Scorpion mobility

[JRobyn]

How can scorpions move about? Wife killed one in her bathroom sink last night. We cannot figure out how it got there. I don't recall ever seeing one NOT on the ground. Can they crawl up walls or swim through a sink trap?

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Scorpions move pretty much like any Arachnid; they live in the cracks and crevices, in dark and dank places and sometimes come out. I recall my Dad telling about one place they lived that had a lot of scorpions. He said that you had to turn your boots upside down in the morning to make sure you didn't put your foot down on one. They also placed each leg of the bed in a coffee can and added enough kerosene so that the little varmints wouldn't get into bed with you.

I have only seen maybe two scorpions in this house in the 44 years we have lived here...and I think one of them came in with a guitar amplifier that I brought in from a friend's house.

 

[dalroo]

Here in my part of Texas the most common type of scorpion is the bark scorpion. They climb as well as any spider. Up walls, into bath tubs, sinks, on the ceiling, everywhere you might see a spider. I see them, mostly at night, around my barn. They live in the trees and grassy areas, but they move around at night hunting, and usually it is the movement that catches my eye.

I am pretty serious about not getting stung AGAIN if I can avoid it, so I spray the perimeter of buildings regularly to keep them at bay. FYI - I have just used the Ortho Home Defense Max, which has worked, but a neighbor told me that Demon WP Insecticide will last much longer, so going to try it and see.

 

[CountryB]

I had one on the ceiling fan over the bed. Wife turned on fan when she came into room and it flung off onto my chest while I was laying in the bed with lights off. I instinctively flicked onto the floor - and was quite surprised when I saw what it was.

I also had one sitting on my shoulder from cutting the grass. It must have been in of the overhanging palmetto bushes or pines and jumped on me, when I get near the grass edge and need to lean to one side as I try to cut under the overhanging bushes.

Used to see a lot in the house when it was first built. Once we (wife) found one in the laundry hamper. Not as many now since the house is older.

 

[JRobyn]

OK, obviously they CAN climb like a spider. Odd. They seem a little chunky, unlike most spiders. I didn't think there'd be a high enough grip-to-weight ratio.

But thanks - we have been warned.

 

[oosik]

WHOOK - I don't like spiders. I think scorpions would drive me to drink. If we had scorpions here - my house & yard would smell like the inside of a jug of Ortho spray.

 

[Wagtail]

I've only ever seen one scorpion in my house since retiring here. It too was discovered in a sink, the kitchen one to be exact; tiny thing but definitely a scorpion. I gently removed it... from the world with a generous blast of bug-spray!

I then Googled 'Tasmanian scorpions' and found that, yes, they're native down here. I'd never seen one on the mainland in the Big Smokes.

 

[CCWKen]

It seems down here in South Texas nothing grows unless it has thorns, stingers or fangs. Scorpions will try to hide during the hot day. They hunt at night. You can hunt THEM at night also by using a black light. They glow when exposed to UV light. Texas is the center of the world for the Striped Bark Scorpion. I'm just glad they don't get bigger than about 2 1/2" long. Fiendish critters without a doubt but I'd prefer those over the Brown Recluse Spider that also likes damp and dark areas of the house and yard. They rank right up there with the Black Widow Spider for critical bite treatment.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I grew up in the AZ Salt River Valley (Phoenix). We had several varieties and they were everywhere. Yes, they can climb just about any thing. Had to be careful at night to watch where you put your hands. I was leaning against a block wall and got stung on the finger, pulled my boots on one morning and got stung on the foot, slid my hand under the pillow on my bed and another sting on the arm and then stung again when one crawled up my leg, slapped at it, stung on the leg. Quite a learning experience but survived it. The little buggers 1/2" long are the woest venom. The big 4-6" long ones not so bad.

We collected them to sell to U of A for venom production to make anti-venom. Forget what they paid; but it kept us kids in candy and ice cream money. Sometimes in 2 hours in the evening we would get up to 100 of them; all sizes.

those little ones would make you sick for a couple days sometimes.

Ron

 

[Bird]

I was about 6 years old when one night something awoke me by stinging me. I thought a wasp must have gotten me, so I pulled the sheet up over my head, got stung on the hand which was outside the sheet, so I made sure I had that hand under the sheet, then got stung a third time, and realized that whatever it was stinging me was under that sheet with me. So that time I got out of bed yelling. Mother and Dad came rushing in, turned on the light, and there was a big scorpion on my pillow. That was just west of Ardmore, OK.

I guess that experience left me with a bit of a phobia where scorpions are concerned.

In 1972 we bought a new house in Carrollton, TX, in a development that had been cow pastures. We had 3 and 6 year old daughters at the time. And the first night in that new house I killed one scorpion on the floor and one on a wall. The very next day, I had professional exterminators out there, and never saw another scorpion.

 

[CreekyB]

They are nimble buggers. We have them everywhere here in central Texas mostly bark spiders that are harmless except for the pain of the sting. I find them in the ceiling light fixtures, used to find them under anything that sat for very long until I started spraying the perimeter religiously. They are mainly nocturnal, if you live in an area with active scorpion populations and want to be creeped out at night. Get one of those battery operated gem hunter's pocket blacklights, all species of scorpion fluoresce under UV lights. Even creepier, watch them hunt each other, the different age groups prey on each other once they leave the mother's back.....

I keep my gloves in the house, I even bring my welding gloves in the house. Got tired of getting stung when I put them on in the barn.

 

[Valveman]

Demon, Cyper, or any kind of wet-able powder works good. I spray around the house, under the doors, around window and pipes. I even spray down in my valve boxes as the little buggers like to get me when I open or close a valve. Don't leave your cloths lying on the floor or they will crawl right in. And I always check my shoes, gloves, hats, etc., before putting them on. I also have to be careful picking up firewood or rocks, as they love to get you from the backside of the stick you pick up.

They hurt pretty bad, but I am more afraid of the spiders and snakes. Seems everything here wants to stick, bite, sting, claw, or eat you.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Demon, Cyper, or any kind of wet-able powder works good. I spray around the house, under the doors, around window and pipes. I even spray down in my valve boxes as the little buggers like to get me when I open or close a valve. Don't leave your cloths lying on the floor or they will crawl right in. And I always check my shoes, gloves, hats, etc., before putting them on. I also have to be careful picking up firewood or rocks, as they love to get you from the backside of the stick you pick up.

They hurt pretty bad, but I am more afraid of the spiders and snakes. Seems everything here wants to stick, bite, sting, claw, or eat you.

Or blow your house away. Fortunately I have never been stung by a scorpion. I have been stung by red wasps, bumble bees, ground hornets and velvet ants. They are all bad enough. The hornets stings were the worst long term; foot swelled up couldn't get my shoe on and left some pretty nasty sores. The Bumble bee and the Velvet ant were probably the most painful.

 

[stuckmotor]

I've seen them in places where I couldn't figure how they got there,too. They used to get in the bed and sting my wife.

 

[rgr33]

No doubt about it, you guys are mentally tougher than me, even reading about scorpions and snakes creeps me out. I can't imagine having to inspect everything you touch for hidden stingers.
Once again, glad I live in Oregon, too cold and too rainy for nasty critters to want to live here.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

No doubt about it, you guys are mentally tougher than me, even reading about scorpions and snakes creeps me out. I can't imagine having to inspect everything you touch for hidden stingers.
Once again, glad I live in Oregon, too cold and too rainy for nasty critters to want to live here.

Backyard Scorpions: We've got some of the stingers in these parts, but don't worry | Natural World | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

 

[dalroo]

A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, has a nice place not too far from me in central Texas. He has a large game room attached to his barn - kind of a man cave. One day while visiting I noticed that he had several (maybe 10) sticky traps around the baseboard of the room. Each and every trap was covered in scorpions. I mentioned it and he said yeah, I've got a little scorpion problem. Holy smokes!!!! I saw a few in my barn and went on a crusade to eradicate, and now see them on occasion, but not regularly. Seeing dozens (if not hundreds), even dead, wigged me out.

Several years ago, while setting up a deer camp, I reached to move a fence post that we had laying across a tarp. I knew better, no gloves, but reached anyway. The sting was on the tip of my F/U finger, and it felt almost like an electric shock - instant. For a second I thought maybe I had grabbed an exposed nail or staple, but then saw the thing smiling up at me. He died, but I spent the rest of the day, and that night, with a throbbing pain going from my finger and into my hand. Unless you are allergic and have a reaction, there really is not much medical treatment to do. I took some aspirin, sat still for a while to make sure I didn't react, and then went back to work.

As much as I despise scorpions, and how creepy they are, in my neck of the woods, I am WAY more concerned with bees and hornets, than snakes and scorpions. That is where you can really get into trouble.

 

[CCWKen]

The old AfterBite sticks worked well on most stings. They contained a high percentage of ammonia that neutralized the sting pain if you kept it wet for a few minutes. The newer version is less effective so I keep refilling the old stick with ammonia. I always pop an antihistamine when I get stung. It helps keep swelling down better than just aspirin for me. But I address the immediate pain first. An ice cube helps too if you're not into "better living through chemistry".

Another painful sting comes from the leafcutter ants we have around here. They're worse than the large orange wasps and just slightly less painful than a scorpion sting. The fire ant sting and yellow jacket sting are like a mosquito bite in comparison. I've been stung by them all. I'm just glad I'm not allergic to them.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Can't vouch for scorpion stings, but I can tell you one thing; pain from stings from bees and wasps can be stopped almost instantly by applying juice from an onion. Yeah, I didn't believe it either until I got stung by a bumble bee...in the palm of my hand no less...and the onion juice...applied at the urging of my 90 (today he would be 106) year old Dad...stopped the pain within seconds. Didn't stop the swelling, but it did the pain. I gar-an-tee!

 

[Pettrix]

Here in the desert SW the scorpions enter into homes via sliding patio doors, garage doors and house entry doors. In addition, they can come in via the bathroom vent from the roof stack. I doubt they can come in via plumbing stacks but one never knows. Put stainless screens on the vent hoods on the roof to prevent them from coming in.

Block/CMU walls become scorpion hotels since there are SO MANY empty cavities in the blocks. I hate CMU walls so I refuse to have any around my property since they just become havens for scorpions. Solid filled masonry concrete walls are best.