I am not a native Texan, which of course will forever count against me here in the Lone Star State. The good thing is that I am proud to be a Canadian and an Albertan, so it really doesn't bother me at all. I will never forget making the decision to move down to Texas. It wasn't something that I took lightly but I have to admit the lure of the Old West, the legends of Texas and the images the name of the state conjures up in the mind made it much easier than moving to say - Idaho.

What I didn't realize is that there are a heck of a lot of things they don't advertise about the state. I still remember when I turned to my co-worker and said, "I'm moving to Texas" and he said, "Did you know there are more ways to die in Texas than almost anywhere else in North America?"

Ok, maybe that is an exaggeration but there definitely are some things that are very different down here. I am not going to do any topic full justice, but here is just a taste.

This small sized spiders are actually shy and try to stay away from people as much as possible but when they do bite they cause massive horrible looking wounds that take months to heal. The worse part is people that are sensitive to the venom will actually develop necrosis of the tissue that will lead to deep lesions of 10 inches or more.  The poison can also spread to internal organs and lead to eventual death. While this is rare, who wants to take the chance?

Although there are only 4 (make a note they stress ONLY 4) types of venomous snakes native to Texas there are actually 15 subspecies that could potentially be lethal. There are snakes all over Texas. People find them in their gardens, their kid's sandboxes and of course the ever popular snake in the toilet complaint. Since many of the venomous snakes look similar to the less harmful snakes it is generally recommended you just stay clear of anything that slithers.

Bats are something you just can't plan for. They swoop in as you are sitting on the deck having a coffee or just enjoying the millions of frogs, crickets and other weird sounding bugs that strike up a chorus as the sun goes down. There are 32 different species of bats found in the state at any given time. Austin, the capital city of Texas, actually promotes the Congress Avenue bridge as a huge tourist attraction as the bats leave from under the bridge every night in the summer. There are millions of the little things that fly out from the bridge to circle the city. Bats on their own are creepy, but bats in your hair are even worse – trust me!

Of course Texas is also home to almost every other type of stinging, biting or menacing insect known to man. Fire ants, very aptly named as they seem to set your skin on fire with their bite, are all over the state. They  make sitting on the grass a very dicey decision unless you are into that sort of thing

Finally, last but not least, are chiggers. I am not making this up, cross my heart. Chiggers are also known as Harvest mites and they chew a tiny hole in your skin, which will soon erupt into an itchy, puss-filled lesion that will drive you crazy.

But hey, what area doesn’t have its own little secrets?