Advice Re: Premier homesites at Evans Prairie

[OhioG-Ma]

Fell in love with TV!! Have visited twice and planning to retire and build new south of 466A

Wondering pros and cons of living near the Nature Preserve at Evans Prairie?
Does TV do a nice job of caring for the preserve and are the bugs/critters a problem? Can others who are living near other preserves on TV give us any advice or caution before we choose the lot?

Choices of sunset/golf course views (west facing lanai HOT) or golf course/nature preserve views (south facing lanai)

Thanks much!

[jimbo2012]

Our lot is near a preserve, but we haven't built yet... so can say much about the critters.

As far as lanai, without a doubt as close to south as possible for year round comfort.

[spk7951]

A couple of our friends have west facing lanais on a golf course. Both have had to install curtains because the late afternoon summer sun is too unbearable for them on the lanai.

[njbchbum]

you might want to do a search on blind mosquitos and another on spiders re your question - i understand from having read threads on those topics that the critters can be intensified in areas near water.

jane032657 is one of the posters who wrote about her particular problems - you might want to look up her posts and/or private message her re her resolutions.

[keithwand]

We enjoy our West facing lanai/ pool.
Maybe we have a deeper lanai in the Sanibel model than others because we have no problem with heat/ sun and enjoy the sunsets while sitting outside.
We do hear a lot and I mean a lot of frogs from the golf course.
There is nothing for TV to maintain a preserve or wetland other than leave it alone.

[jojo]

We enjoy our West facing lanai/ pool.
Maybe we have a deeper lanai in the Sanibel model than others because we have no problem with heat/ sun and enjoy the sunsets while sitting outside.
We do hear a lot and I mean a lot of frogs from the golf course.
There is nothing for TV to maintain a preserve or wetland other than leave it alone.

Ditto Keithwand. We love the sunsets and eat almost all of our meals outside on a west, slightly southwest lanai. I had roller shades installed because I thought I would need them in the house and have never used them. The frogs are another story - some summer evenings you cannot carry on a conversation on the lanai. Fortunately it's quiet most of the time.

[justjim]

Fell in love with TV!! Have visited twice and planning to retire and build new south of 466A

Wondering pros and cons of living near the Nature Preserve at Evans Prairie?
Does TV do a nice job of caring for the preserve and are the bugs/critters a problem? Can others who are living near other preserves on TV give us any advice or caution before we choose the lot?

Choices of sunset/golf course views (west facing lanai HOT) or golf course/nature preserve views (south facing lanai)

Thanks much!

Frankly, any lanai is not very comfortable in the summer much after 10 am. But especially one facing west. Golf course lot in the right location is hard to beat IMHO.

[jane032657]

Yes here I am. Well we have not moved in yet full time but will as of early November. However, I have spent time in March and August at our new home and it is on a preserve facing Live Oaks Park on one side and Lake Sumter on the other. In March, and you can search my former posts, I arrived to a Hitchcock horror as I was uninformed of what awaited me. not hundreds but thousands of blind mosquitos, they live by night and die by day I believe. They are attracted to light. They cling to the garage. And they swarm after you when you pull your garage door up at night to drive your golf cart or whatever in and have a buzzzz. My first night I hid in the back bedroom with all the doors closed in fear of whatever they were, which I later found out they were blind mosquitos. They do not bite and they are tiny and swarm, and then are crunchy in piles when they die. I remember calling my husband (who remained behind as it was tax season and he is a CPA) and told him I might have to go to a hotel and never come back! Anyway, I chilled out when my fellow TOTV's helped me understand what they were. So I washed the garage every day, turned the lights off at night, and swept them up daily. WARNING-if they get on you do not wipe them off as they smear. I think I had them worse than my other Hacienda of Mission Hills neighbors. Much worse.
Now in August, it was spiders on the house, lots and lots of spiders. You have to sweep and wash them off regularly and we have the house sprayed for them. But my understanding is everyone had them, not just those on the water/preserve side.
Also in August, but we loved it, there was the loudest orchestra of crickets and bull frogs, like a symphony. It was a riot. That to me is not an issue.
We can also see the alligators swimming way out in the lake from our house, not close up at all, but you can see them moving.
So yes, probably more bugs I would guess. But also more beautiful birds flying through and we have a resident Blue Heron that hangs out on the trees in the preserve. I would not change our location for anything but I had to become educated about what I was facing. We have NO bugs in Seattle and we are on a half acre. It was quite an awakening!!! I am wondering how my husband will react when he has the spring blind mosquito experience. I do not think he will like them...

[OhioG-Ma]

Yes here I am. Well we have not moved in yet full time but will as of early November. However, I have spent time in March and August at our new home and it is on a preserve facing Live Oaks Park on one side and Lake Sumter on the other. In March, and you can search my former posts, I arrived to a Hitchcock horror as I was uninformed of what awaited me. not hundreds but thousands of blind mosquitos, they live by night and die by day I believe. They are attracted to light. They cling to the garage. And they swarm after you when you pull your garage door up at night to drive your golf cart or whatever in and have a buzzzz. My first night I hid in the back bedroom with all the doors closed in fear of whatever they were, which I later found out they were blind mosquitos. They do not bite and they are tiny and swarm, and then are crunchy in piles when they die. I remember calling my husband (who remained behind as it was tax season and he is a CPA) and told him I might have to go to a hotel and never come back! Anyway, I chilled out when my fellow TOTV's helped me understand what they were. So I washed the garage every day, turned the lights off at night, and swept them up daily. WARNING-if they get on you do not wipe them off as they smear. I think I had them worse than my other Hacienda of Mission Hills neighbors. Much worse.
Now in August, it was spiders on the house, lots and lots of spiders. You have to sweep and wash them off regularly and we have the house sprayed for them. But my understanding is everyone had them, not just those on the water/preserve side.
Also in August, but we loved it, there was the loudest orchestra of crickets and bull frogs, like a symphony. It was a riot. That to me is not an issue.
We can also see the alligators swimming way out in the lake from our house, not close up at all, but you can see them moving.
So yes, probably more bugs I would guess. But also more beautiful birds flying through and we have a resident Blue Heron that hangs out on the trees in the preserve. I would not change our location for anything but I had to become educated about what I was facing. We have NO bugs in Seattle and we are on a half acre. It was quite an awakening!!! I am wondering how my husband will react when he has the spring blind mosquito experience. I do not think he will like them...

Thanks for all the replies so far..Wow! Jane, your experience sounds a little scary! Being from Ohio, we do get mosquitos that bite and makes sitting on decks impossible at dusk/evening many times, but never had to wash down the garage because of swarming and sweeping up the crunchy ones in the thousands!!!! So if we are tryng to enjoy a view of the preserve from lanai in the evening, are they swarming on your screen because of the light? Not sure I could handle that!

The most interesting part of your post was the fact that you said you "would not change your location for anything". So I am guessing the pros win out over the cons? I will need an education on pest control!!!!

[asianthree]

jane you are a brave woman

[NIPAS K-9]

Yes here I am. Well we have not moved in yet full time but will as of early November. However, I have spent time in March and August at our new home and it is on a preserve facing Live Oaks Park on one side and Lake Sumter on the other. In March, and you can search my former posts, I arrived to a Hitchcock horror as I was uninformed of what awaited me. not hundreds but thousands of blind mosquitos, they live by night and die by day I believe. They are attracted to light. They cling to the garage. And they swarm after you when you pull your garage door up at night to drive your golf cart or whatever in and have a buzzzz. My first night I hid in the back bedroom with all the doors closed in fear of whatever they were, which I later found out they were blind mosquitos. They do not bite and they are tiny and swarm, and then are crunchy in piles when they die. I remember calling my husband (who remained behind as it was tax season and he is a CPA) and told him I might have to go to a hotel and never come back! Anyway, I chilled out when my fellow TOTV's helped me understand what they were. So I washed the garage every day, turned the lights off at night, and swept them up daily. WARNING-if they get on you do not wipe them off as they smear. I think I had them worse than my other Hacienda of Mission Hills neighbors. Much worse.
Now in August, it was spiders on the house, lots and lots of spiders. You have to sweep and wash them off regularly and we have the house sprayed for them. But my understanding is everyone had them, not just those on the water/preserve side.
Also in August, but we loved it, there was the loudest orchestra of crickets and bull frogs, like a symphony. It was a riot. That to me is not an issue.
We can also see the alligators swimming way out in the lake from our house, not close up at all, but you can see them moving.
So yes, probably more bugs I would guess. But also more beautiful birds flying through and we have a resident Blue Heron that hangs out on the trees in the preserve. I would not change our location for anything but I had to become educated about what I was facing. We have NO bugs in Seattle and we are on a half acre. It was quite an awakening!!! I am wondering how my husband will react when he has the spring blind mosquito experience. I do not think he will like them...

Thanks for your informayion. We bought a home in Mission Hills closer to the 466 in the middle, not on the water(lake sumter) . im wondering how that area will be. Do you have any friends/neighbors around that portion?

[jane032657]

Thanks for your informayion. We bought a home in Mission Hills closer to the 466 in the middle, not on the water(lake sumter) . im wondering how that area will be. Do you have any friends/neighbors around that portion?

There is a Mission Hills group on Facebook so that is a good place to ask. I do know a few people who had no blind mosquitos who live more interior at Mission Hills. I think a lot of people had spiders from what I heard. Lots of spiders. I think you just learn to cope. Ask me next March and hopefully I am not locked in a back room in our house! I am not brave (in response to the previous poster). I do not like bugs, I do not talk medical details and do not like to hear about people's procedures; and my best friend is the Terminex man in Seattle (next to my husband) as we live close to the ocean which sometimes brings a rat into the basement or attic. The only thing brave about me is I am leaving Seattle for The Villages and giving up a bug free life.