[graciegirl]

When you live here for awhile, you learn more. I still haven't seen a rat or a mouse and no one of my neighbors have mentioned them so I am guessing that because this area is two years old they haven't found their way here yet after the place was cleared right down to the sand before building.

It was a while after moving in that we saw our first gekko, but the ants were the first welcoming committee. Snakes have been reported and we have three trillion dragonflys right now.

After re-reading the old posts on this thread I think that K9-lovers have hit the reason for the attraction for the rats. Yucky.

My relatives had a place for many years in Venice, Florida and they never mentioned rats and we didn't see any during our frequent visits. So as tpop pointed out on another thread, we come to our life conclusions by our own experiences.

I would guess that the developers are in charge here of ridding this place of critters that are a threat to health and safety and I don't know how that works. I don't know how long or how hard it was to get the exterminators to take care of the rats, but apparently they did...until they come back again.

I have had good experiences for asking for things from them and getting them. Here is my recent experience. When we returned the plantings near the wall in back of our house that separates us from the Odell center was just filled with big ugly weeds among the ornamental grasses. I knew that I had seen people weeding there before but bein' a farmin' Ohioan, I took them on and was soon covered with little itchy picky seeds. Sweetie joined me but we both stopped when we saw that we would have to wade into the planting beds. We couldn't see our feet so we figured we couldn't see snakes either. So I walked over and to Odell and told the manager about the problem.

She apologized, said that some team of inspectors from The Villages had told her the same thing and she said that whoever was supposed to do it would do it or would be replaced. In two hours two fellows were out there getting themselves all hot and sticky and seedy pulling those weeds.

However, I don't know since we are on the newer side that help is faster to come. I certainly do not put weeds on the level of rats.


Correction added two hours after original post. Girls in neighborhood just had driveway chat. Massey was there this morning at neighbors house for mice. Mice officially in Hadley.