Scorpion Q and A (house, construction, extermination)

[Jukesgrrl]

I've lived in a Tucson suburb for five years. I've killed one baby scorpion in the house, in a bathroom that shares two walls with the outdoors. I've never been stung. I have, however, been bitten by a spider while working in the yard. I felt ill for about 48 hours afterward and was told later I should have gone to the hospital, but at the time that thought didn't occur to me.

My mother, who has lived in Tucson six years, killed one in her garage and has seen two in her backyard in Tucson, one of which she was able to kill; the other got away. She's never been stung.

My brother, who has lived in three different homes in Tucson over the past 20 years, says he has killed "maybe four" scorpions indoors. Neither he nor the other three members of his family has ever been stung, even though they hike and camp extensively in the mountains around Tucson.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by momtogrif

Ouch. I have been stung by a jelly too but it was not nearly as painful as the stingray. It basically was a venomous sting that was a deep puncture wound. It got infected and I needed a month's worth of antibiotics. NOT the same as a jelly! I figure if I can make it through that, a scorpion will be a piece of cake, LOL!

I'd say if you can handle a stingray, you can handle anything. Did you pull the stinger out? They say not to. Glad you are OK now. Sheesh. Enough is enough.

[momtogrif]

Originally Posted by DewDropInn

I'd say if you can handle a stingray, you can handle anything. Did you pull the stinger out? They say not to. Glad you are OK now. Sheesh. Enough is enough.

No, the blood that came out the wound actually pushed the barb out with force. The barb actually tore tendons in my foot and gave me temporary nerve problems. It took a year for my foot to get back to normal. Other than childbirth, it was the most painful experience of my life!

I saw that someone mentioned spider bites. I was bit by a brown recluse while camping up near Prescott many years ago. The skin got necrotic and died off, that was another fun experience which, again, did not happen here in Phoenix!

[need_some_sun]

Originally Posted by momtogrif

LOL! I have a great story about the wolf spiders, but first I'll answer your scorpion questions.

I have lived here for 16 years and have never seen a scorpion in the 3 homes that I've owned nor in the apartment we lived in. I only know 5 people personally who have been stung and 2 of them are AZ natives who lived and worked in farming as a family business.

As for the wolf spiders I must preface this by saying I'm not afraid of spiders or snakes. Just doesn't faze me. So, one day there's this HUGE wolf spider crawling around on our kitchen floor(this was in our previous home) so I decided to gently 'catch' it with a paper towel and put it outside. The minute I touched her back, all these black dots went scattering around my kitchen floor. YEP, you guessed it: BABIES! I felt so bad as I tried to kill some of them but for about 6 months I was constantly rescuing wolf spiders and putting them outside. Totally freaked us out when they scattered, though, cause they ran across our feet.

And, I must tell you that I've been stung by a sting ray in the waters off of Tampa Bay, Gulf of Mexico about 2 years ago. How often do you hear of that? I know of more people who have been stung by sting rays than by scorpions. Friends who were on vacation in CA at the beaches off Coronado, further north a friend was stung near Newport Beach, and my chiropractor was stung in the waters off of the Baja in Rocky Point, Mexico. One of my dentist's assistants was also stung in Rocky Point. So, anyway my point is that danger can be anywhere and sometimes when you're not looking but it shouldn't prevent you from living your life or enjoying the place you choose to live.

As for me and the ocean: we've made peace. I have since gone in the waters in Delray, FL, snorkeled in Hawaii, and snorkeled in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. But, I still shudder when the sand runs over my feet, LOL!

Ahhh! That will give me nightmares!!!!

[wit-nit]

45 years Phoenix area.
2 in suburbs out of Phoenix in undeveloped area 30 years ago.
Never been bitten.

[AksarbeN]

30 years in Phoenix and I’ve never seen a scorpion in my home or yard, and I’ve never been stung or seen them elsewhere in the open. I live very near a Mountain Preserve and have hiked on trails there but again I’ve never seen any of them. I have heard complaints from those neighbors who live directly next to the Preserve that they have issues with them at times but nothing a few blocks away.

My wife’s cousin lives in a nice newer home (Mesa) and he has hundreds of them outside and a few inside. The problem he has is the location, the house is built in a citrus grove with lots of trees in the yards. The citrus groves are a great place for the scorpion to live and enjoy life. They find their food (other insects) who also enjoy living in the citrus grove, thus they will be there as long as there is food for them.

Scorpions also like cool darker areas that are moist, citrus groves provide that as well. They enjoy living under and in large amounts of river rock along washes and what is used in landscaping yards.

Chickens help kill and get rid of scorpions in backyards, so if you want something that’s natural to help get rid of them, get a few pet chickens. You can own chickens in the city limits, but I don’t think you can have a rooster.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by kickinit

We bought a brand new home in the Phoenix area. We lived there for 10 years and saw approximately 12 scorpions in our house. I got stung by one when I stepped on it.we have 5 children and luckily they were never stung. We found scorpions in kitchen sink, shoe closet, on the carpet, and I have swept a couple up while sweeping. All were downstairs. We saw quite a few outside too. They mostly came when the neighborhood was under construction because of the digging. We also saw a few rattle snakes and some black widows. My son was bit by a black widow at our neighbors house.

Scorpions do often find their way into new or existing neighborhoods if adjoining property is cleared for development. It happened in a neighborhood down the road from me many years ago when a vacant corner lot adjoining it was cleared to build some stores and a gas station. I heard about the problem from a friend who was an exterminator.

[SD33]

Thanks to everyone who has weighed in so far. It helps to see that scorpions are not as big of a problem as they are sometimes made out to be.

[musicforme]

Originally Posted by observer53

Scorpions do often find their way into new or existing neighborhoods if adjoining property is cleared for development. It happened in a neighborhood down the road from me many years ago when a vacant corner lot adjoining it was cleared to build some stores and a gas station. I heard about the problem from a friend who was an exterminator.

I forgot about this until I read your reply.

We had the same problem when I lived back in Dallas of all things. A developer cleared a large area just south east of DFW Airport back in the early 1980s and we had a couple scorpions in our house. That is literally the only time I've heard of them in the Dallas suburb areas..

Kinda funny that the area they cleared was bought by the airport in the early 1990s due to a new runway that went in and the houses and foundations were leveled down to the dirt.

[Ponderosa]

I have lived here about 40 years. Me or household members have been stung about 7-8 times in that period - pretty well spaced. So every couple of years one gets one of us. I think my dog got stung at least once too as he is terrified and runs the other way when he sees one. We haved lived in several homes in the area and all of them had scorpions. We typically kill about 10 scorpions a year, most in the garage but some in the house. They are outside everywhere. I could find one in 30 seconds if I wanted to in summer. All of our stings were inside - almost always when walking barefoot at night. Never been stung outside of the house. Maybe I should sleep in the yard!

FWIW, prospective residents make way, way, way too much of the scorpion issue. You'll see.