My in-laws live on 120 acres in West Texas. Any advice on safety for a mobile baby in the country? I'm having panic attacks about bugs and snakes and guns and other non-baby-safe things that lurk in country living. Being miles and miles and miles away from a hospital also gives me the heeby jeebies!
We are visiting this weekend. LO is on the cusp of being mobile.
pear / 1650 posts
No real advice but didn't want to read and ignore. City girl, so I can feel you on being worried about these things!
I feel like "guns" will be OK - you can check with in laws and make sure that they have them locked in a safe/out of reach. (I'm assuming you're not picturing everyone walking around with pistols on holsters lol)
Bugs/snakes: again, i'm sure that since they live there, they have their home bug/snake proofed? Not sure how it works!
I read somewhere that we should be more concerned about getting hit by a car in the city, than getting bit in the country. But I can't substantiate that 
blogger / nectarine / 2608 posts
I can at least somewhat substatiate that the bug/snake fear, while legitimate, can be mostly put to rest. Most creatures don't want to get into confrontations, and typically do not, unless there is no other choice. My biggest tip for you is to just be present, and be mindful and vigilant. Ellie plays outside by herself because she's old enough to know our safety rules, but I am always with Lorelei. The other day we discovered rat poison in one of the tractors, and the day before that she found a bunch of screws in the scrap heap. Just having your eyes open takes care of most anything that might be worrisome. There certainly can be dangers, but there's lots of fun to be had, too!
eggplant / 11716 posts
@highwire: oooh, just read this. I grew up wayyyy in the middle of nowhere, West Texas. I didn't grow up on a ranch of 120 acres, but I had friends who did and my older sister and her husband ran a ranch for a few years and they had 3 kids and lived SUPER out in the middle of nowhere.
Having said that---I think on a visit, you'll be perfectly safe. We definitely had our share of tarantulas, rattle snakes, etc--but we only had about 1 good story a year---so the chances of you guys having a run-in during a short visit is slim.
I did have a friends' dad shoot the head off a rattlesnake in front of us once---which, looking back, means that I guess he was carrying a loaded gun and that we were traipsing around big bushes and stuff---I was probably 8. My mom also killed a rattlesnake blocking our front door with a shovel---and SHE was a southern belle type that grew up in Virginia. haha.
You'll be fine. We lived a good 45 minutes from the nearest hospital---never had any issues. =)
papaya / 10560 posts
I live in west texas 
just normal good parenting! I don't leave DS unattended (he can't wander off yet) if we are outside. I wipe LO down with bug spray if we're outside for a while, but the mosquitoes aren't bad here yet.
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