USVI-On-Line

Don't forget tarantulas and scorpions. We've had them in several houses.

We've had mostly smallish lizards. Some very tiny. The little man likes to catch and release. They didn't bother me at all, they LOVE to eat mosquitos so they are VERY welcome as far as I'm concerned. Just make sure and keep your mouth closed when you sleep .

We've also had tons of the black Milipedes outside. I'm not too crazy about those but they're harmless.

A big, hairy, scary Turantula came Hot Tubbin one evering too. I handled that ok, but our daughter FREAKED! Sreaming, hands flapping, moving with light speed. Oh God, that was FUNNY! Of course I wouldn't invite him back...

We had one of those tiny geckos in the sink - hiding in the drain area. He looked dead but I didn't want to touch him so made Juice do it. All of a sudden the little guy jumps up and runs away - scared us both to death!

I think they are quite cute actually.

Tracy

chrisn wrote:Just make sure and keep your mouth closed when you sleep .

EEK! I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to creepy crawly type things. Hopefully I'll have enough rum in me to not notice them!

This little guy lived in our villas outside light

Definitely the worst we've seen/had intimate contact with are:

Scorpion (inside a new roll of toilet paper). Made for a rapid exit from the bathroom for me. Not a good visual folks.

Tarantula. I dropped something loud outside, he must have freaked, came out from hiding, flew into the pool where he became stunned, Pete scooped him up with a broom, placed him on the deck, and promptly did the best golf swing of his life. That baby is in Reef Bay somewhere.

The geckos are fun. I have no problem with those little guys.

Marcia (Mrs. Pete)

Ok if I see a scorpian at least I will die in a place I love! I know I would drop dead from shock.

Xislandgirl wrote:You will see critters. We had many geckos in the house but they eat bugs so it made me happy. There may also be ants, so you will want to make sure that you don't leave food out on the counters.

They are all harmless.

Ditto this. We bring plenty of zip lock bags for food/snacks. You will be surprised how quickly the ant brigade will begin. You could also store stuff in the microwave if you have one.

does that work, storing stuff in the microwave? like what? bags of chips and stuff? do you put them in a ziploc and then in the microwave?

In St.John we've seen a few small lizards but nothing that would concern you.

Tortola is another story. I could handle showering with the geckos and having them run across the floor, but when we found them in our bed and they left gecko droppings behind them it was too much. True story I swear ! DO NOT rent 7 Peaks villa on Tortola unless you want to sleep with those little critters. We paid an up charge on our air fare to get out of there 2 days early.

We had a mongoose in Gestalt Villa on Tortola but he was cool and didn't bother us. He'd just shoot across the kitchen table now and again chasing some critter or another. Gestalt is a very open house with much of the living area open so critters were the norm. However that house had the biggest spider I've ever seen. I locked it in a bedroom, put a towel under the door and never entered again !

In St. John we had been renting Opar on most of our trips and we never had any trouble at all. Critters in the house are just part of the price for time in paradise.

Don't worry, be Happy ! They won't bother you and you'll probably find them entertaining.

mary beth wrote:does that work, storing stuff in the microwave? like what? bags of chips and stuff? do you put them in a ziploc and then in the microwave?

I confess, you got me there. I haven't tried the microwave without using zip lock bags, so not sure if it works but have read many posts that recommended it. I'll tell you what. I do an experiment with it this trip and let you know. I have seen those ants come fast and furious for mere crumbs. We never had to spray. Just wiped them up with a wet paper towel.

I've stored stuff in my microwave at home (Calif) before. Like cookies or cake, so the ants wouldn't get them. It's always worked, whereas ants will get into my fridge!

thanks, gals!

Scorpion In Villa:

My husband got stung by a scorpion twice on our last night. I was just about to get in the shower when I heard my husband screaming & jumping around. I went to where he was in the living room thinking something horrible was happening. He said he was lying on the couch & he opened up the information binder that Destination St. John put together & he felt something fall out of the book & sting him. When he jumped up offf the couch & brushed it up in the air it came back down & stung him again in the hand.

We found in on the area rug & sure enough it was a scorpion . I hit it with his flip-flop & then put the flip-flop on top of it to keep it there. I ran into the kitchen & grabbed a steel spatula to kill it with, but my stupid husband picked up the flip-flop & the scoropin disappeared. We looked for it all night, but couldn't find it.

Let's just say it was an interesting evening after that. My husband would only sit on the wooden barstools & we carefully inspected the sheets before bed.

Thank gosh we had our laptop & internet access in our villa so we resaerched scorpion species & found that there are only 3 on St. John & that they weren't poisonous. Husband said that it felt like getting a shot from the doctor. Glad it was him & wasn't me