Scorpions... (Kingman, Eloy: sick, house, bedroom)

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I bought "used" and I see them every once in a while around the house. Been stung, too. For a few days after each sting I will admit to heightened concern and awareness. But live in fear of them? That's silly. A rational person would not get paranoid/obsessive over this. Maybe being stung is good in the sense that you realize it just isn't that big of a deal.

Great point, Ponderosa! ! ! ! !

[Artliquide]

I don't think it matters if the house is new or old. My house is over 30 years old now, and we have them. Correction: we had them. Not one scorp has shown up inside the house since we used diamotaceous earth around the perimeter (man, I still can't spell that word). What matters more is how much vegetation and scorpion food there is close to your house. Also, if you have tile or another smooth flooring, you might see more scorps. I don't think they can crawl on carpet very well.

And, even though I've seen about a dozen inside the house in the last 3 years, I still walk around in sandals and don't check the bed before jumping in. I understand being afraid of being stung. I certainly don't want that to happen to me either. But, it's not something to worry too much about. To be honest, I worry more about someone stealing my mail and my identity here than being stung by a scorp.

[EDnurse]

Every year, I'd find anywhere from 2 to 3 scorpions in the house, but we would hunt them with a black light. (The boys considered it great fun). Every member of my family (six total) has been stung at least once. The sting is somewhat painful, but not unbearable. Ice and Ibuprofen were helpful. Maybe I don't have enough sense to be scared of the scorpions, but I fear chemicals more. I don't squish them. I pick them up with a pair of hemostats, then put them in a glass jar with bleach. After they're dead, I flush them down the toilet. If you look for them, you'll find them. As of late, I've noticed a couple of "ownerless" cats sleeping in my backyard. I don't feed them. None of my neighbors do either. We used to hear a lot of crickets at night--not anymore. So far, I've only found one scorpion this year. Could the cats be eating the crickets and the scorpions as well?

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by EDnurse

As of late, I've noticed a couple of "ownerless" cats sleeping in my backyard. I don't feed them. None of my neighbors do either. We used to hear a lot of crickets at night--not anymore. So far, I've only found one scorpion this year. Could the cats be eating the crickets and the scorpions as well?

Not sure if they actually eat them, but they do hunt and kill them.

[MotleyCrew]

I have been looking high and low for the diamaceous earth. Not sure of the spelling either. I used it years ago and it was great for killing hard shelled bugs and spiders. Could you let us know where your can buy some? Thanks

[Artliquide]

Ok, I had to ask my boyfriend. He got the diatomaceous earth from this ebay seller: eBay Store - Valchemy LLP: Pets Animals, Hobbies Crafts, Gardening Ponds

[MotleyCrew]

Thanks so much for the information. I am going to try it on my scorpions.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by MotleyCrew

Thanks so much for the information. I am going to try it on my scorpions.

You can buy DE (easier to spell) anywhere they sell pool products (Home Depot, Walmart) It is the filter medium in a DE pool filter. Costs about a buck a pound and comes in 25 lb boxes.

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

You can buy DE (easier to spell) anywhere they sell pool products (Home Depot, Walmart) It is the filter medium in a DE pool filter. Costs about a buck a pound and comes in 25 lb boxes.

Except that pool grade diatomaceous earth doesn't work. We tried some of that and still had scorps. You have to get food grade, which is harder to find.

[Pippi333]

Over the last 14 years, my family and I have spent a total of about 3.5 years living in Kingman, AZ, and during the years that we didn't live there, we visited on average, about 4 times per year, due to family living there.

The last time we lived there (Spring '03-Summer '05), my husband worked for a company that was building new locations in and around Kingman (Bullhead City and Kingman), and before construction was finished, my husband mentioned seeing several scorpions, usually injured or dead from the workers. One time, he even brought one home for the kids to keep as a pet (we were homeschooling), because it seemed to injured or unwell to likely survive outdoors. We named it Steinbeck (a little tribute to "The Pearl"), although it did not live long.

Now, spiders were a different story! The spiders we encountered in Kingman were so numerous, and so icky, my skin crawls just thinking about them. The worst spider we encountered shortly after moving there, late Spring - early Summer.

As I opened my back door one afternoon, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. When I looked, I saw running down the door jam, the fastest spider I've ever seen move! It wasn't huge, but wasn't small, it was flesh colored, and I swear I could HEAR it as it made it's way quickly towards me! I screamed and shut the door, sure that I had shut it out. But then, I heard the sickening slap of the spider against the rubber doggy door flap!! I'm totally serious, that freakin' spider was trying to jump in through the doggy door! It actually moved the flap a tiny bit, and I lost it! I made my kids go in their rooms and shut the doors, and called my MIL who lived 4 blocks away, totally panicked. She, thankfully, came to my rescue, lol! She was at our house in about 5 minutes, grabbed the broom, and attacked. Well, she didn't actually kill it, but she got it onto the broom, then took it outside to the trash bin...it was still alive when she dropped it in there.

YUCK! I had watched the "ALIEN" movies just a day or two before, and that spider reminded me SO much of those flesh colored aliens flopping across the floor in the movie, lol!

We also had TONS of black widows. TONS. Mainly in our garden shed, but also a multitude underneath the wooden door in the ground that covered the sprinkler controls. Every time my husband would open that thing, there were probably at least half a dozen of them. Which is weird, I thought, because I'd never seen more than one black widow at a time....I didn't know they tolerated being in close proximity with each other. I guess they do!