Summer in the Arkansas Ozarks

If you are considering a move to the Arkansas Ozarks, check out summer first. Unless you plan to live in a climate controlled box and never venture out, you will be meeting all sorts of critters...many helpful and harmless...and then there are those that are not. Add to that the dependably hotter and dryer June, July and August. For some,the low cost of land, low taxes and nonexistant rural building codes won't balance out the daily ticks and chiggers, the occasional copperhead in the garden, the blood sucking conenose in your bed, brown recluses in every undisturbed corner of the house.....some years prolific black widows in every outdoor hidey hole. I know every area has it's downside. I am trying to look at this with 'the problem is the solution' kind of mindset:)

You left out scorpions and tarantulas! When I lived there we had this golden brown carpet and it was the same color as the scorpions that would come in and roam around at night. We had to be *so* careful not to step on them if we had to get up during the night! I threw rocks at a tarantula once because it was in my way, to try to get it to move. It moved alright! Jumped like 4 feet right at me! Oh the stories I could tell!

Here's how AR people cope. Guineas will kill snakes, even poisonous ones. They also eat ticks, spiders, and scorpions. Chickens eat ticks too and stay home better. Don't try to do too much in July/August. It's too hot! Plant shade trees (oaks are good survivors). Enjoy the rest from weeding and mowing because nothing grows then anyway. If you must water, don't forget to spray yourself to cool off. Now is the time to shop, read, plan, and eat bon-bons with your feet up, in front of a fan.

I just visited my sister's house in AR and she had FIGS! The fig tree and the abundance of fruit on it would make a Philadelphia Italian drool in delight. You can grow so much cool stuff there with all that heat!

And the winters are wonderful! You can garden almost all winter long if you're willing to protect your stuff during the few brief cold snaps.

Thanks, Renate...first I should say we moved here in 1973 and I hit this 'wall' every summer. You are right...we NEED guineas...I am putting the word out. We have not had livestock in quite a few years. And yes, scorpians! how could I forget:) I have not seen one in awhile...the last time was in a friends old farmhouse kitchen where three of them fell down into my lap from the ceiling. Once I realized our tarantulas were not poisonous I enjoyed seeing them.
And I am thankful for the planting season...my garden is lush...and our fig and peach trees are covered in fruit...I really do love it here.

...and those foot long centipedes.

Maybe you could sell them online? In the Northeast there's a pretty good trade in exotic-looking bugs like tarantulas and centipedes. There's a source of farm income/livestock that you don't see everyday, LOL!

A bug market venture....I like it. In the past someone did take home a tarantula.
I am rethinking guineas after you reminded me they kill snakes...really it is mainly the ticks and chiggers I would like to knock back a bit. I wouldn't really want to throw off the snake/rodent/lizard/frog etc. balance.

Maybe banties then. The ones we've had have behaved pretty much like wild birds - fending for themselves really well and they can FLY! A full-sized chicken might eat the lizards and snakes but banties would be more likely to just eat bugs.

If you are thinking about getting guineas, my advice is:
Get day old keets. If you get adults, they will spend every waking moment trying to find their way 'home'.

Even with the day olds, it takes about 6 weeks to get feathered out, and then another +/- 6 weeks locked in their coop before they learn that "here" is home.

I would suggest getting a copy of "Gardening With Guineas" before you get the birds. They are different than chickens, and this book will pretty well tell you all you need to know before the little noise-makers get to your place. That is the author's own site, and (if you check the box) she will sign your copy.

Also, try to get them as local as possible, so they are bred for your climate. There is a hatchery near you (Lebanon, MO) that offers guineas at about half the price of most hatcheries. ($48 for 15 keets)
http://www.cacklehatchery.com/page53.htm

Judith, You are scaring me ! Makes my wimpy Wyoming bugs sound good !

Renate...if you have time I would love for you (and anyone else) to share summer in Arkansas stories...I think it would help put living in the Ozarks in perspective. Did you grow up here?

John, thank you...You are reminding me why we never got guineas:) I remember thinking they looked like seed ticks all moving in a group like they do...I don't remember their sound being loud though...our neighbors had them for a long time and then one day they were all gone...I'll have to ask why.

Miles...most of the critters are not all at once...it just seems like some of the worst can pile up summertime.

The only complaints I have ever heard about guineas is their constant 'chattering'. Many people find it annoying.

Two ways to minimize the noise factor:
* Do not get females only. They seem to be noisiest when horny.
That Cackle Hatchery offer is for 'straight run', so that eliminates that problem.

* Don't encourage them to hang out near the house.
Sure, that is where you most want the 'bug patrol', but they should get that population controlled quickly,and will expand outward.
Always give them their supplemental feeding away from the house - where you want them to hang out.
Once they have cleared the area around the house, by moving outwards, they help prevent new populations from moving in.
Perhaps, feeding them near the house every year in early spring, then expanding outwards will solve the worst bug infestations.

Their noise making is actually one of their virtues. They are like watch dogs. If a stranger shows up (even the mailman), they will warn you. Same thing if a possum, 'coon, neighbor's dog, or snake intrudes on their territory.

As far as supplemental feeding goes, their protein requirement is higher than chickens. They should be started on turkey starter, or game bird started, as it has a higher protein level than chick starter.

Yep. I put a lot of effort to find a home on acreage in Arkansas, in the Ozarks.
Found a perfect place for me, everything was right. Made an offer, it was accepted, drove many hours to see it - was covered in attached lone star ticks next day, despite taking a shower and changing. I don't use repellents, avoid toixins, have allergies, etc. Not a place for me.  I grew up where I could roll in the grass if I wanted to, later moved to America and camped all over the West for 15 years, and first time I saw a tick I was almost 40 and first time I was bitten I was 48.
Not something I could get used to.
I guess easier for people who grew up dealing with ticks.
The summer heat is also brutal there. I was about to pass out just from a short walk, I'm from the far North and never adapted to lower latitudes summers despite living in them most of my adult life.
Something to consider, definitely, I'd heavily look into tick situation and walk in the woods in a disposable suite to see how many will attack you.
Summer is the worst season, in a way worse than winter in this region, but my understanding is that ticks are active most of the year.

Renate Howard wrote:
Here's how AR people cope.  Guineas will kill snakes, even poisonous ones.  They also eat ticks, sp
And the winters are wonderful!  You can garden almost all winter long if you're willing to protect your stuff during the few brief cold snaps.

Doubt you can garden winter-long in the Ozarks. I had spent full winter in the Ozarks, it's not the place for year round gardening. There're long and extreme cold spells, and lots of snow sometimes. And overall winters are cold even at low elevations, it's continental climate.
Also, Guineas will not control the ticks. Not really, I guess it depends on one's definition of tick-free environment. Also, it's more likely that raccoons and foxes will control the quineas if they're set loose. People cope by using tons of toxic chemicals and/or staying away from any vegetation much of the year... or ignoring 100 tick bites a year. I have a friend who had spent 30 years on her large property there, she always told me to never go into the woods outside of winter. But the situation with ticks turned out to be a lot worse than I expected, and in summer it was just ticks everywhere, not just in the woods. I decided not to move to the area because of that. Ticks...eww. Makes me realize how precious are places without them.

I forgot about this thread!

We've lived our 49th summer in the Ozarks as of this year
On the whole, at 72yrs (almost), I feel fortunate to have landed here after growing up in the midwest...and yes, ticks are a challenge although we do not resort to toxins nor do many of our peers and I have had tick fever more than once.

We all make choices according to the balance we want in our lives.
Living here has so many plusses I'm willing to accept some more challenging aspects.