Pest control and scorpion (sales, house, neighborhoods)

[titaniummd]

Ok, Spiders I have seen and can deal with them. However, today, I saw a baby scorpion. That I have never seen. Where there's one, there are more, I am sure....Are they poisonous? Do I need to be checking my shoes and slippers before I put them on?

I will be calling for pest control, NOW! It will be between Home Team (they use the bug barrier system) or Terminix. Middleton is too expensive to me. Unless, you guys can suggest a different company in the next 24 hours.....

[FLPL75]

titaniummd
I used Home Team when we first built our house. The only thing I I wasn't thrilled about was with their "bug barrier" system they applied this gel type product everywhere in my cabinets. I did not like the brown residue that it became once it dried.
Also I found out the price the "door to door" sales rep quoted was much higher than the price from them directly.
Have you called Enviro ? They are the folks that did our termite treatment on the slab when our house was built and who hold out termite bond. When I was calling for price quotes they were one of the best.
Who is your termite bond with? I would call them first as an existing customer you might get a better deal.

Karla

[Stonewall17]

"BugOut" seems to be very popular, at least here in St. Johns county. I don't know if they are true to their name but most of the homes around here display their sign. I use Florida Pest Control myself only because they hold my termite bond.

[Petealan]

Try Access. He's a local guy that does it himself. Reasonable prices, great service. Scorpions eat other insects. Get rid of the other bugs and the scorpions go away. They are not deadly here in Florida, just a painful sting. I've lived in Florida since 1977, I ALWAYS give my shoes a shake before putting them on.

[joninclay]

If you're not allergic to bee or wasp stings, a scorpion sting will not be lethal. Painful, yes. Lethal, no (though I'd take a child to the ER if he/she got stung by one).

I've never had a scorpion in my house or in plain sight on my property (knock on wood), but my neighbor had one. He squashed it with his shoe on, end of problem.

The various pest companies around here all claim to be able to take care of scorpions like any other pest.

[sugarbeet]

I've always been happy with Turner Pest Control. I had scorpions, too, and read that Florida scorpions are not poisonous. Scary, though!

[mawipafl]

I had one scorpion in August and haven't seen another - I don't believe, through my research, that they're as prolific as roaches (see one of them and sure as shootin' others are in hiding). I think scorpions are more solitary, and if you don't have evidence of their food of choice (other bugs), then I would suspect it was a fluke? Maybe with all the rain it was looking for a drier spot? That's when I had the scorpion - during that long week of rain this summer.

I also shake my shoes before sliding my feet in --- which isn't too often a task since I live in flipflops - bugs can't hide in them :-)

[titaniummd]

I cannot access this site at my work since chat rooms and forums are unauthorized.

I called Terminix who had a good price and I used them in Chesapeake, VA. I actually called around 535 PM and they were the only who actually still had someone I can speak with to get an appointment tomorrow.

I have my termite bond with B & B with the bug barrier system like Home team. However, I was getting no breaks from B & B - they wanted $515. Middleton wanted $400 (only if I did the comprehensive lawn service). Home team was $85 / quarter. A few colleagues have "bug out" but I didn't get through (unless I had the wrong number).

[Samrai309]

I have had a few scorpions here and ther. One in the garage. One on my screened in porch. and One in the kitchen. There was a fourth near my front door inside the house. This was over a 2 year period. I have never really seen them outside. For all I know, these came in on my clothes or someone elses when we did outside yard work. Could have happened when I was cleaning my gutters of pine needles. I hear they stay near pine trees. I have a fair amount of them near me. I use a local guy in New Smyrna (Mikes Pest Control) who is an entemologist and I have never had any issues with bugs. You cant stop them all, so here and there I get an ant, an earwig, or a spider. But he goes in all the wall sockets, outside and around the house. Cant complain. Reasonable prices. They do my lawn pest control too.

Home Team did the initial treatment when the house was built and they annoyed the crap out of me to give them my business with these stupid tubes that are in the walls of the house. I have heard the tubes have issues. Reps left voicemails, packets on my front door, rang my bell numerous times....apparently NO does not translate well for them. Have not been bothered in a while though. It seems they have passed the soliciting on to TrueGreen who use the same play book.

[riveree]

It's usually just a temporary thing.

When the new neighborhoods are built and the land disturbed, scorpions will be visible, but it will settle back down again (they'll retreat to whatever woods are left).

I've had the small, reddish-brown ones in the house - I've found them both dead and alive (either way, I just fling them outside). These little ones are the Hertz scorpions.

Outside, I've seen one (alive) Florida Bark scorpion - HUGE! He scurried away once we all saw each other.

The good news is that scorpions are not aggressive - they will run from you.

I haven't seen one now in a year or so, so no worries here, but if I was concerned that many were getting in (probably an unlikely occurrence), I would call Enviro.

*I do have a lot of Slash Pines at the back of my lot, so the Pine connection mentioned above is interesting .

Here's a helpful link:

http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/News%20columns/Florida%20Scorpions.htm (broken link)