Scorpions (Phoenix, Glendale, Cave Creek: apartment complex, house, neighborhoods)

[YAZ]

My sister-in-law got a great deal last year on a home in west Glendale. This subdivision is about three years old, and guess what?

Yep, the whole neighborhood is infested with the pesky arachnids. She spent $600 for an exterminator and removed some debris from her back yard, etc.

She found one in her bed yesterday....

Pleez share your experiences, and what you did to eradicate these 'lil buggers.....

[Ponderosa]

Sounds like the exterminator stung her worse than the scorpions might. My experience is there is very little you can do. Some suggest a cat. Get rid of the food sources for scorpions (other bugs) and hope for the best.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Sounds like the exterminator stung her worse than the scorpions might. My experience is there is very little you can do. Some suggest a cat. Get rid of the food sources for scorpions (other bugs) and hope for the best.

An exterminator I used to know told me that you can't get rid of them with chemicals, unless you HIT them with the chemicals, which generally doesn't happen. So, the exterminator was a waste of time and money, except to get rid of at least some of the other bugs.

Keeping the yard and house clean and free of debris will perhaps help them go elsewhere. They like living in undisturbed, cluttered areas where bugs are plentiful. Hence the phenomenon of the little critters running into nearby neighborhoods when vacant lots are cleared.

[roosevelt]

My house was built on an old orchard so I've had them for 30 years. The main thing is to seal every door and window so they cannot get in the house. I replaced my french doors with sliding doors and that fixed that problem. What I do during the warmer months is take a black light and look for scorpions on my block wall fence, that is where they hang out. I will spare you how I kill them.

[cap1717]

Simple solution, get a jar, a pair of tweezers, needle nose plyers, etc., and a black light (Home Depot). Turn out the lights (at night) and look on walls, baseboards, etc., for your "in house" scorpions. They will "glow" in the black light. Place them in jar with alchohol, if you want, and "discard". I would do this nightly until you find no more. You can do the same thing in the yard, looking on walls, tree trunks, etc., however, there will be a limited # of them in your house (assuming that you have a well sealed home), you may find them for years in the yard.

[AZParents]

Cats are also great scorpion hunter-killers. We don't have cats, but our neighbor has 3 and they kill scorpions all the time. That neighbor backs up to a wash and gets more scorpions than us, as we don't back up to a wash or open desert. Lucky for us we've had only one scorpion in 7+ years of living in our home!

[sh9730]

Read this thread earlier and lo and behold - just saw my very first "inside" scorpion in the year I ve been here scurry across my tile! No problem catching up with him since he was freaked out in the light and scurrying in circles! He is no longer with us.

I know having one means more, but I did have my sliding door open, and my screen though closed, is not the greatest seal....pretty sure he scooted in that way...

I dont freak about this stuff...I ve never been bitten by one, or if I have I attributed it to a regular spider bite (I have had a couple of those since my arrival here last year), so it wasnt that bad and went away in a couple days (again that is IF it was a scorpion bite in the first place).

[blueeyz911]

Oh I feel for your SIL. I had one in my bed too and it stung me! That was unpleasant and quite annoying, pain for hours and part of my arm was numb for 48 hours. Good times. It was actually the first scorpion sting I ever had living in Phoenix for almost 30 years. It is not too common for people to get stung or have them in their home for that matter. It depends a lot on where you live. We lived in an apartment complex in North Phoenix surrounded by a mountain preserve and they were everywhere. We found several a month (inside and out) in all different sizes. We bought a black light and went around every night with it to make sure there were no scorps in the bedroom before I went to bed. It was a HUGE PIA but worth it for me to sleep knowing I would not be crawling into bed with one.

Exterminating does not get rid of the scorpions but it will at least eliminate or decrease their food source, (i.e. other insects and arachnids). I would tell your sister to get a black light at the hardware store and just shake her shoes and clothes before putting them on and watch wear you step. Sorry I do not have a solution to get rid of them because we were never able to get rid of them completely.

[Project_Patt]

I have been stung 2x by them.....One was under the patio table i was sitting at and fell in my lap and i thought it was a fly so i swiped it ..thats when it stung me.

Putting glue traps in the garage is a good way to catch them and prevent them from getting into the house.

[Phoenix lady]

I heard from someone who lived in Cave Creek and was stung a few times here and there by scorpions that she used the blueing dye that older woman use to dye their hair with. I guess it's just called blueing dye? She used it right at the sting site and it decreased her symptoms a lot. Not sure which ingredient was the helpful one, but it worked for her.