Those lizards . . . there are about a dozen of them living on and around my front porch. They are funny to watch - they have a very strict territorial code, and when one gets too close to another's territory, there's lots of macho posturing and body language. They are called "anoles", btw. They are voracious predators, eating as many bugs as they can find.
The roaches aren't as bad as you might think. Like Inky said, they stay outside. If you find one inside the house, it is probably trying to find it's way back outside. The freakiest thing about them is they can fly.
Haven't ever seen a scorpion here (on the coast of the Panhandle), but south Florida might have them.
The skeeters are almost as bad as the ones in New Jersey . . .
By far, the strangest critter we have around here is the armadillo. They are like armored opossums - people call them "possum on the half shell".
The bad thing about them is that they are nocturnal diggers - they love to eat worms and will dig holes all over your yard and garden overnight. The only way to get rid of them is to kill them or trap and relocate them. But as soon as you get rid of one, another comes along to replace it.
Fire ants are a serious nuisance. Their bite stings at first, then it leaves a welt that will itch terribly for days. If you destroy a fire ant mound, another pops up a few feet away in a few days. The only way to control them is to use poison bait granules that the worker ants carry to the queen ant to feed her. When the queen dies, the whole colony dies.
None of the other nuisances are all that bad. It really is a cool place to live (if you can tolerate sand and HOT, humid summers (thank Gawd for air conditioning). There's tons of stuff to do at the beach (I am a certified bikini inspector
) lots of good seafood, and if you like boats and watersports, it's heaven. And there are cool birds and nice critters like lots of deer. There are snowy egrets, herons, giant pileated woodpeckers, bluebirds, owls and hawks living on my property, and otters, alligators, and raccoons play in the river that forms my back property line.
Mare - check out these links!
http://www.floridastateparks.org/
http://www.flausa.com/
And the most useful and powerful website for Florida residents:
http://www.myflorida.com/