bug problems. It’s lizards that get in the apartment. Their presence doesn’t bother me, but I don’t want them to die and become little lizard mummies under the couch. I knew I was living somewhere different the first time I picked up an empty glass off the table and found a lizard stuck to the dried up soda at the bottom. At my current place, they like to hide above the door which can cause them to fall on my head and shoulders when I’m going out. Sometimes the door has squished them when I open it and their corpse lands on me. One time there was a big guy (4–5 inches) on the front of the door and I reached up to shoo him away. Whereupon he jumped onto my face before bounding away. Maybe the lizards could go from a problem to a solution. Just bring in the lizards to the house, let the roam around, and have them EAT all the bugs. Or just buy a big-ass iguana. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/25 "2014-08-21T20:14:12Z")
We’ve already got feral iguanas in my county. I don’t feel like adding to it. ---
**Author:** ![sideshowkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/26 "2014-08-22T02:26:36Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I live down near the tip of the state and don’t have bug problems. It’s lizards that get in the apartment. Their presence doesn’t bother me, but I don’t want them to die and become little lizard mummies under the couch. I knew I was living somewhere different the first time I picked up an empty glass off the table and found a lizard stuck to the dried up soda at the bottom. At my current place, they like to hide above the door which can cause them to fall on my head and shoulders when I’m going out. Sometimes the door has squished them when I open it and their corpse lands on me. One time there was a big guy (4–5 inches) on the front of the door and I reached up to shoo him away. Whereupon he jumped onto my face before bounding away. I’m just outside of WDW and this is my biggest problem (aside from wasp nests). One of my cats loves it and spends all day out on the lanai putting holes in in the vinyl windows as she tries to get them. When one manages to get inside, I have to fight her for it if I see it in time. Sometimes I don’t, until a few months later when they are leather, or a day or two later like when I picked up my office phone (I work from home) and answered with a shriek upon seeing a tail-less lizard hiding out in the receiver base. That one ran around the walls for a few hours and then disappeared before I could catch it. I have also had the experience of opening a door and having a creature land on my face. It was a frog, though. It landed almost in my mouth, then hopped off my face and into the lanai, where the cat went after it. I managed to catch that one with a cup. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/27 "2014-08-22T03:39:06Z")
FWIW, I’m a few hours south, in Broward County. I occasionally see a dead roach. There are cycles where ants are somewhat active. The ants and roaches are handled nicely by my once-a-year pest control spray. Lizards get into the house somewhat regularly - I see one running around once every few weeks. A little less often, there are spiders. There is a frog that loves to hang out on the outside of my family room window at night. He makes a satisfying thump when he shows up. The iguanas, ducks, and squirrels stay in the back yard, munching on my plants and having wild [sex](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=690530). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/28 "2014-08-22T12:37:41Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > The iguanas, ducks, and squirrels stay in the back yard, munching on my plants and having wild [sex](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=690530). With each other? Man, and I thought I had weird fetishes! How does Mrs. Duck feel when she comes to the nest and sees a squirrel running away? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/29 "2014-08-22T13:29:30Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > She actually took a job at a start-up golf academy that’s located in Howey-in-the-hills. Is it at Mission Inn? When you visit, eat at El Conquistador. It’s spendy but fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/30 "2014-08-22T13:33:28Z")
I’ve been getting ants in my car. Freaky the first time but just annoying now. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/31 "2014-08-22T13:34:58Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Termites also seem to be a hell of a lot more active in Florida than in the mid-Atlantic, judging by my experiences with them v. my in-laws’. > > Not a problem for your GF since she’s renting, but if either of you should ever buy a house in Florida, make sure it’s been tented for termites in the not-too-distant past and has a current termite warranty, make sure you have it inspected for termite damage, and if it’s been several years since its last tenting, have it done before you move in. It may run you a couple thousand, but just do it. Where the heck did you hear that? Tenting is not a routine part of termite prevention. Most houses have never been tented and never will be. It’s done to treat an existent termite infestation. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/32 "2014-08-22T14:03:45Z")
Concrete eating snails 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/33 "2014-08-22T14:12:15Z")
[Seriously](http://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-battles-giant-african-land-snail-invasion/story?id=18963947). Though that’s the least of the concerns over them. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/34 "2014-08-22T16:03:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Is it at Mission Inn? When you visit, eat at El Conquistador. It’s spendy but fantastic. She ate there for a breakfast actually when she was down there for her visit/interview. Haven’t eaten anything lunch or dinner wise, but I’m sure it’s comin ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/35 "2014-08-22T16:15:02Z")
I went to a wedding I highly disapproved of because it was there and I couldn’t say no to their scallops. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/36 "2014-08-22T17:43:16Z")
Not quite Florida here, but close: One of my “favorite” troublemaking guests when I worked the night audit at a motel off I95 outside of Savannah raised a ruckus about _bugs, OMG bugs, I’ve never seen such a thing!_ The bugs she was complaining of were palmetto bugs - American cockroaches. And they were outside, in the shrubs! While dealing with her on the phone, I pulled up her information, and found that she was from West Palm Beach, Florida… I happened, right at that very instant, to be messaging with an old friend of mine via Facebook. Old Friend is from Topeka, but lives in West Palm Beach now. I told OF what was going on, in a laughing way, because the coincidence was quite funny. OF stepped outside, snapped photos of Palmetto bugs around her porch light and in the shrubs in case I needed “ammo” in my argument with my guest. The next morning, the guest was still arguing that she deserved a refund - or at least a discount - because we had the gall to have bugs in the landscaping. In south Georgia. I was thrilled to be able to show the woman a representative photo of the same bugs in her own ZIP code, in a very chi-chi condominium complex… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/37 "2014-08-22T17:50:16Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Not quite Florida here, but close: One of my “favorite” troublemaking guests when I worked the night audit at a motel off I95 outside of Savannah raised a ruckus about _bugs, OMG bugs, I’ve never seen such a thing!_ The bugs she was complaining of were palmetto bugs - American cockroaches. And they were outside, in the shrubs! While dealing with her on the phone, I pulled up her information, and found that she was from West Palm Beach, Florida… > > I happened, right at that very instant, to be messaging with an old friend of mine via Facebook. Old Friend is from Topeka, but lives in West Palm Beach now. I told OF what was going on, in a laughing way, because the coincidence was quite funny. OF stepped outside, snapped photos of Palmetto bugs around her porch light and in the shrubs in case I needed “ammo” in my argument with my guest. The next morning, the guest was still arguing that she deserved a refund - or at least a discount - because we had the gall to have bugs in the landscaping. In south Georgia. I was thrilled to be able to show the woman a representative photo of the same bugs in her own ZIP code, in a very chi-chi condominium complex… 😃 I would have suggested that there weren’t any bugs before she came, so she must have brought them herself. Then threatened to charge her extra. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/38 "2014-08-22T18:08:04Z")
You’re gonna fit right in around here, **PorchePine**. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/39 "2014-08-22T18:19:08Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > Where the heck did you hear that? Just last week, in Plant City. From the termite guy servicing my wife’s grandmother’s house. Maybe he was trying to build up business, in the manner of the diamond folks who’ve built up the notion that an engagement ring should cost three months’ pay. But he said a house really needs tenting every 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/40 "2014-08-22T18:53:16Z")
At FSU my father and his roommate used to give the Palmetto bugs names, but they were used to weird creatures. Huge spiders, lizards, frogs, giant land crabs–even rats and opossums stopped by for a visit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058.md?page=3)