I hate scorpions!
 

I have gotten my house "sealed" for 3G's, get my house sprayed for the crickets monthly and they still are here! I have been stung once. Hurt like a booger and my leg was numb for a week. My older son got stung when he was 4. Scared the poop out of me. Had to take him to the ER. Poison Control knows me well.

Any other grand ideas? I hate the little boogers and I really don't want me or the boys getting stung... Again. Found this big one on my bedroom wall. Ewwwwww!

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Move. My wife's from AZ and scorpions freak her out. Me too in fact.

I love Scorpions

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I think someone here has posted before that he goes out just after dark with a black light and a hammer. I'm not sure how long he does it before he notices a reduction in the number of them.

I think I'd rather have a problem with scorpions than tarantulas, but honestly, I don't think that I want either inside my house.

Ahwatukee is a scorpion hot spot for some reason. I've gotten used to them. We averaged three/week inside the house when we first moved here. I took the fight outside and started going out every night with a black light when the weather warmed up. Years later, it's very rare that we find more than a couple inside over a summer.

This was a pic I took in 2008 or so when I went out for the first hunt of the season. There were >20!

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I'm not sure why, but I think maybe it's LeeH. I dunno, just a hunch on my part.

;)

Ha ha! I think your hunch is right!

Lee! Well, I only find a few in the summer as well but I would like to reduce the number even more. And your picture made me about jump put of my skin. Those things are just so creepy looking. I know so many people who have them in their places too and they just shrug it off. You would think as many years that I have lived here I would too. When I lived in Chandler, I never saw one... More black widows.

Well, I guess me and the boys are gonna go hunting a couple nights a week. Make them wear high boots or something. They will think it is fun. Mama... Not so much. :(

I actually love THOSE scorpions too. ;)

Oh, I need to buy a black light. And didn't we joke about somebody getting a scorpion for the Pelican Gift exchange when we were joking about the stuffed squirrel? Hmmmmmm...

I hear they are good fried in butter?

Meanwhile...

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Well, you can come to my house for an all-you-can-eat buffet. You just have to catch them yourself. ;)

Holy smoke, look at those ugly things. What happens when you have been bitten by one of em? How do you catch them in the house smack then with a shoe? I wouldn't want to pick then up after they are dead.

All this scorpion talk put me in the mood to hunt. It's still a little cool out at night so only one customer peaking out from a gap in the block wall.

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Lee, you are nuts. Wanna come to my house and do a scorpion sweep? Twice a month? I will send you home with home cooked Asian meals. Does your family like Asian food? :)

uh oh...
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What do they do to seal it for $3K?

Hmmmm... plant lavender and get a cat, according to this:

How to Naturally Deter Scorpions: 7 steps - wikiHow

And then, from another source:

Humans are certainly a big predator of the Scorpion. In some locations such as China they are a big part of the food creation process. Skewers of them mixed with various fruits and vegetables is seen as a delightful dish in many areas. Of course it would take quite a few of them to be able to offer enough of this dish.

Due to the fact that most humans are absolutely not willing to put up with them is why they are being destroyed. First, they often upset the natural habitat such as when they are taking part in construction efforts.

When they do spot the Scorpion they are doing all they can to exterminate them. They may use pesticides or call in the professionals to take care of them. These chemicals are very dangerous though and they rarely work. :eek: In fact, humans are creating a worse living condition for themselves by using them.

Scorpion Predators

We don't get them where I am from - way Down Under to you guys. I was iin South Africa in 2008 and when we arrived at the hotel room I drew the curtains and down dropped one of the little suckers. It landed about 2 inches from my bare foot and scared the heebie jeebies out of me.

I considered that moment a near death experience... :)

Lee

That's an offer I wouldn't pass Up. Do you live close to Tweezers?

I'm glad scorpions can't wear snow shoes.

Desiccant in the attic.

Dries them up without poison, plus they are extra tasty when crispy!

We get them in our mountain cabin--alot of them. They always seem to migrate to the bathrooms, I suppose in search of water.

I hate like heck stepping into the shower and seeing one by my foot. The instantaneous naked convulsing on one leg is almost as frightening as the scorpion itself.

When we lived in Prescott, AZ we had a big problem with them. I would go out every night with the black light and hammer routine. They still got in the house.
The ones to be very afraid of are the Bark Scorpions. They are smaller and are almost translucent or see-through. One got in our bedroom and our little dachshund bit at it and had it in her mouth when my wife yelled at her to drop it. We didn't know if it had stung her or not. Wife called the Vet and he told her to stay calm and stayed on the phone with her for about ten minutes. He then told her if the dog had been stung, it would most likely be dead by now. It only takes about seven minutes to shut down the nervous system on a small dog and there is basically nothing you can do. Same scenario would happen to a baby or small child.

One thing you can do is surround your house with a small mound of diatomaceous earth. It blocks the scorpions "innards" and kills them. Much safer than the chemicals a pest service will spray everywhere.

We no longer live in Arizona!

I heard it takes copious amounts of diatomaceous earth to kill one scorpion. That they would have to basically roll in it for several minutes to do anything. I guess I should research that. I also heard that it takes a "special diatomaceous earth". Not the kind that is readily available. I guess something is better than nothing. I will research where I can get some.

Diatomaceous earth.....isn't that what they make kitty litter out of? Wouldn't that leed to another problem of all the cats in the neibourhood visiting your yard?

We have no scorpions up here so I have no idea what to do with them except from what I have read.

Caulk every crack and crevasse in your foundation/walls. Block any drainage holes with steel wool. Weather stripping on all doors/windows. If you have a attached garage do the same to all walls/doors inside the garage. Remove all debris from the exterior of the home (wood piles, compost piles, ect.) Cut grass regularly (the lawnmower chops them up). Remove shade plants near your walls along with any bark ground treatment.

Basically stop any point of access and remove any shade/source of water for them.

I'd put out sticky traps along the foundation and in the garage. Black light and a stick sounds like a good idea too.

We've only had two or three in the house in three years and never had the place sprayed. The trick is to eliminate their food source, which is crickets. And we have lots and lots of crickets. Spreading DE around the outer foundation does help. It gets crickets too. DE is totally safe. You can mix it with your food. But it kills exoskeleton critters. I go out with a black light and mapp gas torch. I have gotten as many as nine in one night, but usually around 1-2. Brake cleaner really gets them, but the torch is cheaper and faster.

I bought DE in Prescott at Lowes or Home Depot. If you look at DE under a microscope is is jagged with very sharp edges. When it is "inhaled" by the scorpion it gets blocked and kills the pest.

Tarantulas are basically harmless and love to munch on scorpions.

We like ALL food! I'd be happy to do a sweep, but we should wait a bit until it's a little warmer at night.

Funny thing about scorpion hunts at my house... we have a catch and release policy. My daughter is all about nature. Once she got to be about 4 years old she didn't like the fact that we squashed the scorpions with a rubber mallet. So now we catch them by the tail with a pair of forceps and drop them off in the desert later. There's a pretty good sized vacant lot next to the post office near us where we deposit most of them. I've always wanted to go there at night with the black light. We've released quite a few scorpions there over the years.

Bark scorpions are just about all we see. Probably 95% . I find striped tailed scorpions occasionally. They're way more aggressive than the bark scorpions, but relatively harmless. Every few years we get a Giant Desert Hairy. They can be pretty big (5" or so).

I've been stung a couple of times, ya it hurts but not a big deal really, the pic's that people have sent have no reference so its tough to tell the size of them but they look small compared to the size I usually see, a big one in the jungle is bigger than the palm (no fingers) of a large mans hand.
I bought one once from a local guy that was an inclusion in a piece of Copaul, Copaul is South American Amber and is about 2 million years old compared to 10 million year old Baltic Amber, I paid 40 bucks for the piece and a friend sold it at a gem show for 5K about 6 months later.
I see them all the time, they make a great sound when you step on them.
Finn

Best thing you can do is get a young cat inside or chickens outside. My wife hates cats, so we have scorpions instead. They love newer stucco tract homes, look at the metal flashing at the bottom of your stucco. See vents? Those are gateways for critters!

My 1st house had them..... they were in the drains and septic system, they need water edit: if you see them in the sink or bathtub that mens they are in your drain system

The cat idea seems the best bet...or a lizard of sorts.

And if you can't prevent them...make sure you "scorpion-proof" your home. Cover your shoes at night (they love to climb in them and surprise you in the morning--my sister learned this the hard way), never just step into a pair of shoes...always shake them out first. I grew up in Tucson and saw scorpions, snakes, gila monsters, tarantulas all the time...outside and in the house. Never quite understood how the snakes got in, but it was always fun when they scared the crap out of mom. Down in Sierra Vista, we get rattle snakes, but I've never seen any around my house; never seen any of the other "fun" critters, either.

Tweez,

Scorpians are territorial, if you have them in/around your house, nothing you can do will get rid of them. Your next door neighbor, meanwhile, may have none! The best thing you can do (which it sounds like you've done) is seal the house and hunt - kill them.

We're lucky at our house, we see maybe one in the house in a year. Our neighbor has got a problem with them, however.

OK, so I was wrong. I very specifically remember the mention of the hammer. It must have been R K T.

Yeah, but they are darn ugly big spiders. Only good place for a tarantula is far away from me or in a terrarium.

My big thing is that I don't want to find one by surprise that's just wandering around.

wow, this can be dangerous.

Scorpions go down good!
Use a very small small amount of orange juice
3/4 oz light rum and the same amount of dark rum
3/4 oz brandy
1/4 oz triple sec

Cut a half lime and squeeze into shaker with ice. Add the above, shake and strain over ice cubes. Add a slice of lime.

If you think tarantulas are big ugly spiders, try dealing with camel spiders ;)