Do you dread the extreme humidity in the summer in Florida?
No. I’ve always lived in warm humid places and am super cold natured. It’s like the air is giving me a warm hug. I love that when it’s not a million degrees, and I’m dressed accordingly.
It’s the bright sun that actually bothers me the most.
Southerners: how do you not panic every day at the thought of snakes or scorpions or spiders creeping around?
Honestly, it never occurred to me that people lived without them. Bugs and reptiles are just a normal part of life. They’ve always been there.
Snakes are outside. You rarely ever see them. Might be under a crawl space, in a flower bed, or in the woods, but they aren’t slithering through my living room. Same with alligators. Leave them alone. They leave you alone. Assume even a puddle has one in it.
Opened the door last night to let the dog out, and a huge June bug flew at my head and landed on my shoulder. That freaked me out way more than a spider chilling in a dark corner somewhere minding his own business would. Wasps, bees, hornets, biting horse flies, those all concern me way more than spiders. Those get inside and go crazy because they can’t get out, and they will sting. Spiders leave you alone. You don’t touch them. They don’t bite you. Flying things attack!
In general, Spiders really don’t bother you. They tend to stay in dark out the way places. Its rare one would actually come near you. You learn to be aware of places they might be.
For instance, I always check between the shampoo bottles and the side of the shower/ tub before grabbing the soap. Perfect little spot to build a web, especially if they got in through the plumbing. Last night, I was looking for my pin collection and was rummaging around in an old bin in the back of the closet. I was super aware and checking to make sure a spider wasn’t in there as it would have been a prime spot to find one. I check my shoes before I put them on. I check old gloves or coats. You learn to shake things out. If you are aware which is a second habit, the chances of you getting bit are so small.
People get bit when they touch a spider by accident by picking something up one is inside or on. Spiders don’t really come find people. You don’t bother them. They don’t bother you. There are so many worse things to get you in the south, than a spider.
Fire ants are probably the worst. They attack in mass. It’s so bad. Way more freaked out by ants if they get inside. They will get all over you. Makes me itchy just thinking about it. We had an infestation in my old house. They built a colony inside my wall. They were crawling along the electrical writing and coming out our light fixtures. I had to move out of my room. 40 gallons of poison later, we had to cut the wall out and drop bombs in. It was awful. Spiders eat the ants. They can stay.
I wasn’t aware we had scorpions in the south. I have only run into those out west, and they do freak me out as well as the tarantulas. I just pretend they don’t exist because there’s nothing you can really do about either of those. Except, always check the shower before getting in as the scorpions like to come up the drain. Most likely place I’ve seen them when I lived out west.
Are Floridian pools usually covered? Or semi indoors? I've seen southern pools that look like they are in a green house with air conditioning. I don't know if that's a normal thing or not.
No air conditioning that I’ve ever seen, just closed in. Florida has strict laws about how pools must be secured with continuous fencing without gaps, locks, and pool covers. This is part of the reason why you see so many completely closed in. If you have to build something anyway, might as well get a nice screened in area out of it as well. The screens help keep bugs, critters, and leaves out of the pool as well which cuts down on maintenance. If you’re rich, you can afford a fancy glassed in patio. You don’t see these type of enclosure in the rest of the south because they don’t have the same strict laws.
