Scorpions in east TN ?????? (Knoxville: house, to buy, live)

[neigher]

Hi,
We are considering moving to east TN. looking in the area between Knoxville and Johnson city ( somewhere along the Cherokee forest) We have horses and are looking to buy a farm. MY QUESTION IS : How prevalent are scorpions in that area?? I have no problems with the snakes or the spiders (we have brown recluse here too), ticks, chiggers etc, But I DO have the "creepy crawly" issue with scorpions....IN MY HOUSE !! outside I can deal with it. Do you have to check you shoes and bedding constantly like you do out west?? I'm a born and raised country girl but I have phobias with beetles and scorpions (don't ask me why..no one else in my family does, I guess I'm a weenie) Thank you for any and all input you can give me regarding this issue.

[BST]

Some, but not prevalent. I've seen 3 scorpions in 45 years...but then again, I haven't lived on a horse farm for 45 years.

[oldmanbob]

No problem, we never see any, and very raire. There are 2 types, the stripped, and the plain eastern, as I found on google. So nothing like your used to.

[Beretta]

Lots of beetles but no scorpions that I know. Now when I lived in Texas, there were scorpions everywhere..... they especially loved our laundry room.

[neigher]

Thanks...from what I have read people don't see them often but I figured input from someone who lives there would hold a lot more truth I fell in love with east TN. when I spent a summer there (many years ago) and thru out the summer I only saw 2 cotton mouths and nothing else. Thanks again i will keep checking back for more input.

[stevep111]

I think you will have to worry more about cow tippers than scorpions LOL. We used to catch them when we were kids. No one ever got stung though. We only saw them in the middle of summer and it was usually under a log or brush pile where all the snakes were waiting to eat them.

[BRH]

As others have said, they aren't very prevalent in most areas of East Tennessee and most will never see one. But they are more common in the mountains than the valley. My ex-wife was raised in the Coker Creek area of Monroe County, in the southern portion of the Cherokee Nat. Forest, and there were scorpions in the summer. They weren't everywhere, but you did see them around wood piles and under steps and so forth in the woods there. But I've never heard of anyone having any problems with them invading the house.

Also, I will add that I've never seen one in the valley anywhere. The only ones I've ever seen were in the higher regions of the mountains near the North Carolina state line.


So yes, there are a few in certain specific areas, but I wouldn't worry about them, as you will more than likely never encounter one.

[Kitties of Domination]

I would worry more about yellow jackets than scorpions. They are here, but they are very small and not very common. We would find them sometimes under rocks when I was a kid.

[hiknapster]

I'm a Scorpio. I promise not to sting. Fatally, anyways.

[mbmouse]

I had no idea there even were scorpions in TN anywhere. I thought scorpions had to be in a no freeze area to survive? Very interesting. I did see them, even in the house in S.E. FL and we always had to check shoes and such if they had been in the garage or outside etc., but never have I seen one or know of anyone who has dealt with them here in E.TN. I will now know though to keep an eye out for them as well as snakes if out hiking or similar.
Good info folks!