Scorpions

[308Jeff]

It's been fairly warm here in AZ as of late.

A couple of weeks ago the girlfriend and I were on the back patio enjoying the night air. Some movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention, a scorpion. We were both barefooted at the time, so I asked the GF to go inside and grab something to swat it with while I kept an eye on it.

Little "rascal" dove for cover when I approached it, so I sprayed it with the closest thing at hand, which was weed killer. I'll be damned if two didn't come scurrying out. Was able to dispatch both in short order with the flip-flop I'd been handed, but it got me to wondering just how many of those boogers were around.

Ordered a highly-rated black light from Amazon and went hunting them the next night with a torch in hand. Eleven that night. Five the next, three the one after, and one more after that.

About that time, I thought it might be interesting to see if there were any videos on Youtube of people hunting the nasty little bastages. Of course there was, but I was actually taken aback by the folks who were weeping over their loss.

It cooled off again after that so I took a bit of a hiatus. Warmer weather returned today so I thought I'd better give another look. Five, in about 10 minutes.

Some people want to claim that people only have a problem with scorpions when they have a lot of clutter around their house. I don't. But I sure as heck have a scorpion problem. I know they're not deadly to humans, and I've never been stung, but I know more than a few people who have. It's not a comfortable experience.

Trying to decide now if a pay a ridiculous amount to an exterminator (with no guarantees, they're hard to kill), or if I just keep frying them.

[trails4u]

Having lived in AZ for a number of years....my experience is, you either have them, or you don't. And that seems to be a very random thing. Had friends with a $.5M immaculate house in a fancy neighborhood....they were ate up with them. We lived in a 1,200 sq. ft. modest house, with a couple of young boys, in the middle of town....and believe me, we LIVED in it...not a messy house, but it was lived in. We never had an issue. I don't think they discriminate....and I don't think it has anything to do with clutter. They are where they are....and they aren't where they aren't.

[CraigOK]

Look up demon wp. You can get it from amazon in little packets that you toss into the sprayer and fill with water. It works great on spiders, ants, common pests as long as it isnt in a place that rain can wash it away. It's supposed to kill the mean stuff like scorpions too and its way cheaper than an.exterminator.

[Omega]

I ordered this for Asian lady beetles but it says it's for scorpions as well: http://www.epestsupply.com/product/8.../#.WNx_fH5OnxA

[308Jeff]

Having lived in AZ for a number of years....my experience is, you either have them, or you don't. And that seems to be a very random thing. Had friends with a $.5M immaculate house in a fancy neighborhood....they were ate up with them. We lived in a 1,200 sq. ft. modest house, with a couple of young boys, in the middle of town....and believe me, we LIVED in it...not a messy house, but it was lived in. We never had an issue. I don't think they discriminate....and I don't think it has anything to do with clutter. They are where they are....and they aren't where they aren't.

I honestly think it has to do with whether or not your home was built on former citrus groves. I've never checked the history of where I am now, but I'm willing to bet this area once was.

Look up demon wp. You can get it from amazon in little packets that you toss into the sprayer and fill with water. It works great on spiders, ants, common pests as long as it isnt in a place that rain can wash it away. It's supposed to kill the mean stuff like scorpions too and its way cheaper than an.exterminator.

Will do. Thank you.

[CraigOK]

It does leave a white residue where you spray it, so keep that in mind if that would be a problem for your baseboards. Also you'd want to do 2 packets per gallon for the bad stuff so keep that in mind if you go to order some. Destroys brown recluse and black widows if you ever see them around the house.

[308Jeff]

It does leave a white residue where you spray it, so keep that in mind if that would be a problem for your baseboards. Also you'd want to do 2 packets per gallon for the bad stuff so keep that in mind if you go to order some. Destroys brown recluse and black widows if you ever see them around the house.

Cypermethrin looks like it might be the answer. Going to order some up and give it a whirl.
Thank you!

[Artful]

I was told by the exterminator that if you have places for them to hide your attractive but they need food - so any other critters were the actual draw - and he said his poison for 'em was a **** shoot. Also said the bigger the less painful the small ones were the mean ones. I've stung once while gardening here in AZ and I'm not sure what it was as I was grabbing hands full of grass and cutting them off when it happened but it was like 120 volt electric shock clear up my arm to my heart and too several years to get full function back in the finger that was hit. Be careful and report your progress...

[Lloyd Smale]

night vision scope on a pellet rifle!! Make it sporting!

[richhodg66]

My folks had a lot of them where they lived in Texas and did get stung now and then. Wife actually got stung while visiting once.

I actually worked as an exterminator for a little while and while we didn't have scorpions, I did learn that arachnids (which scorpions are) don't respond to the same poisons that insects do. General insecticides like diazanon don't do anything to them.

Ask around, surely if they're common there, someone knows what it takes to get rid of them.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I have seen few scorpions in my day here in Dixie. But we have our share of Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders. Our neighbor put a photo of a Black Widow on FB recently, and it was a big un.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[RKJ]

I'm in Central MO, and didn't think we had Scorpions but apparently we do. When we were first married, my wife and I were spending the weekend at her folks' house, I was sound asleep when all of the sudden she starts hitting the middle of the bed and jumps up and turns on the lights. She yanked back the covers and there was a scorpion in there with us. Pretty creepy. It had stung her on the arm but she said it was like a Wasp sting and it didn't last long.

[jmort]

We got them here in Missouri - the Stripebacked scorpion and the most widely distributed
http://www.venombyte.com/venom/scorp...s_by_state.asp

[mold maker]

All pest follow their food supply. Kill or eliminate their groceries and they will leave.
There will always be the scout looking for new territory, but not an infestation.
Thank goodness we don't have scorpions here, but the brown recluse and black widow are common. Eliminating the host insects and getting rid of their habitat keeps them in check.

[arlon]

My sister had a lot of them at her place outside of San Antonio. I got her a black light flashlight and a can of was/hornet spray. I told her to be diligent and go after them at least once a week. It took a few months but once she got rid of the breeding population in the immediate area, she very seldom finds one anymore. She also searched inside and found a few there too. Diligence with a light and wasp spray will pretty much solve the problem.

[tunnug]

I've been fighting them ever since I moved into my house 15 yrs ago, my previous house was bordered by desert on two sides and never saw a scorpion in the 20 yrs I lived there.

The bad guy is a small (1" to 1 1/4" not counting the tail) straw colored one called "Bark Scorpion", from my research they are the only climbing scorpion, all others stay on the ground.

Straw scorpions are the most dangerous to small children and the elderly, depending on the sting these two groups may have to be hospitalized if stung, full grown scorpions can control their stings to be dry, some poison or a full dump, it takes a lot of energy out of the scorpion to replenish their poison so they use it as needed to escape.

Like it was said above, poisons are not likely to kill off the scorpions, the most effective way is to kill off their food, we had a lot of crickets and cockroaches which is one of their main foods, I spray for them peremephrin from my local do it yourself pest control, they also sell a "C" battery black light that looks like a Maglite (works great) I use this and some Raid to go after them in the evenings, I've gone from getting 8-10 a night to 1-2 a week, they are tough to get rid of and I'll always keep after them, especially with my small grandkids coming over now.

The previous owner used a service but they weren't much good, he did seal up the house pretty good so I've only caught a few in the house in all these years luckily no one as been stung yet.

By the way, this house is in the middle of a neighborhood and all the scorpion activity is located on one patio wall.

[Larry Gibson]

As already mentioned in a couple posts it's the food that is the draw.....eliminate the food and the scorpions don't come. I live on a small ridge up the mountainside here in Lake Havasu City. There wasn't any citrus groves up here. When we first move in there were quite a few scorpions. I got a black light and a can of scorpion spray and hunted them every night for a while, bagged quite a few. Thought about the same as Lloyd suggested, but alas it's illegal to discharge a pellet rifle in the city but WMD weapons are ok........ Then we started spraying around the house and yard with bug killer. That eliminated the food which eliminated the scorpions. We seldom see one now and if we do it is dying already.

BTW; there are a reported 70+ kinds of scorpions in Arizona....only one is poisoness.....guess which one we have in Lake Havasu........

Larry Gibson

[jmort]

Two are poisonous in Arizona, the Stripeback and the Bark.
There are mucho scorpions around Lake Havasu. Great place to live in the Fall/Winter/Spring

[popper]

Food is the draw but you got a brood. Smash or wasp spray on them. I've heard diatomaceous earth will either get in their insides or cause rupture of the exoskeleton & kill them. Chlordane works if you can get it. Mo. has them, buddy & I sat on a log at B.S. camp, he fainted from the sting. Had a few here in N. Tx, if you see one, look for the mate. Neighbor found a nest of BW spiders in his old recliner in the garage, good his toddlers didn't sit in it.

[Mohawk Daddy]

As a teenager I lived in a house built on a rocky hillside that had scorpions. I noticed that any old junk embedded in the ground like an old rotten piece of cloth seemed to be a hiding place for them. Piles of newspaper also, especially in a shed or garage where they aren't moved around often. Got hit twice, once on the inside of the forearm when I picked up a newspaper from the floor and opened it and once between the toes when crossing the room barefooted. Felt like a piece of red hot iron pressed to the flesh but no lasting damage.