Will xeriscaping the yard help reduce our scorpion population? (Chandler: neighborhood, where to buy)

[wit-nit]

In Az you'll find them under rocks, firewood piles, anywhere it dark. They consume a multitude of insects no matter what type of yard you have.
Read all about the habitat of scorpions here:
Scorpions (DesertUSA)

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Rachiie

I feel really sorry for you, we have the same problem and it really can impact your day to day life. We have found 12 bark scorpions in our house since Aug. I do not like to think of the ones we have not found!

I am also new to the area and I am not used to seeing scorpions around, let alone in our house...this is how I deal with and try to prevent myself from going nuts!

We shake bedding every night and have moved the bed away from, we stop the pillows and sheets from touching the wall at night this is to prevent what we have termed the scorpion bridge.

Check shoes and towels and I tend not to put my hand in any cupboard that I cannot see.

We bought DE from a nursery in Surprise. The name was something Moon -the bags were I think $10. I DE'd the perimeter of the house and garage.

We also bought a black light from Cabelas, it makes me feel better checking the house at night, they glow really well under black light.

We also go sticky pads from Walmart that we placed along the wall and in the corners in the house. They are really cheap, maybe 6 pads for under $2 and it is this method that catches the most scorpions.

I understand that a lot of people could not live like us with the evening black lighting event and the numerous sticky pads throughout our house, however I have to do something and will try anything to prevent living with them.

People have their fears, scorpions is one of mine!

Good luck

Wow! All that effort and you only found 12? We found about a half dozen without even trying.

[Rachiie]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Wow! All that effort and you only found 12? We found about a half dozen without even trying.

On a previous post you said that you normally find 1 to 4 scorpions a year..

"We see one to maybe four scorpions a year, usually in the garage but sometimes on the floors or the ceiling or a dresser drawer - never in a bed, shoe or the places people tell you to look. Some years are worse than others. July/Aug is the worst time. We use no pest control as I consider it more hazardous to health than the bugs. "


Have you found more this year than other years? I am wondering if it has anything to do with the new Bashas construction in Estrella.

The effort that it takes to search the house - 10 mins, gives me 8 hours of blissful sleep! I have managed to cut the blacklighting down to once a week - sounding a bit too much like an addict now!

[aiwei]

A realtor friend of mine advised me to put plastic outlet plug (for baby-proofing) on all un-used wall outlets, especially the outside walls. Little babies (the size of a child's little finger nail) could find its way in through an uncovered outlet, if you have any in the wall. When I lived in Chandler (house built 2004) last summer, we found scorpions big and small. The smaller ones were crawling on the ceiling. We assume they lived in the wall for a while before they found their way into the house. I used a piece inverted tape to stick them and threw them away.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Rachiie

On a previous post you said that you normally find 1 to 4 scorpions a year..

"We see one to maybe four scorpions a year, usually in the garage but sometimes on the floors or the ceiling or a dresser drawer - never in a bed, shoe or the places people tell you to look. Some years are worse than others. July/Aug is the worst time. We use no pest control as I consider it more hazardous to health than the bugs. "


Have you found more this year than other years? I am wondering if it has anything to do with the new Bashas construction in Estrella.

The effort that it takes to search the house - 10 mins, gives me 8 hours of blissful sleep! I have managed to cut the blacklighting down to once a week - sounding a bit too much like an addict now!

I was mostly teasing you for going to all that effort. Now that you mention it though, we did find a few more than normal in late summer in the house. We are pretty close to the Bashas development, but still I don't believe the scorps walked to our house from there. Just a seasonal bump, I suppose. Haven't seen any in a while, but we usually don't in winter.

[kmajerci]

Originally Posted by rr72

Hi everyone,

Several weeks ago, I came on here asking for input about where to buy a house in the East Valley. My wife and I settled on west Chandler (85226) -- Village of Gila Springs, to be exact. Just south of the Kyrene & Ray intersection. The house is beautiful and the neighborhood quiet, but in three days we've already killed four bark scorpions in the garage and one in the downstairs bathroom. I can't sleep at night and I've had paranoid delusions of scorpions crawling on me in bed, sometimes even feeling stings that aren't real. My wife isn't nearly as fearful as I am, but when I wake up in cold sweats at every hour of the morning, kicking sheets off of me, she is also jolted out of sleep.

I don't know what to do. I fear going home every night and I want to sleep in a hotel. I've tried to push it out of my mind and just relax, but I have a hyperactive imagination when it comes to these kinds of things. No matter how I try, I cannot control my fears psychologically. I need absolute assurances that the scorpions are being kept out.

The yard is LUSH -- watered lawn, decorative rocks, plants everywhere, a wood shed in the back, and stacks of firewood. The green is nice, but if it's harboring scorpions, I want it out -- so on to my question -- will xeriscaping the yard reduce our scorpion population? I'm willing to do anything to help the problem.

I've read that pesticides aren't very effective, so I'd rather not go that route. Is paying a professional to seal your house worth it, or is it something I could do easily enough on my own for much less money? I don't want to tear up the yard if getting the home 100% sealed will spell the end of our scorpion visits, but on the other hand, I don't want to pay the money to get the house sealed if a landscape change (presumably less expensive) will stop the problem in its tracks.

Thank you to all who respond.

I have been searching on the internet like crazy about this subject and I came across your message and I could not agree with you more! I just recently moved into a rental home, and I have had 13 scorpions in two months. I live with my brother, his 15 month old, and my 7 year old Golden ret. Seven out of those scorpions were babies less than a 1/2 inch long and were found through-out my bathroom/tub. I have not been able to sleep at my home for a week. My landlord is not helping me, and has been not treating this as an urgent matter, referring to scorpion stings as a bee sting. I have lost 5 pounds, haven't had a good nights rest since I've lived here, and want to move. They're making me feel like I'm crazy being this terrified over scorpions, which are a "normal" thing for Arizona. I have lived in Arizona my whole life and have NEVER had this problem growing up. I don't think my landlord will pay to have their home sealed and we have had our home sprayed three times in 2 months. The weird thing is we do not have a pest problem.... prob because we have a scorpion problem. I'm new to the neighborhood but I have been trying to talk to all the neighbors I can. Sad thing is a lot of the homes in my area are foreclosed. My landlord says that pest control is my responsibility. I'm going crazy.... If anyone can give me advice, please do. I would like to be able to live in my home I continue to pay rent for.

[piscesinphoenix]

I've lived in the same house for 47 years and had never even seen a scorpion until two years ago (2 of the nasty things crawling down my bedroom wall! It took me a minute or two to realize what they were); and again just recently in my laundry room and 1 in my bathroom. I sprayed the one in the bathroom with Terro Scorpion Killer which promises instant knock-down. Don't know if it worked as the thing skittered under the bathtub but hasn't been seen since (though I do have two cats). I don't know where they are coming from! I suspect my neighbor's wood pile or the manhole in the alley (roaches). They don't seem to be coming from anywhere on my own property. I try to keep my desert yard sprayed and clean of debris, though admitedly, it got a little out of hand this past winter with all the rain and growth spike, but I've since got it cleaned up and removed. I also try to keep the outside perimeter sprayed with an insect killer, not just around the foundation, but around the outside of the fences too, especially on the alley-side. I've been using Ortho. Anything that will keep the scorp's food supply to minimum and at least away from the house. I have two questions: Is there a natural predator worth cultivating for scorpions? and will household bleach kill them?

[observer53]

Originally Posted by RCR

The pile of firewood mentioned sounds like a breeding ground to me. I would get rid of it. Also if you are seeing, or hearing, a lot of crickets around get the outside area of your house sprayed. Crickets are a favorite food of scorpions.

Agreed on both counts.

[Paladdin]

If youre really paranoid about scorpions and dont want them in bed with you, put the legs of the bed in glass jars, scorpions cant climb glass.

I like the idea of putting the legs of the bed in glass jars, but what kind of jars would be strong enough where the weight of the bed wouldn't crack or break them? I've also heard that you should put the bed legs in cups filled with water....not sure if that works.

[Jukesgrrl]

I've lived in Tucson for four years. The first year here we had a terrible cricket problem (they were in our ductwork) but never saw a scorpion or any scary thing. We got on a regular rotation with professional exterminators and the crickets have been totally gone since then. After maintaining our xeriscape by ourselves for the first several years, we got a pro for that, too, and our property has never been neater. Nothing unruly or overgrown, no piles of anything. And this year our yard is not only is rife with scorpions ... we also have PACK RATS. And the exterminator's only solution for that is traps. Nothing in the house yet, thank heaven, but I'm afraid to open the patio door. While I can see mountains from my house, we're miles from the foothills, where I'm told these things are more prevelent. We had much more rain than usual last winter. Could that have something to do with the increase in pests?