Scorpions

[RTII]

We completed construction and moved into our new house in early February. We started seeing scorpions on average maybe once every 2 weeks in the house. This last week we've killed 5. The house is fairly large and the scorpions aren't localized. They have been found in every room.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how best to rid the house of them as well as keep them from returning?

 

[weldingisfun]

Get rid of their food. They eat spiders mostly. Bet you have seen lots of them too.
Keep in mind, the scorpions were there before your house. It will take a while till you get them under control. We built our place seven years ago, come October, and we kill on average 3 - 4 each week. We also have our place treated every 90 days. Guess scorpions are just one of the perks of living in God's Country, i.e., Texas.:laughing:

 

[jinman]

My house is 8 years old and I still get scorpions. Some years I see more than others with several each month during the summer. This year I found one on a stairway and another struggling to get out of a bathroom sink. We spray around the baseboards inside our house with insecticide and also use Ortho Max outdoors around the perimeter of our house. We buy the large pump up container or pour it into a regular garden pump-up sprayer. We've reduced the number of scorpions, but we haven't stopped them completely. I don't think we ever will. Lots of times, the ones we find seem to be dying from the insecticide and not very lively.

Scorpions are attracted to bugs at outside lights and around foundations. Crickets are one of their favorite meals. During the daytime, the scorpions will get out of direct sunlight by crawling into spaces under the siding or into weepholes in brick. Once inside the walls, they make nests and proceed to enter your house. Doors that don't have a complete seal at the bottom make it easy for them to enter the house. I used to have an inside rug in my walkout basement that I checked every week for scorpions because they would come in around the door and crawl under the rug to hide.

I think you might find an exterminator who will tell you they can reduce the number of scorpions, but the best solution I have found is to always look where I'm stepping and be alert for them. I just don't think you will ever get rid of them totally if you live in the country. Once they are inside your walls, I think you'd have to burn your house down to get them all. Just make your house as tight as possible, spray the perimeter, and don't leave porch lights on at night. If you have to have a light, put it on a pole or building away from your house.

 

[RTII]

Seems like not much to do except kill' em when you see 'em. Lots of spiders and crickets around so controling their food supply is probably not going to be worth the effort and a losing battle anyway. Thing is, if that's their food supply, it's mostly outside and not many spiders and no crickets in the house. Guess they like the airconditioning in this heat.

I don't mind dealing with them as and when. Just don't want to lean against one on the couch or in bed one night...........

 

[jinman]

I've seen them as tiny as 1/4" long crawling up my bathroom wall. That small makes it nearly impossible to keep them out. My neighbors used to see them crawling across their ceiling in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep for worry of them falling into the bed. Their house was built on a rocky slope and open at the bottom. She put bowls of mothballs under the house and that seemed to repel or kill them off. I figure the smell must have been worse than the danger of being stung.

 

[BleedGreen]

My understanding (after living in AZ for many years) is that if scorpions are there when you build, they will always be there. Scorpions have been around for over 400 million years and if they are in your area, they are there to stay. There are a multitude of control products and information available online - just dont expect to rid yourself of them entirely. My parents still live in AZ, in a natural desert area north of Scottsdale. All house lots in the area are at least 1 acre. While my parents very rarely see a scorpion (usually after a monsoon or other storm - I think the wind moves them around?) one of the next door neighbors has them constantly, the people across the street have them as regular visitors and the other next door neighbors hardly ever have them. Again, mostly anecdotal information, but I believe it to be true - at least it makes sense to me! Good Luck and always check in your shoes before you put them on!!!

 

[brin]

I was stung by a Scorpion once...right on the top of my foot...It was the most painful sting I have ever experienced...much worse than a Bee or Yellow Jacket..the top of my foot swelled up like 1/2 of an orange and the pain and swelling lasted for 5 or 6 hours and then the pain left and swelling subsided but don't get bit if you can help it...By the way that was only the 3rd or 4th scorpion I had ever seen on the farm and that one was in my shop...I have not seen any since and that has been years ago.

 

[LMTC]

No scorpions here, but spiders are an ongoing issue. Yellow jackets also try to nest for winter along the eaves or in the attic. Since we started spraying the exterior perimeter of the house at the base and at the eave, including app. 2' of ground around it and about the same under (we're on a crawlspace), we could count on one hand the # of spiders in a year, and the yellow jackets go elsewhere. We spray twice each season (but we have winter, so you may need to spray more), once in May and again in October. We are using Bifen IT, get it from the same supplier on ebay that I buy Razor (generic roundup) and other things....best price I've ever found. Easy to use, and it is listed for scorpions too.

Lots of vendors, but if you want a link to the fellow we've bought from for 4 years now, PM or email me.

 

[RTII]

We are using Bifen IT, get it from the same supplier on ebay that I buy Razor (generic roundup) and other things....best price I've ever found. Easy to use, and it is listed for scorpions too.

Lots of vendors, but if you want a link to the fellow we've bought from for 4 years now, PM or email me.

LMTC,

Thanks, I'll look up the bifen IT and give it a try.

 

[LMTC]

Demon(cypermethrin) & Bifen IT(bifenthrin) cover similar critters. Bifen IT is a generic Talstar One, it is liquid and sprays at 1-2 oz per gallon of water. I buy a 3/4 gallon jug for $48 including shipping, lasts me and one neighbor about 2 years. He bought the last one, I bought the one we just got. 5 gallons of mix will do my perimeter, including eaves and a strip of ground below the house on all sides. Never used Demon, but the residual on bifenthrin is app. 6 months per the licensed exterminator we had out 5 years ago, and our experience bears that out. After he told me what they use, I just bought it.