Cockroaches

Moving to Texas there was one thing that upset me more then anything else, - Cockroaches! Not even the knowledge about dangerous snakes scared me as much. At least they are visible.
I had met a few "Roaches" on a vacation trip earlier, and it was not a pleasant experience. I was petrified.
They move really fast, hide behind stuff, and come out at night.....
When I learned that they also fly, that was it. I warned my husband about not getting too surprised if I by any chance happened to call the fire department, and let them handle it. I was that scared.
But it actually went surprisingly smooth. For each one I threw out, stepped on (sorry), or flushed down the toilet, I got braver and braver. Now I only see a dead one every once in a while. They seems to live in wooded areas, and can come in under the door. And by the way, they are harmless!

In Austin I also learned to live with Fire Ants and Scorpions. It is said about fire ants that they are able to kill a cow. They are very aggressive, and they kind of attack all at the same time. Their bites often leaves blisters, some folks react pretty bad.
We once had them popping up all over in our house. Since we just built, I guess their natural environment was disturbed... The exterminator was called!
Scorpions we only saw maybe once a month, inside or out, quite small, brown and a little transparent. Have not seen any here in Houston.
Traveling in this state, I have in fact also seen Tarantulas, twice. I was in the car both times. Other deadly spiders we have is Brown Recluse and Black Widow. I have yet to meet them...

Anyway, I guess what I wanted to say is that one can get used to live with most things, just give it some time and don't think so much about it.
- and shake out your shoes before you put them on......