ChristusG Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 We are looking at moving into a new house. We found a REALLY nice house for a steal in a neighborhood. We've been debating whether we want to live in a neighborhood and have a larger house.....or live on an acre or two of land and have a smaller house. Hard decision. But we found a house in a new neighborhood that we really like. It seems like the cool thing to in my city is build new subdivisions around ponds. The house that we really like is on a pond. I was just wondering if anyone lives on a lot like this and can tell me if they have an increase in mosquitos or snakes. The neighborhood has an association which requires people to keep their grass short....so I would think that if there is no tall grass or weeds, there is nowhere for snakes to hide. And what about mosquitos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlowetx Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I haven't seen any snakes near our community lakes (which are quite large).. but we have lots of ducks, fish and turtles and there must be some sort of relationship there with the snakes..I know here in Houston, if you live on the Bayou, you WILL have snakes, but on the lake we don't have any - again, it has to be a relationship with the ducks, turtles, and fish..I've got to figure that out. Mosquitos love stagnant water, so if there is a filter in the lake/pond, you should be fine. I love living near our pond/lake.. we can fish, study the aquatic life, feed the ducks..we were determining today good spots to do nature studies this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 When we lived on a community lake, they were no mosquitos or snakes, just lots of ducks and geese. I am sure if there is an HOA, they probably put stuff in the water to control mosquitos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lahmeh Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I can't WAIT to move out of our subdivision and have a piece of land with no "view" of neighbors. I would take a smaller and "not as nice" house if I could just have a little piece of land! Good luck with your decision. That's a tough one! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kiddies Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 My parents live on a lake and for the past two years the only snake they have had is a large water snake underneath their dock. They took care of it both years with a few "whacks" with a shovel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Put me down for the larger land. We don't live right on the lake, but we're in a lake community with 5 lakes. Our beaches are usually closed due to bacteria. Our parks are covered in goose poo. We happen to have very little grass on our property, let alone tall grass, but there are plenty of snakes in the rocks! Before doing anything, try to talk to people who already live there. HOA rule books are fairly meaningless. Just because it's against the rules to do certain things doesn't mean they won't be done. My community has families that owe thousands upon thousands of dollars in fines. The just don't GAS. Can't get blood from a stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 We lived for 16yrs on a lake, large lake with streams running into it. Yes, I felt we had more bugs issues then normal---and more than we have in our present home. However, shortly after moving to this home we put up a purple martin house. They have taken care of all the flying insect issues around our home. Snakes do not bother me one bit and I actually even welcomed them to stick around my home area. My foundest snake memory is one that happened as I was cutting my grass. I saw a garter snake moving in the grass (rather short to begin with) and called DH and 2yo DS over to see it. DS very quickly picked the snake up by the tail and held it out at arms length from his body. The snake almost touched the ground it was that big. COOL!!!! I detest the idea of anyone killing a non-poisonous snake so no, we never killed the ones we found. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secular_mom Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 We have a pond that everyone here calls 'the lake'. It stinks horribly during hot weather, there are lots of ducks that live in it. We do have lots of mosquitoes and everyone seems to see one snake on their property each year. We've been here for one year, and a few weeks ago I had a VERY close encounter with a cottonmouth IN our garage. Two of our neighbors also have small koi ponds in their back yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Readsalot Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 The ponds where first here so the fire department could use them. We now have fire hydrants. The ponds have stayed and our son enjoys going fishing in them. There are more mosquitos and green flys near the pond We are on a non-pond lot and don't have quite as many. I have seen an osprey or two fly over with a snake in it's tallons ( rather cool sight if you ask me) The biggest thing our community has had a problem with is muskrats (ugly critters) We have to set traps for them every year. Note we also live rather close(1 mile away) from the big pond (also know as the Atlantic Ocean) and a rather large bay (Assawoman) can be seen from the back of the house. So living near water is a fact of life in our area. Our son learned to swim at an early age. Next week my 15 yo will be taking a course with the Beach patrol on water safety etc. I would be as much concerned about water safety as I would about bugs and snakes A good friend of my sons died when he was 8 years old because he when out on thin ice and fell through. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lahmeh Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 OMG how sad!! I'm so sorry for them! :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secular_mom Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 The biggest thing our community has had a problem with is muskrats (ugly critters) We have to set traps for them every year. Yes! We have rat problems here as well- thankfully our next door neighbor has several cats, and they seem to keep the issue in control for those of us who live near her. But we've still had problems with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 Thanks for your input everyone! It's definitely something to think about. I never thought about the "school" aspect of it LOL. And I had already begun planning a nature study to be a big part of our homeschool next year. This would be perfect LOL. We've visited the house twice and I've made sure to go down by the pond each time. I dont notice any mosquitos or any smells. I also did not see any ducks or geese. Actually, the only "wildlife" I saw there was an egret walking on the other side of the pond. I would love to talk to the neighbors though. We are going to see the house again on Sunday evening....maybe we can talk with some of the neighbors then. I'm not too worried about water safety, as we've lived with an in-ground pool in our backyard for years now. My two young children are actually taking survival swimming lessons right now. And also, we would defintely fence off the pond with a wrought iron fence (so that we can still see the pone), just as our pool is fenced off currently. I'm just freaked about the possibility of snakes....and I dont so much mind harmless snakes....it is cotton mouths and moccasins I would be worried about. And a frozen pond is definitely not something we have to worry about down here in Florida. Although, with this heat, sometimes I wish we did have to worry about it LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songbirdie Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 You shouldn't have to worry about mosquitos if there are fish in the pond since the fish eat the larvae before they can hatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Florida -- do you have to think about alligators in the pond? carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 We had a pond on our property in Maine and never had snakes and I don't think the mosquitos were any worse than the places we lived without a pond. If it were me I'd go for more land. You can always add on but you can not get more land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 My questionw ould be how new is the community? I know this sounds crazy but several years ago I was working for a family that built a home in a community with large ponds between the houses. Some of these were natural ponds that had been there for years and not man made. As each new house was built they had big, serious problems with poisonous snakes being run out of their homes. They actually killed several copperheads and water moccasins that were over 6 ft long. It was a scary time for families with pets and little kids. Well, and me too after a huge cotton mouth chased me from my car. It has been about 15 years now since that happened and the family says that they almost never see a snake any more. Construction in the neighborhood has come to an almost complete stop and that is why they think they don't see snakes like they did before. There is still lots of undeveloped land though that they enjoy. Now, that community in general has huge problems with mosquitos even with the bait stuf dropped in the ponds. But they are also near lots of farmland so that contributes to the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I have an aunt in FL who has a pond on her 5 acres. Snakes are present. Don't know what kind. We (far North of FL) have a "puddle" on our farm (can't really call it a pond). The frogs in the puddle take care of the mosquitoes in that area. Our huge mosquito population comes from other sources of standing water which seem to be EVERYWHERE (a lot of deciduous tree cover/shade and a very wet spring/summer). We have garden snakes here, but nothing poisonous as far as I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Frankweiler Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Our house backs up to a man made lake in a rather new community (less than 2 years old.) You know the kind...they plow down everything, then start from scratch and build cookie cutter homes. Anyway, we have not had any problems with snakes. However, I have heard that they don't like cedar mulch and stay away from it. So maybe you could put down some cedar mulch around the house and the fence and then you could worry (a little) less about the snakes. If you love the house, I wouldn't pass it up over the snakes. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) We have a 1/2 acre pond. It sounds like you will have one of those manicured artificial ponds. Probably fairly controlled. Which won't attract the wildlife as much as a more natural pond. Usually ponds and lakes themselves don't encourage mosquitos because the water is moving (wind). If there are more puddles or wet areas around the pond that might be where the mosquitoes are coming from. But you may also get other insects mayflies and such from being near the pond. We use natural means to keep the pond water clear of algae, but many people use chemicals. I don't know what the results of the chemicals are - insect explosions or more/less wildlife. Natural means is dye to keep sunlight from feeding the algae. Bales of hay scattered in (little ponds use barley straw, but that is ineffective and too expensive for a big pond). Muskrats are the biggest problem since they dig into the pond walls causing leaks. And they multiply like crazy. We pay a trapper when we see muskrats. We have asked the state wildlife professional about muskrats in the hopes that we could do something else, but every book or person we consulted said you have to get rid of muskrats. We have seen snakes around the pond but also lots of turtles, frogs, and these animals attact heron - great blue and green heron. We have geese nest on the pond and ducks visit. You get a lot of poop from geese that some people don't like. Geese are seasonal so you might have them at a different part of the year. We get them in the spring and some in the fall, but if you are in Florida you might get them in the winter. We have a pump that we can add water from our stream if the pond gets too low in the summer. You can also have fishkill if there is not enough oxygen in the pond for the fish. It is more work/money than you might think. It isn't really hard work, but it depends on what you like/value. They are pretty to look at. It does make the area around the pond cooler. ETA: Boys under 3 years old are the most like to drown in pond/swimming pool. Just in case you have kids in that category you might want to be aware of the stats. Also with ponds there can be mud on the banks that kids (mainly boys) can slip and get stuck in/or drown. Edited July 10, 2009 by OrganicAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Thanks for your input everyone! It's definitely something to think about. I never thought about the "school" aspect of it LOL. And I had already begun planning a nature study to be a big part of our homeschool next year. This would be perfect LOL. We've visited the house twice and I've made sure to go down by the pond each time. I dont notice any mosquitos or any smells. I also did not see any ducks or geese. Actually, the only "wildlife" I saw there was an egret walking on the other side of the pond. I would love to talk to the neighbors though. We are going to see the house again on Sunday evening....maybe we can talk with some of the neighbors then. I'm not too worried about water safety, as we've lived with an in-ground pool in our backyard for years now. My two young children are actually taking survival swimming lessons right now. And also, we would defintely fence off the pond with a wrought iron fence (so that we can still see the pone), just as our pool is fenced off currently. I'm just freaked about the possibility of snakes....and I dont so much mind harmless snakes....it is cotton mouths and moccasins I would be worried about. And a frozen pond is definitely not something we have to worry about down here in Florida. Although, with this heat, sometimes I wish we did have to worry about it LOL! In Florida you have huge gators, are there any in the pond? We have snakes everywhere in central Tx where I live. Usually if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. We have found snakes all around our new house, but none of them have come after us. They just want to get away from us, so we stand still and let them go. They are great to keep the mice and other critters down too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennC Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) I do not want to discourage you from your housing find. But only to give you a question to ask your potential neighbors. We lived in a subdivision with a large pond - fishing/swimming beach / bike trail - very nice. But it attracted people like crazy (I know some of you non "littlehouseontheprairie" types will tell me "that is the point") but it you are one of those "LHOTP" types like me, you may not appreciate 20 unsupervised, screaming kids who can't swim tearing through the park 100 feet from your house from sun-up to ??? sundown doesn't mean anything to some people. Ask them "So is the pond used a lot by neighborhood children? Is there an expectation that children are behaved, supervised, etc?" How about class/church/office/birthday/wedding/OMG its tuesday again parties? Just my $1.02 ETA: now keep in mind that we moved from there to a place where nothing is within 100 feet of my backyard and my garden is bigger then my previous backyard. I should have been named Ingalls - and my 5 yo talks about Charles like he is our neighbor.:) Edited July 10, 2009 by JennC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 We live in an old association, it's more than 70 years old, on two lakes, called, coincidentially enough, Twin Lakes. the lakes are quite small and are fed via a small river. They're large enough for swimming and fishing but not really for boating. We don't live on the immediate block of the lakes, but two blocks over. We don't have any additional problems with bugs or snakes, but then this is New Jersey. Alot would depend on the what geographic region your in. I would assume critters would be more of a problem in the South. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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