Scorpions, tell me about the scorpions in Reno area. (home, neighborhood)

[utsci]

I have seen a few scorpions in my 30+ years in Reno. They have also had mountain lions and bears as close in as downtown. We see mountain lions, coyotes, deer, feral horses, bears, and rattlesnakes at least once yearly on the outskirts of town. Snakes and coyotes are actually fairly regular visitors. And black widows are a given.

Rule of thumb here (for snakes and bugs) "never put your hand in a place that your eyes have not checked out first."

And I do not ever leave my pets outdoors unsupervised. Coyotes take dogs, cats, chickens, livestock daily at certain times of the year. The coyotes are very active in the spring and fall especially. But last year I had one walk up to my patio door with one of my hens in its mouth at 10AM on a Sunday morning! That was pretty bold. But I do not live out in the sticks. We are very much in the heart of suburbia ta the very edge of the city limits.

[awinphoto]

I've lived in Reno/Sparks for 10 years and only 2 times heard of someone seeing a scorpion (other than the zoo). They tend to be rather small, only a few inches long... My friend had her small cat stung by one and the cat was fine a few hours later... The bad ones are south in the vegas area and arizona and the like. Up here, coyotes and snakes are more of a nuisance than scorpions. Yes it is a high desert, but it's typically too cold for them up here.

[utsci]

Have seen scorpions regularly on my patio when we lived in Gardnerville, none since moving to rural Washoe County near Reno. However we have plenty of black widows, mostly around the concrete foundation of the house. I've never seen a rattler in my yard, but have seen them out walking the dogs, on roads and in foothills. It's wise to vaccinate dogs for rattlesnake bites if you take them off roading with you. This summer we seem to be infested with paper wasps. I'm constantly finding new nests to exterminate.

Rule of thumb for living in NV, never put your hands where your eyes have not looked.

[freedomlibertarian]

There are scorpions, I have seen enough of them, you can see more at night with a blue light. Some can be big.

[cindyarvizu]

I live in Lemmon Valley in North Reno. I am having a problem with scorpions and my daughter was just stung by one. I will be getting an exterminator asap!

[2sleepy]

I've only seen one scorpion in Reno in 14 years and it was a little baby one, and that was in a very remote area in Washoe County. One thing that is really, really wonderful about Reno is the lack of bugs, there are hardly any; well except for stupid squash beetles which seem to be able to find my squash plants about 10 minutes after I plant them

[utsci]

If squash bugs and their eggs are in your soil it will be almost impossible to get rid of them. I gave up after 20 years of trying. It's been 10 years now and I have moved my raised beds (while re-habbing the yard), put new soil in the beds, and they are away from the neighbor's fence. The neighbor is an absent landlord rental property with a yard littered in weeds. I'm going to try squash again next year. I would really love to see a homegrown pumpkin again!

This year's bug-of-the-year in our yard has been the boxelder bug. We have both ash and maple trees, have had boxelder bugs before...but this year beats all. We have little juvenile bugs running all over the east side of the yard. If you squish them they smell horrible and leave a red stain (the juvenile bugs are bright red)...and the dogs refuse to use their potty spot because of them. We've been trying to control them by spraying the bugs with soapy water but may have to resort to chemicals. Ick!

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by utsci

If squash bugs and their eggs are in your soil it will be almost impossible to get rid of them. I gave up after 20 years of trying. It's been 10 years now and I have moved my raised beds (while re-habbing the yard), put new soil in the beds, and they are away from the neighbor's fence. The neighbor is an absent landlord rental property with a yard littered in weeds. I'm going to try squash again next year. I would really love to see a homegrown pumpkin again!

Everything I plant has been in raised beds, and I changed the soil twice. It's crazy none of my neighbors garden and I am adjacent to a well manicured HOA common area lawn, so I don't know where these darn thngs come from but they invade the garden every year. I gave up this year and stuck to just tomatoes and some herbs and I must say my tomatoes are spectacular =)

[stayhuman12]

Its crazy how little these residents know about the natural history of northern nevada. No bugs! What!? Yes there are scorpions as well as ants, praying mantis, butterflies, moths, crickets, grasshoppers, roaches, beetles, spiders, you name it! We have a wonderful hodge podge of animal life here, and if you dont like it, dont spray, just leave.

[utsci]

Bugs are fine until they overpopulate in an opportunistic situation and then they become a pest.