I've never seen any in or near my house. I live near the petroglyphs. Nor have I heard of anyone that has.

We have plenty of rattlers and bullsnakes here at the base of the foothills near Colorado Springs. Never find any in the houses here and have never heard of anyone who has either.

Wondering if that lady had an abundance of rodents in her house or something? And if the place was vacant for any appreciable length of time? Not a common occurrance as far as I know.

I work in SE Colorado in the summer near the NM border. I know that at least one rattler has taken up residence in the backyard of the house I stay in. But never seen evidence of any snake in the house despite it only being used one week a month in the winter and a few months in the summer. Other houses on the property are filled with snakes (red racers, rattlers, bullsnakes). They are also totally abandoned houses with tons of rodents.

i LIVE in the Sandia foothills, and have NEVER found a snake in my house

I've lived in the University Heights/Nob Hill area for 15 years and have never seen a wild snake around here. I work for the Tram (right in the foothills) and have only seen a couple of Bull snakes. Up higher (around 7,500 ft.) about 10 years ago, I came across a young western diamondback rattler and I once came across a very large and lethargic diamondback way up on the mesa about a mile from the largest volcano. No houses near there though. I wouldn't worry about snakes getting into your home. It's the cockroaches you have to watch out for:-)

Farmer Maggot

I live in the south valley, a rural area of Albq., and have seen 2 snakes in my yard in 25 years. One was in November! at night! and I had the hardest time getting someone out to get it. When I called Animal Control, they told me I was imagining I had a snake in my yard, despite my numerous dogs barking their heads off at it! The fire dept. told me "There's no snake in your yard, lady, it's November." I told them to tell it to the snake. My neighbor came over and we got it out of the dogs' yard, and it was real cold (some snow on ground) so I put a bucket over it. Finally Animal Control came out and the guy said he felt guilty about doubting me, so I showed him the snake and he took it. I asked what they would do with it, and they said they kept them over the winter and released them in the spring. Yeah, right.

And one scorpion in 25 years. The field mice? Forget about it!

I live over on the West Side (Taylor Ranch) and have never seen a snake, scorpion, or tarantula since I've been here (10 years). Wildlife I have seen include lots of mourning doves (almost like pigeons here), occasional goshawks, roadrunners, and sometimes hear coyotes at night in the distance, but that's about it. Roaches are BY FAR the biggest pest, insect control is a must as far as I'm concerned (Orkin, or whoever). I have two indoor cats and have never seen a mouse, dead-or-alive, in the house. I used to come across their bodies(cat toys) once in a while in my old home in Utah.

I have heard "hear-say" not to let smaller pets outside your home at night due to coyotes and great-horned owls, particularly the owls.

I am also looking to move to ABQ, Forest Service is centeralizing it's accounting in ABQ. I have to beable to garden, I understand ABQ has a water problem. If so, how bad, can I have a lawn and would love a pool. Are the roaches realy that bad? I know every city has problems, but what area do we want to stay out of? Would like to have a 1/2 - one acre of property, don't what to be right on top of neigbors. Have 2 large dogs and 8 cats, what them all safe, and not causing trouble for next door.

Lanay - yes, we are a desert environment with a drought that has lasted for several years. You will not be able to re-create your NoCA environment here. That warning aside, with the use of native plants, drip irrigation and container gardening you can have lush, vibrant veggie/flower filled gardens. Check out: Plants of the SW website, Santa Ana Native Nursery for ideas. Also books by Judith Phillips and others on xeriscaping. As a life-long New Mexican, I am having a (possibily) knee-jerk reaction to the "would love a pool" comment (made by many "outsiders) who move here) -- they take water (which is in short-supply) and there are lots of clubs around you can join that have pools - you might want to reconsider that option -- or opt for a smaller, water feature in your yard (for birds, wildlife, and toe-wetting). There are several companies here that specialize in such features, but none that I can think of off the top of my head. Also -- a warning for the 8 cats: everyone warns about not allowing small pets outside at night because of the coyote danger but the real danger from coyotes is around dawn -- about the time folks are up, getting ready for work -- when a nice little pet snack seems appropriate. If you buy in an area with as much land as you're looking at, coyotes *could* be a problem -- they are very city-wise and show up where you don't expect them too. Please feel free to contact me if there is anything else I can help you with -- jo

You know Lanay, there aren't that many pools here. Not because of water...pools don't use that much water...because of the climate.

Even in the height of the summer, it'll be 60 degrees at night. Brrr. Make that pool heated.

Don't know your work schedule or your pocketbook. If you're into lush gardens you might consider the valley areas along the river. All the way down to Belen if 40 miles on the interstate doesn't bother you.

That said, listen to the other poster. xeriscape doesn't mean a bunch of rock and cactus. Buy Phillips books. Another site to look at is High Country Gardens.

I have a great, green, blooming yard and not a blade of grass in site. Grass is what really makes the water meter spin.

If you need a realtor, check out www.idakelly.com. Great gal, very professional and well respected.

Hi Lanay,

Yes you will be able to garden here, and if you are water-wise and use and automatic drip system you'll be able to enjoy a great variety of plants - native or not.

Actually as for water use, a lawn takes significantly more water than a swimming pool, so if you were to choose between the two based on water usage, go for the swimming pool. Please see:
http://www.poolspanews.com/2001/081/081study.html and
http://www.homeownernet.com/articles/swpools.html which shows a lawn in Albuquerque is nearly 2x more water intensive (3"/week) than the average(1.6"/week) used in the first study, so a pool makes even more sense as a water conservation alternative to lawn in this area.

So... I would think much harder about whether you really want/need a lawn, perhaps just big enough to play badmitton or provide a play-area if you have children. I'm hoping to convert my 20x40 lawn into a mix of thyme and roman chamomile this summer - I hate grass, hehe, but I know some people love it :)

I'll chime in as another 'anti-lawn' voice. They are water hogs, require pesticides and chemical fertilizers to even look halfway decent and frankly they are about as appropriate as palm trees in Alaska. There are nice native bunch grasses but they don't make lawns as I think you are imagining. They are great for xeriscaping though.

That said, a little 'grass island' inside a xeriscaped yard where you can lounge barefooted can be nice without being too demanding of our precious water resources.
Also, while some neighborhoods in Albuquerque are still pretty lawn-friendly, others will get you nasty looks from the eco-sensitive neighbors especially if you convert a xeriscaped yard.

Do Forest Service jobs really pay enough for their employees to build swimming pools? It seems to me that swimming pools in Albuquerque are a luxury for the absurdly rich. (No offence to any Albuquerqueans with swimming pools :-)

DON'T START TELLING ME ABOUT ROACHES! TELL ME THAT A NICE HOUSE IN ABQ WOULD GET ROACHES? I HATE BUGS, AND ONE REASON I'M MOVING FROM CHICAGO TO ABQ. IS NO MOSQUITOES, ETC., AND I THOUGHT NO ROACHES......ARE THE ROACHES AS BAD AS THEY ARE IN NORTH CAROLINA OR FLORIDAY. HOPE NOT!

Well, I'd offer to send you a couple breeding pairs of Brown Recluse Spiders from here in Oklahoma. There's no way that I'll ever have roaches...as long as the spiders are here to eat them.

Well, roaches live in houses. Houses are not dry. You will also want to keep your compost heap away from the house as the roaches like them. From what I've heard, the roaches here are not as big as those in florida. Here they are .75 to 2 inches long. I think there are 2 main kinds. The smaller dark black greasy looking kind and the BIG reddish ones that sometimes fly. I call them the 'Generals'. They are much fewer in number than the 'infantry' (the greasy kind).

This is not to scare you off of Albuquerque, it is not that bad and a little borax goes a long way. I only saw 3 or 4 in my house last year. My friend who lives in a MUCH nicer neighborhood had a lot more.

Also, If you live in the Valley, you WILL have mosquitoes too.

I lived in Waco, TX for five years after living in Albuquerque and Farmington, NM. While I did experience some roaches in Albququerque, the bugs are NOTHING like they are in the Central Texas area. They had roaches there that were nearly as big as our cat! (Just kidding) It seemed to me that they are easier to eliminate here in Albuquerque.
I live out on the West Mesa of the area, and in our developed neighborhood, the only bugs that are a problem are small black ants. Haven't seen a roach, or even a spider in the house in the year we have lived here.

Re the roaches and mosquitoes. I live in S. Valley up on the mesa. In 25 years, there has never been a roach in my house or yard. It's just too dry, and we have septic tanks, not water pipes. I get centipedes in the house occasionally, a spider or two a year, but no mosquitoes either. Hence, I've abandoned the idea of a pond. Don't want those skeeters.
Living in NM, esp. Albq., is an adventure and a continuous journey of learning. Good luck and welcome, newcomers!

I have been in NM just over 15 years and have rarely come across snakes. Also I don't see many roaches either though I am sure they are around. The times I have seen them are just around summertime.
Compared to other parts of the country, I think NM has an edge on bugs in general.

RE: Snakes.

I live in TX, not near NM, but I have lived in areas where I was likely to find a snake in or near the house. The most important thing to do to avoid finding a snake in your house is to keep the grass/groundcover low, low, low. We live in the middle of Austin and we have tons of baby copperheads and rat snakes in our yard if we don't mow often. When the grass is short, we never find them. When it's long, we see tons. So the "no grass" advice is probably very good advice!

Also, some pest services will offer a "snake repellent" service where they spray or spread something (I don't know what) around your foundation every 3 months or so to keep snakes from coming inside. I've never used the service, so I don't know how well it works or how eco-friendly it is, but my friend swears by it. She moved to Austin from St. Petersburg (Russia) and was COMPLETELY freaked to find scorpions, tarantulas, snakes, centipedes, milipedes, roaches, deer, racoons, coyotes and even an armadillo in and around the house she rented (inside city limits but near a greenbelt), so she quickly became familiar with all the wildlife services in the phonebook! (She liked most of the critters, but I think she is permanently scarred by the scorpion experiences, even though she was never stung...)

Good luck with your move! And no matter what you see in Alb, at least it's not Texas!

No snakes in my home either...nor have I heard of anyone I know finding one in their house. Roach population is nothing compared to the south...control is not difficult and they tend to be of a smaller variety. Centipedes, however, can enter homes around here during summer. Best control is to keep ground dry around foundation and spray around foundation with "home defense" or some such product. We have a long growing season and a wide choice of plants that grow well here. Water conservation is important here but certainly doesn't preclude gardening. High water use lawns such as bluegrass would be inappropriate in the desert but there are good alternatives. I ditto the recommendations mentioned in above posts as well as the city's guide to xeriscaping (I beleive the website is cabq.gov and click on water conservation).

Cynthia

Wonder if the lady with snakes in house was referring to the garage as "house". Yes, they will crawl into the garage if not properly sealed. The two bull snakes we've had came in that way and then slithered down into the space between the wall and concrete floor. Snakes follow mice....or birds.

If snakes truly in house, she has an opening somewhere.....I'd be digging around the foundation looking for entry. Friend lives in foothills and gets snakes in back yard even with a tall wall around. Darn gophers dig under the wall and the snakes follow.

Lany, I'm familiar with the new center. My husband works at the Regional office and comes home with names of people you are stealing away!

I'm no where near you but I can walk less than ten feet out my door and see snake tracks. I only have about once a year where one will come in (last year a king snake unfortunately squished and the year before a gopher snake). I've only seen a rattler once and I live in the high desert (Mojave). I know they are around in abundance though because I have a friend that captures and later realeases them.

Adrea

I JUST NEED SOMEONE TO TELL ME THAT THE ROACHES ARE NOT AS BAD THERE AS IN CHICAGO OR NORTH CAROLINA, ETC. I LIVED IN DALLAS MANY YEARS AGO FOR A SHORT TIME (1-1/2 YRS) AND MOVED BACK TO ILLINOIS BECAUSE OF THE ROACHES and I DID SEE A BABY SCORPION (DEAD, THANKFULLY). I'm thinking of moving to ABQ, but all this bug talk is making me skittish. In your opinion, WHERE IN THE CITY IS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE FOR LESS BUGS....OUR FRIENDS LIVE IN FAR NE BY SPAIN/TRAMWAY AND SWEARS THEY NEVER HAVE SEEN A ROACH OR SCORPION (I think they're lieing cause they want us to move there). WE DID LOOK AT NEW HOMES IN RIO RANCHO, FAR WEST ABQ., WOULD THAT BE A MISTAKE FOR BUGS SINCE IT'S ALL NEW SUBDIVISIONS, ETC.....PLEASE HELP....

I have never had a big roach problem and I haven't heard of any better or worse "bug areas" of the city or surrounding areas. Scorpions are rare. I have never seen one in my house or yard. Last year I saw 1 small roach on the patio at night.

In the Fall of '09, I am planning on making the move to Farmington. I'll be a full time student at SJC, and other than finances - my main concern is for the well being my two Jack Russell Terrier children. The ten year old was struck on the snout by a Timber Rattler here in Georgia about five years ago, and nearly died. I'm sure the snake saw the experience in a similar light. Nevertheless, since then I suppose I have been overly cautious about snake hazards. To further irritate the problem is the breeds tendency to stick their nose where it doesn't belong. I would like to know if anyone can give me a realistic idea of what to expect in the way of small pet hazards in the Farmington area. Thanks.

Lots of really big snakes in Corrales, mostly bull snakes but everywhere. Get a pest service for roaches and ants inside, fire ants are everywhere in the sand. Do your yard work early, most snakes come out later and just keep an eye out for them. Wear boots when you hike and learn to live with the environment. Lots of snakes on the Bosque, watch your step. Interesting bugs are mostly out at night, don’t sit against a stucco wall in dim light, Embrace what you see, most of it is harmless and a spray of cold water will chase it away. Watch your pets, coyotes are very bold and will take anything! April to November is snake season usually. Just be aware and certainly give everything it’s space, you will be fine👍🏻the goal for plants is to thrive not just survive!