Scorpions in winter? (Wickenburg: house, neighborhood, buyer)

[maverick974]

I'm just curious. I know that many animals either slow down their matabolizm during the winter so I'm wondering if scorpions slow down or hibernate during the winter as well?
If I can ever get my house sold here in Oregon, I'm planning a move to the east valley and my girlfriend obviously has a problem with scorpions, snakes and black widows in and around any house I might buy.
Hmm, come to think of it, are black widows active all year as well???
I know rattlers go underground for the most part during winter but I was just wanting to be informative to my girlfriend about these critters.

Thanks.

[observer53]

Scorpions don't hibernate, as far as I know. But that said, you may NEVER see one. People from out of state think our bugs are running around everywhere. Control their food sources with a good exterminator, and you will likely be fine.

Black widows do seem less active and fewer in number in the winter. They are easy to find and get rid of because of their messy webs. Keep patio corners and similar locations swept clean; if you do see a web, get rid of it... if you are concerned that you have one somewhere, go out at night with a flashlight and a can of Raid. Mission accomplished.

Snakes are a nonissue unless you are living out in the desert or on the fringes of the open desert.

[maverick974]

Originally Posted by observer53

Scorpions don't hibernate, as far as I know. But that said, you may NEVER see one. People from out of state think our bugs are running around everywhere. Control their food sources with a good exterminator, and you will likely be fine.

Black widows do seem less active and fewer in number in the winter. They are easy to find and get rid of because of their messy webs. Keep patio corners and similar locations swept clean; if you do see a web, get rid of it... if you are concerned that you have one somewhere, go out at night with a flashlight and a can of Raid. Mission accomplished.

Snakes are a nonissue unless you are living out in the desert or on the fringes of the open desert.

Thanks. I hope you don't think this is another thread about being afraid of scorpions. That's not the case here. I was just curious about their habits and habitats to the people that will move with me.
As a kid I spent many a summer in Wickenburg but I don't ever recall seeing anything more than one tarantula. If I saw a scorpion or rattler, I don't remember it.

[powerXbaby]

I live in the east valley, and I find a lot of scorpions during the summmer months. In fact, I found one in my shower a few months ago, but I hardly ever see them in the winter at all. On the other hand, I have a friend that lives in my same neighborhood, and they have never seen a scorpion in their house. Just lots of geikos and lizards.

Spiders, you'll see quite a bit, but they're usually giant crab spiders or wolf spiders, which look big, scary, and intimidating, but not lethal whatsoever. I do see black widows, but not very often, and they tend to keep to themselves. Like the other person said, just make sure to remove any webs you may see.

Lastly, rattlesnakes. I have lived in Arizona my entire life, and have never once seen a snake of any sort except for at the zoo.

[musicforme]

I've been told that they do hibernate during the colder weather.

That being said, I plan on going hunting tonight since its been warmer than usual the last couple of days. I live near a desert preserve and killed around 10 or so of them in the backyard this year.

[Zippyman]

Based on my own experiences, even if your house is heavily infested with scorps, they stop coming out when the nighttime temps drop below about 70 degrees. A welcome break.

[wit-nit]

Scorpions hibernate when the night time temps drop below 45- 50 degrees. Unless disturbed they sleep under rocks, wood piles etc.
Everything you need to know about scorpions in AZ is on this site:
Scorpions (http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/az1223/#ScorpionsinArizona - broken link)

[Captain Bill]

Control their food source and you shouldn't have to worry. When you buy the home and have the home inspection done, you can also have an inspection to look for scorpions. The inspector come after dark and shines a black light in all the places they know scorpions hide. They will glow under the black light.

A buyer client of mine was afraid of scorpions and ordered this type of inspections; and they didn't find any.

I live in the east valley, and have only seen one in our yard in the 6 years we've been here.

[EnicAZ]

A lot depends on the neighborhood that you are in. Some are infested with scorpions, while others are battling snake problems. As far as the winter effects, they will try to go into and be near warm areas, which can be a problem as so do humans (inside buildings).

[budderboy]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

Based on my own experiences, even if your house is heavily infested with scorps, they stop coming out when the nighttime temps drop below about 70 degrees. A welcome break.

Unfortunatly, when the temp goes below 70, they do stop coming out, but where are they then. In my case as soon as the temp dropped, they all came inside to my climate controlled house. So far this year I have found 12 in my house, and my wife is completly terrified of them. I started seeing them around October when it started to cool off and since we have had 4 full size Arizona Bark, and 8 babies (which are the more dangerous of the 2). I have only seen 4 black widdows but I see their webs EVERYWHERE. Were actually needing to relocate this because of the severity of the scorpions, and the severity of my wifes fear.