Everything I Need to Know (About Pests and Varmints) I Learned in Texas

By request, here are some things this northern city girl has learned from living in Texas:

1. Bats can squeeze under doors. One afternoon, 3 bats swooped into our offices at Texas A&M. Before the bat police could get there, a co-worker locked them into the conference room. We all stood by the door, relieved, when they flew out from under the door and terrorized the office a bit longer.
2. Rats are not possums. I came home from work in College Station to find a lifeless rodent in our driveway. It was about 8" long with a tail that looked like it could wrap around a tree a few times and sleep. I took a picture, because I thought it might be a possum "playing possum" and I wanted Jason to see it before it woke up and ran away. Come to find out, it was just a dead rat.
3. Cockroaches can fly. I learned this while moving into the farmhouse in Normangee, TX. I used a spray to "flush" them out, and they started flying around the whole house. I called Jason while standing on a chair in the living room, crying "I am a prisoner in my own home."
4. Armadillos Need Glasses. We were walking in Commerce, TX, when I almost tripped over an armadillo. Gross. That's when I learned that they don't see well, so they don't scamper away from people like other animals do. They also get run over a lot, judging from Texas highway shoulders.
5. Rattlesnakes do not sting you with their rattle. They actually bite you like all the other snakes in the world. I learned this after I told Jason I wanted to go to the Rattlesnake Round-up. Conversation--J: Aren't you afraid of snakes? C: Yes, but I can just avoid their tails.