usvi-on-line
Critters in your vacation home???
Critters in your vacation home???
It was mentioned in a recent post not to stay at Samuel Cottages because there were roaches found in one of the cottages.I would like to come to Samuels defense on this.Know I know that I have never lived in a tropics ,but am I right is saying that any home no matter how nice it is is subject to critters?Back in 1994 we stayed at a very nice condo on S.T.T. and found roaches there.I wasn't happy about it but I accepted it because it's the tropics.In 1996 we stayed at a nice home above Great Cruz Bay and while watching t.v.a little lizard came out of the couch.Again I accepted this as being the tropics.{I think it was that insurance lizard 
} I don't want to beat anyone up for being creeped out,but I think this is how it is in the tropics.Give me feed back if you want. Maybe I'm wrong? If you wish, explain what you found where you stayed.I'm sure some of you found some critters.It might be a good idea not to mention the villa name,but that's up to you...Have a good Monday!! Parafins
} I don't want to beat anyone up for being creeped out,but I think this is how it is in the tropics.Give me feed back if you want. Maybe I'm wrong? If you wish, explain what you found where you stayed.I'm sure some of you found some critters.It might be a good idea not to mention the villa name,but that's up to you...Have a good Monday!! ParafinsHELLO FROM MICHIGAN...
Lizards, in pretty much every place we've stayed on STJ- inside and out.
Ants, thousands of them, on the counter when we leave crumbs by mistake or forget to wipe up after pouring ANOTHER blender drink. We've even seen a congo line of them from the corner of the kitchen window down to the trash bag. That was gross.
Those big fat black caterpillars are always on the porches and stairways too. Almost put my hand on one on the railing walking down from the bedroom to the main room. Ick.
A frog jumped on me from a tree while I was sitting at the deck table.
Bats flew all around the pool deck on Johnson Bay eating the bugs in the spotlight.
Hermit crab in the outdoor shower.
Bannaquits, a hundred of the, stared at us from the trees every morning waiting for sugar. A few tried to perch on my iced coffee glass.
Donkeys in the front garden.
And we've see a coupla small cockroaches. It's an infestation that would freak me out.
Ants, thousands of them, on the counter when we leave crumbs by mistake or forget to wipe up after pouring ANOTHER blender drink. We've even seen a congo line of them from the corner of the kitchen window down to the trash bag. That was gross.
Those big fat black caterpillars are always on the porches and stairways too. Almost put my hand on one on the railing walking down from the bedroom to the main room. Ick.
A frog jumped on me from a tree while I was sitting at the deck table.
Bats flew all around the pool deck on Johnson Bay eating the bugs in the spotlight.
Hermit crab in the outdoor shower.
Bannaquits, a hundred of the, stared at us from the trees every morning waiting for sugar. A few tried to perch on my iced coffee glass.
Donkeys in the front garden.
And we've see a coupla small cockroaches. It's an infestation that would freak me out.
Ants after someone didn't police their crumbs
One scorpion, found by my mother. She handled it very well, saying that it was no big deal after the hundreds she killed when we lived in TX.
Lizards inside and out
One roach (I think it was a roach) that was the size of a match box.
Donkeys that would come right up to our patio at Caneel
Goats jumping on our table at Miss Lucys. I am not a fan of the free-roaming goats, at all.
I can accept it all as part of the tropics. A random report of a roach won't deter me from renting a particular house.
Not STJ but when we rented a house on Provo, T & C, there were so many little lizards outside, we learned to scrap the bottom of our shoes before entering the house. It was crazy, for the first couple of days we would find dried, flattened little lizards all over the white tile floors.
Oh, and our son got pecked by a chicken on VG while we were sitting at a restaurant.
One scorpion, found by my mother. She handled it very well, saying that it was no big deal after the hundreds she killed when we lived in TX.
Lizards inside and out
One roach (I think it was a roach) that was the size of a match box.
Donkeys that would come right up to our patio at Caneel
Goats jumping on our table at Miss Lucys. I am not a fan of the free-roaming goats, at all.
I can accept it all as part of the tropics. A random report of a roach won't deter me from renting a particular house.
Not STJ but when we rented a house on Provo, T & C, there were so many little lizards outside, we learned to scrap the bottom of our shoes before entering the house. It was crazy, for the first couple of days we would find dried, flattened little lizards all over the white tile floors.
Oh, and our son got pecked by a chicken on VG while we were sitting at a restaurant.
I've never rented a house that was completely critter free. We've had lizards, cockroaches (all sizes), tarantulas, millipedes, ants, scorpions, giant grasshoppers, pearly eyed thrashers IN the house, fruit rats (only at one house), huge spiders, land crabs, beetles...and once (at Caneel Bay) even a frog (it was a very cute frog)!
I would not be very happy if I rented a house that had an active cockroach infestion in the kitchen/bathroom though. I would expect an exterminator to come and deal with that.
I would not be very happy if I rented a house that had an active cockroach infestion in the kitchen/bathroom though. I would expect an exterminator to come and deal with that.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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Marcia (Mrs. Pete)
- Posts: 1576
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:40 pm
- Location: Madison Area, Wisconsin
Geckos, lots of them
Scorpions, in three different villas
Black gooey caterpiller-looking things (don't touch them they will make you itch) that climb the walls
Ants (usually outside, on the patios-sometimes inside if you don't wipe up religiously)
Iguanas
Chickens/Roosters
Cats & Dogs
Tarantualas (two different villas)
I think that's about it for our experiences over the last 10 years.
Scorpions, in three different villas
Black gooey caterpiller-looking things (don't touch them they will make you itch) that climb the walls
Ants (usually outside, on the patios-sometimes inside if you don't wipe up religiously)
Iguanas
Chickens/Roosters
Cats & Dogs
Tarantualas (two different villas)
I think that's about it for our experiences over the last 10 years.
Marcia (Mrs. Pete)
Missing St. John. As always.
Missing St. John. As always.
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Tracy in WI
- Posts: 1624
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Wisconsin
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John LMBZ06
- Posts: 286
- Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:52 am
- Location: Frisco, TX
We have seen all the above - except a tarantula. Nothing bothered us except the frog who seemed to have been trapped in the cistern and cried with an echo all night long, every night... long, loud and incessant. A few critters are expected; armies of them are not.
Last edited by lprof on Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
... no longer a stranger to paradise
Frogs and lizards are welcome guests - I love them.
Roaches -- as most of you have said, one or two I can deal with, but more than that and I start to get stressed out. I stayed in a villa once that was infested from a recent 'hatching' and there were roaches EVERYWHERE indoors. It was our first trip, and I thought that it was the norm and that I was being a baby (I was picturing all of you bravely putting up with it!) Now I know that's not the case
We actually went back to the same villa the following year and it wasn't bad. But subsequently I've stayed at villas where I didn't see a single roach inside at all!
Other stuff: one (BIG) scorpion outside in an outdoor shower. One big yellow spider (had been outside but ran inside).
A tarantula might cause me to lose my mind (but I have an irrational fear of spiders).
Roaches -- as most of you have said, one or two I can deal with, but more than that and I start to get stressed out. I stayed in a villa once that was infested from a recent 'hatching' and there were roaches EVERYWHERE indoors. It was our first trip, and I thought that it was the norm and that I was being a baby (I was picturing all of you bravely putting up with it!) Now I know that's not the case
We actually went back to the same villa the following year and it wasn't bad. But subsequently I've stayed at villas where I didn't see a single roach inside at all! Other stuff: one (BIG) scorpion outside in an outdoor shower. One big yellow spider (had been outside but ran inside).
A tarantula might cause me to lose my mind (but I have an irrational fear of spiders).
Love geckos and iguanas. They can come in any number the want.
But the last villa we stayed at, in the SOTB trip in November, had a lot of roaches, at least in mine and Sea-nile's room. We saw several every day and they flew into your face when you came into the bathroom and also when reading in bed (when it was dark and you had the reading light on). That was annoying. They also hid in my bag. Maybe we should have reported that. I think I just forgot about all this.
Maggy
But the last villa we stayed at, in the SOTB trip in November, had a lot of roaches, at least in mine and Sea-nile's room. We saw several every day and they flew into your face when you came into the bathroom and also when reading in bed (when it was dark and you had the reading light on). That was annoying. They also hid in my bag. Maybe we should have reported that. I think I just forgot about all this.
Maggy
The scraping of lizards from the bottom of your shoe just about had me rolling on the floor!!Funny,unless your the one dealing with it! ParafinsPA Girl wrote:Ants after someone didn't police their crumbs
One scorpion, found by my mother. She handled it very well, saying that it was no big deal after the hundreds she killed when we lived in TX.
Lizards inside and out
One roach (I think it was a roach) that was the size of a match box.
Donkeys that would come right up to our patio at Caneel
Goats jumping on our table at Miss Lucys. I am not a fan of the free-roaming goats, at all.
I can accept it all as part of the tropics. A random report of a roach won't deter me from renting a particular house.
Not STJ but when we rented a house on Provo, T & C, there were so many little lizards outside, we learned to scrap the bottom of our shoes before entering the house. It was crazy, for the first couple of days we would find dried, flattened little lizards all over the white tile floors.
Oh, and our son got pecked by a chicken on VG while we were sitting at a restaurant.
HELLO FROM MICHIGAN...
ok can deal with all the critters except the tarantulas and roaches. Am spider phobic and the thought of a roach crawling up me is way too much or are they palmetto bugs like in FL? Which is really a flying roach. Is there anything can bring or buy there to keep them out? Or help to keep them away?
Am OCD about cleaning up so no prob about the ants.
Am OCD about cleaning up so no prob about the ants.
No ticker anymore. Next vac will prob. be the Fl Keys.
