Is this area known for Scorpions? (title, spiders, kids)

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by JeriS

Is there a product that I could apply outside the perimeter of the house without calling in the professionals? I don't want to use any type of poison in the house because of my cats.

Cy Kick CS is what you want. They claim that it's non-toxic to pets once dry. If you want a truly chemical-free option, diatomaceous earth could be used, but it's messy and maybe not as effective.

[urbex]

Glendale covers an awful lot of ground....I lived at 59th Ave & Bell for over a decade, and saw ONE scorpion in the house. Pretty sure it was a hitchhiker on a load of wood I brought down from Prescott. Had a buddy that lived at 59th Ave & Olive for years, and it seemed like his kid got stung at least once a year in her bedroom at night, and routinely found the buggers in the house.

I live out in far west Wittmann now, surrounded by open desert. I have glue traps by all exterior doors, a couple in my bedroom, and one by the fridge in the kitchen. I find around half a dozen a year stuck to the traps, and will see one or two a year in the middle of the floor somewhere. Oddly, they always seem to be circling the drain if I find them loose in the house.

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by urbex

I have glue traps by all exterior doors, a couple in my bedroom, and one by the fridge in the kitchen. I find around half a dozen a year stuck to the traps, and will see one or two a year in the middle of the floor somewhere.

Yes, glue traps are effective. We put them near the exterior doors and catch a few each year that way. Scorpions generally don't like being out in the open, so they tend to hug the walls. Obviously if one has pets they need to experiment and see if their pets are going to bother the traps. We have dogs, so I cut the big boards up into strips that are 1-2 inches wide. That's plenty to catch a scorpion or a roach, and our dogs are a lot less apt to step on those little strips.

Some non-toxic and fairly permanent techniques are to seal gaps in the house, and remove any hiding places near the house. Right after we bought our house I removed anything that was touching the house... vines, some spare roof tiles, etc. We've only done a little sealing, and that's something I need to work on more.

I'm skeptical that residual spray will kill a scorpion. I've seen lots of opinions both ways on this. If the wet product gets on a scorpion, then yes it will kill it. IMO, the residual is only effective in killing the insects they eat, which of course helps but I think spraying alone is not enough for homes that have a significant problem. Hunting with a blacklight is the way to go, but it is a lot of work.

[Tokinouta]

Originally Posted by Scrapjockey

Scorpions are pretty much nocturnal. Get a "black light" and walk around your yard or house at nite. If they are there, they will glow.

Yeah, that's easy. Get a large black light, not those small ones at the Walgreens. The size of a real flashlight. Walk around the apt. at night. You'll see them if they've got them, they glow green. It's summer, they're out right now.

Killing their food is ok but they can live on one cricket a year and no water so if you have them they'll still be there. You really need to black light hunt them and kill them.

You can always black light in your apt if you move in and find you have them. That way you can get them before they get you.

[KO Stradivarius]

Just moved into Gilbert in the Spring. We've had 1-2 scorpions in the house, and found a few corpses too. Had Blue Sky pest control out to spray a couple times. Got a black light and have seen a lot of them in the river rock along the back wall, and 1-2 near the house. Killed about 15-20 over about 4-5 nights a few weeks ago, it was sorta fun.

I know there are crickets in those rocks, and we have to water the palm & citrus trees so it's not dry back there, plus we back up to a canal. I've since called Blue Sky and described where to apply chemicals more specifically. Otherwise, we just need to seal the perimeter of the house and the gaps around the doors, etc.

We are not freaked out about it, I feel it's just something to be aware of and do what you can to get the vast majority and control within reason.

I never heard that cats could help out with scorpions. I love cats, they are amazing so I would not be surprised if they can deal with them. We had 2 before we moved to AZ and I miss them. I totally would recommend that you get a cat, but scorpions are way down the list of reasons.

So I googled it and found this:
https://www.tripsavvy.com/cats-and-scorpions-2682522

Good article, but note that cats are probably not immune- they just are really good at detecting things, are fast so they can avoid stings, have thicker skin/fur which helps if they do get stung, and some may even eat scoprpions. But if they do get stung they could get sick or die.

[AZHockeyDad]

Originally Posted by JeriS

Is there a product that I could apply outside the perimeter of the house without calling in the professionals? I don't want to use any type of poison in the house because of my cats.

Lowes and Home Depot sell aerosol cans of scorpion killer. Spray along the perimeter of the house. I do this 4-5 times per year and have not seen a scorpion in the 5 years that I have lived in Glendale.

[smittycdm]

Haven’t posted on this Board in a while. Re the scorps, we live in Paradise Valley, not exactly ‘outta town’, but many people have told us, “it’s a scorp zone”. Why? We back into Phoenix Mtn Preserve, we and all neighbors have rocky yards. Scorps love to hide in rocks. My husband goes out every night with the JUMBO black light flashlight I bought him, he finds minimum 2 scorps (as opposed to 10-12 the first yr we lived here). How do I know? I’m an accountant and I keep a log, by day and year. (Sorry, if I sound mean lol). We also use Green Mango, they only use products which are kid and pet friendly. Note: my husband also turns all the lights off in the house and also checks. Best practice is to seal the windows and doors. btw, the seal only lasts 12 months (now it’s time for us to re-seal). I hope this helps you, it worked for us.
PS. Some people will say “I’ve lived here my whole life and never had a scorp”, blah blah, etc. So they were lucky. However, I’ve never met a person who said a scorp fell in my bed. That’s crazy, maybe they were camping. You have to be proactive. One more, don’t ever leave your shoes outside, if you do, shake them out.

[flint8ball]

Diatomaceous earth supposedly works. It's small particle size gets between the scorpions joints, grinds a hole in their shell and they dehydrate and die. Or something like that.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by smittycdm

Some people will say “I’ve lived here my whole life and never had a scorp”, blah blah, etc. So they were lucky.

However... other people (such as yourselves), usually who move here from somewhere else... and have little to no idea how to cope with being in Arizona in the first place... usually say:

"omg... there are scorpions attacking us from all sides; from the ceilings, floors, doors and windows... from the east, west, north & south. They're inside and outside and everywhere! We're literally surrounded! It's like being at the Alamo... blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, etc".

So are they UNLUCKY (?) or did they just fail to do their homework by researching scorpions?

[More Rock]

I have never seen one, but I live where there plenty of birds probably eating them for lunch.