[jenrein]

Last night we found a scorpion in our bedroom I read on here that they are in the Florida area but when I searched it on here it seems most people have seen one and then no more. Any suggestions? I can deal with spiders, ants, flies....etc. but not scorpions.

[AJ67]

they usually are found where there is new wood in homes.. and if you live by alot of trees thats where they are too... they sting more like a bee and they are not deadly ..not sure if spraying for them will kill them or not i just usually swat them with a shoe!

[mainship]

Almost 40 yrs in Florida and have seen a few, spouse has had 2 stings one bite or pinch definitely not a sting.
I have seen carcasses on drywall I was removing from a ceiling, live ones under mailbox when replacing due to wood detrioration, on firewood brought into house. Spouse has encountered and was stung by the one under paper the firewood was placed on. The bite was from one that was in bed, she brought it out wrapped in a tissue for me to identify as she doesn't sleep with her glasses on, I had one run over my head as I slept, found it under the bed, still alive and injured walking in circles. I think we have been lucky inthat we have had enough snakes around to keep their population reduced

[theqbaby]

We recently move to S.Georgia. We found one on the ceiling of our master bedroom as well, the first night we stayed here.
They are not deadly????
Well if thats true, I feel better.

[Prichard]

I have only on rare occasion seen a scorpian in Florida. But, in North Georgia, I find them all the time. When I first bought a cabin up there, I thought it was totally infsted with them - gave me a little scare there for awhile.

First, they are pretty slow, so you can smack them with a shoe. Also, mostof the ones I've found were already dead. But, to control them all you need to do is get some home depot pest spray that also controls spiders and spray the perimiter of the interior and exterior of the house about every 2 weeks for the first few months. They are slightly more resiliant than roaches, but easier to control even if you have a major problem. Also, bug bombs are good at killing them. Then, once you have them under control, you really won't have a big problem with them.

But, if you do find a scorpian in your house, there are bound to be more. Here are some precautions you must take before you are comfortable that you have pretty much eradicated them:

1. NEVER put on shoes without shaking them out first.
2. Give your clothes a little shake before putting them on.
3. Pull back your bed sheets and just check to make sure none have crawled up in there - same with pillow.

They have a tendancy to like cool damp dark places just keep that in mind, but they are not aggressive like wasps or hornets, thank heaven!

[theqbaby]

This particular one was so tiny, not more than an inch long.
The boys caught it and took it into the woods. They couldn't kill it ! I could !

[Prichard]

When I bought the Cabin in Georgia, I counted close to 100 of them, most in the basement and most were dead - I just swept those outside. But, we found some live ones in closets, in a bathtub, and in kitchen drawers.

They were all about 1 - 1.5 inches or so; I don't think they are very dangerous and none of us have been stung. The more you live in the place and spray, the less you will see of them.

[jenrein]

Thanks for all the replies. I am going to check out some sprays today. My daughter also found perched on our kitchen counter this morning a cockroach. It was the biggest one I personally have ever seen.... My only concern with the spray is that I have 2 small dogs in the house. The are penned at night but who knows if they are smart enough not to lick the baseboards lol

[TriMT7]

Oh geeze! Having to "check the bed" before getting in?! That's really disturbing to me for some reason! I would probably freak if I saw one in my house! Luckily I have NEVER seen one, live or dead in my 18 years here in FL (big spiders, iguanas, etc,, sure....) but not scorpions!

[riveree]

I never saw scorpions until I was in my current home. Apparently, they are more commonly seen in new construction areas (as AJ67 said: new wood).

Inside the house, I have only come across the tiny reddish-brown ones, I think these are called: Hentz Striped Scorpions. Half of the time they were already dead when I found them, the other half of the time I scooped them up in a cup and put them outside (I don't kill them...I don't see any reason to).

Outside the house, I have come across one of the big dark brown-black ones...he was pretty huge and kind of scary ! My dad was helping me with a fence repair and just about put his hand on the scorpion (scorpion was on the fence). The scorpion, now disturbed, travelled around where we were for a few minutes and then moved on and we did not see him again. That scorpion was a: Florida Bark Scorpion.

As noted above - yes, shake out your shoes! I always do now (on those rare occassions when I'm not wearing flip-flops ).

Here's a link with some identification pictures:

http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/News%...0Scorpions.htm