7 Things I’ve Learned {the hard way} About Scorpions

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It was March 2010, about three months after we had moved into our current home. I was seven months pregnant with baby number two. Our nearly-two-year-old had woken early on a Saturday morning and I’d gotten up with her to let my husband snooze a little longer. Thinking he would sleep in for another hour at least (and patting myself on the back for taking the early shift), I was surprised when he emerged from our master bedroom just a few minutes later. In a daze he told me he thought he’d been stung by a scorpion. He had rolled over in bed to go back to sleep and his elbow brushed up against the wall behind our bed (where a headboard would be if we had one). He said he had a funny sensation around his elbow, like a tingling, pins-and-needles numbness that was getting more intense.

Like any good wife, I didn’t believe him for a second and thought he was completely over-reacting. After all, he wasn’t screaming in pain and hadn’t seen anything when he’d looked at the spot on the wall where his elbow had made contact. To rule out the off-chance that he wasn’t insane, we went to investigate. Sure enough, when we pulled the bed away a few inches, a huge bark scorpion was crawling leisurely up the wall, just inches from our pillows.

And then I did what has become commonly known in our family as “Sarah’s scorpion dance” (picture much frenetic arm-waving and foot-stamping). After we had captured the scorpion using a water glass and flushed it down the toilet, I calmly considered our options: 1) Move, 2) Burn down the house, and 3) Move. I don’t normally have major phobias when it comes to bugs and spiders, but a giant deadly arachnid practically IN OUR BED during a season of life when we had a roaming toddler and impending newborn just about put me over the edge.

I wish I could tell you that this was a fluke, an isolated Arizona incident we could share at cocktail parties to impress our friends. Nope. During the spring and summer of 2010 we had too many close calls to count (no more stings, though, thank goodness). One time our two-year-old came running up with something grasped in her pudgy fingers saying, “Mommy, look! A bug!” It was a dead scorpion {shudder}. Another time a scorpion crawled across our bed as our newborn lay less than a foot away. I’ve killed scorpions with my shoes, with books, by flushing them down the toilet, and once by squeezing a towel around the shower curtain when I discovered one hiding in between the curtain and the liner.

In the last two years I have learned a lot about scorpions. Although I am not a pest control professional or an entomologist, I have talked to several scorpion experts and experienced more first-hand trial and error than I care to remember. Here are seven things I wish I’d known as soon as we discovered our house was in scorpion territory…

  1. Not just in the desert – You often hear that scorpions are a problem in homes that are newly constructed, or surrounded by natural desert, or near a construction site. Our house falls into none of those categories (nor are we alone in our predicament in our neighborhood – somehow it makes me feel better that most of my neighbors are in the same boat). One expert told me that once scorpions have moved into an area, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of them – you can do your best to keep them out of your home, but they’ll probably just go next door.
  2. The truth about exterminators – There are many great local exterminators. I would personally recommend ONLY calling those that specialize in scorpions. Scorpions are extremely resilient and don’t respond to pesticides the way other bugs do (according to Wikipedia, “During US nuclear testing, scorpions, along with cockroaches and lizards, were found near ground zero with no recorded adverse effects.”) so if you’re going to rely on a pest control company, make sure they have very specific tactics for spraying for scorpions. We have found a DIY option that is even cheaper and more effective (more on that in a minute).
  3. Sealing your home – Our scorpion problem proved so extreme that we paid to have our home sealed by a professional. We used Seal Out Scorpions and I was pretty happy with their service and their knowledge about scorpions. The sealing is expensive and I would say it has only been partially effective for us (no magic bullet for sure), but it is worth looking into and I do credit Seal Out Scorpions for really educating us on how to keep scorpions out as well as how to do our own pest control.
  4. DIY pest control – The most effective thing we have done to take control of the situation is to do our own spraying for scorpions. We are NOT normally a very DIY or handy family and would be happy to pay for this service, but doing it yourself is much more effective for a few reasons. We spray only outside (that’s where the bugs live and should stay, and the pesticides aren’t safe inside), and we do it once a month at night during a full moon when the scorpions are most active. Doing it ourselves allows us to be really targeted (we use a black light to hunt them down, kill them on contact and the spray the area where they were hiding) and it’s cheaper too.  Oh, and by WE I mean my husband.
  5. Black light huntingIf it sounds a little scary to you to go out in your backyard and shine a black light in all the cracks and crevices of your exterior home, it is. It’s also totally thrilling. You can get a cheap black light at any home improvement store and use it to find and kill scorpions. Every one you kill is one that is not mating, breeding or coming inside your house. Let the hunt begin!
  6. Helpful precautions – While we still see scorpions outside and in the garage and very occasionally in the house, our situation has improved a ton, and largely because we don’t take any chances. We don’t walk barefoot in the garage. We don’t leave piles of stuff around outside, especially near the exterior of the house. We don’t bring anything in from the garage or outside without inspecting it first. We store things in our garage in plastic bins, not cardboard boxes. We’ve trained our kids to let us know if they see any kind of bug. We’ve learned the spots in and around our house where scorpions tend to sneak in, and we keep our eyes open. It may all sound paranoid, but it’s become just a part of life.
  7. If you (or your kids) do get stung – During the worst of that first summer in our house, I called our pediatrician to ask, hypothetically, what I should do if one of my kids got stung. At that time we had a two-year-old and a newborn. The doctor said that if the baby got stung, to take him to the ER just as a precaution because of his young age. I was told that a healthy toddler would not need an ER or even a doctor’s visit, but to give Benadryl for swelling and to monitor closely for any signs of an extreme reaction. As for my husband, he never felt much pain from his sting, but the prickly numbness radiated out from his elbow to include an area about the size of a baseball, and it lasted for a couple of days.

So there you have it, mamas. Wishing you a scorpion-free summer! Please add your stories and tips in the comments below!

Have you had run-ins with scorpions? Share your horror stories so I don’t feel left out! And if you can add to these tips, please do!

Photo credit: here

98 COMMENTS

    • Years ago I lived in Mesa, AZ, and was stung by a scorpion. I went to bed and one leg became numb, then the other. The same was true with my arms. It took a week before all the numbness went away. I now live near SA, Texas, and we have tons of scorpions. The other day I was out cleaning the patio and I was stung by what I think was a scorpion. I felt like I had been cut by a sharp object and I expected some kind of reaction. I later experienced no reaction – not even any itching. I started thinking that maybe my severe AZ reaction caused me to develop an immunity to scorpions. I would appreciate it if someone could let know if this could be a possibility.

      • The sting you recieved when living is AZ, was from an Arizona Bark Scorpion, they are the only species of scorpion that causes the numbness and tingling that you felt. All other types of scorpion stings cause pain only. All scorpions, no matter the size can control the amount of toxin they release, therefor every sting can be very different. You could get stung by a bark scorpion one time and have the numbness and tingling all over, and get stung again, and only have a little bit of numbness and tingling in the area of the sting. It is not likely that anyone would devleope and immunity to a scorpion sting. Although that would be nice.

        Kelli
        Poison control

  1. Ok- so after living in a place up on Camelback where we not only had scorpions but centipedes in the house… um gross… my best suggestion is keeping a bottle of aersol hairspray and a heavy shoe around. You can spray them with the hairspray and it freezes them- their tail lays back flat so it can’t sting you and then you have plenty of time to smash them with the shoe 🙂 We literally had to kill one every other week until we moved. Thank goodness that was pre-kiddos!

  2. Love that hairspray trick! Will have to try that. I have been stung twice and have learned that all scorpion stings are not equal. The first time was in bed. I was stung on the foot. That sting was awful and caused the right side of my body to cramp through the night. I couldn’t feel one of my toes after that for several months. The next time I was stung was about a year later in Southern CA while visiting family. I was tucking a five year old into bed and was stung on the foot again. That sting was more the equivalent of a bee sting. I had numbness that lasted awhile again but not nearly as painful as the first. At the end of the day though, I will take scorpion issues over rattlesnake issues any day of the week. Let’s hunt them all.

  3. Diatomaceous earth works great if you use spray glue and put it along the base of the outside of your house.

    It is basically broken up sea shells.

    When the scorpions crawl over it, the shells slice the bottom of their bellies and they die from dehydration.

    DO NOT inhale the diatomaceous earth as it will also cut up the lining of your lungs, so wear a dust mask when applying to the glued area..

  4. we have had our fair share of run in’s around here. scary with kiddos. i have done some research but never actually tried anything more than regular bug spray. has anyone ever heard of or tried cedar oil to repel them? its natural so it can be used inside and out. wanted to try it but haven’t know anyone who had success with it.

  5. When I was in college, home for the weekend, I woke up early in the morning to feeling like something was crawling on my leg. Now, because I am blind as a bat without my glasses/contacts, I couldn’t see a thing. All of a sudden my leg started hurting. I ran into the living room and my mom was awake eating breakfast. She and I both went into my room, lifted my covers and found the scorpion! It turns out it stung me twice on my leg. It was painful for the rest of the day! It sure made me paranoid sleeping! (And made me greatly want lasik eye surgery!)

  6. I can totally relate to this story. I moved into my current house when I was 8 months pregnant and I also had a 2 year old. We would find between 10 and 18 scorpions a week. It was quite awful and frightnening. My husband taught me to use the black light and we keep at least two in the house. He sealed the house himself and also has done the scorpion hunting and monthly pest control. It has helped inmensely. Typically if we find a scorpion it is dead-Thank God. Other interesting findings were a rattlesnake that decided to nest on a front yard right next to our front door and havelinas that come regularly and eat our flowers. I have a beautiful view of the mountains from my house, but never thought i would have to deal with this stuff since they are not that close. As a city girl, it definitely was culture shock for me.

    • Please tell me how you sealed your house. We are going through it now and I am ready to sell my house. Please help.

      • Hi Dawn,i live in [[centeral]] Texas and I got invaded the last two years in a row by scorpions——–So I went to war,i use 67 tubes of calking to seal the inside and outside of my house,,,,around pipes,doors,windows,air cond. vents,under sinks,around bath tubs,ect,,,,anything that had a crack that you could slide a dime in and smaller I calked i and then sprayed inside and out with DEMON WP {{{{{THE BEST POISON I HAVE EVER FOUND}}} the first time I sprayed I mixed twice as strong as it called for and I HAVE NOT FOUND A SCORPION IN MY HOUSE SINCE NOT ONE but I do spray twice a month outside with it and I have also cleaned everthing away from my house I mean not even a leaf is left where a scorpion can hide when I spray the outside of my house I spray 4 or 5 feet out from the base house also and all the way to the roof.Hope this helps it worked for me,,,, Go Get Them God Bless Hank Langford

  7. A few tricks we’ve found:

    1) Kill the scorpions you find with your blacklight using wasp spray! It’s cheap, deadly, and sprays hard enough to crack through the scorpions’ hard exoskeletons. (Bonus: you can do it from a distance!)

    2) Use deltamethrin! It’s a professional strength pesticide, so you need to be careful with it (gloves/mask), but after spraying once monthly around our exterior and once every 6 months around the interior of our home (just allow to dry before letting kids/pets back in), we haven’t had a single scorpion in our previously infested home. In fact, we haven’t had much of anything creepy or crawly 🙂

  8. Ladies,
    Need help. We have a four month old, and we are looking to obtain larger home. We looked at the perfect home today, the first thing the realtor said to us, who was close to owner, “this place has scorpions!” Not really professional right?!?

    Owner has sealed property and has been spraying monthly. House is vacant, lots of trees and a hot tub w/ no pool. Realtor tells us the little girl who lived here had got stung and was highly allergic, lots of complications.

    I want the best for my LO, as we all do, and husband says my call! Help, I don’t know what to do?!?!?!

    B

  9. We moved into an older home in Jan 2012. In June, we found scorpions in our home- all throughout the home, not just one here or there. I even found one on the side of my daughter’s mattress and another right next to my other daughter’s bed. No stings, thank goodness! We were all really freaked out. We got a pest control guy out the next day and had the entire yard, exterior and interior of the house sprayed. I don’t like the thought of chemicals like that in the house, but at that point, I didn’t care! We all checked the house obsessively with black lights every night. After the initial treatment, we mostly found them on the wall in the back yard or on the eves of the house. I had the pest control guy come back out and spray the entire wall! Also, I had read that lavender can be a deterrent, so I use a spray bottle with essential lavender oil and water and spray our beds as well as other places in the bedrooms, living room furniture, etc. Haven’t seen any because it’s cold now, but we’re nervous for next summer. We want to look into DIY treatment. Also, I’m going to start growing lavender. I want to have it around in case it does help deter the critters but also because I love lavender anyway. I have read that cedar oil can be a good, natural critter deterrent too. I do spray cedar oil around my front & back doors as I hear it’s a particularly good deterrent for snakes.

  10. After dealling with scorpions for many years, I have found one thing very valuable: sticky traps. There are black boxes with holes in which you can put the glue trap sheets in order to keep kids away from them and you can have them near every entry point and far corner in garages, closets, under beds etc. This has been the most successful tool for us to capture those pesky scorpions and the occasional cockroach or spider. Totally organic. Since scorpions love cockroaches, you can even order the sticky traps with cockroach flavor online.

  11. I live next to a desert preserve on a mountain in the center of Phoenix, AZ. Lots o bark scorpions and whip scorpions. I agree that hunting them outside is better that them finding you inside your house. When I find a big fat bark scorpion peering out from between two rocks in a wall and I miss killing them with my handy rubber mallet. The rubber mallet is one of my suggestions as I dicovered that hammers break concrete. The other tip I have is to leave the dead scorpions outside if possible until the morning. Birds love them and they will come back to hunt their own and help you keep them down.

  12. My 17 month old got stung right after dinner today on her finger. We were outside and she was playing in the crack of the sidewalk and started screaming and we saw a 4-5 inch scorpion run out. Her finger and hand is swollen and she’s been really irritable. We gave her Motrin and Benadryl but she keeps waking up now every 20 minutes or so and crying. I don’t know what to do!

  13. its 2 am and ive been awakened by another scorpion stimg this is my 4th in about 6 months. we live in tx and I kill a scorpion on ave once a day. we have a toddler and newborn too and im scared.theyll get stung. but im glad its me and not them. do u think its true that if u.get stung once they can sense it and are more attracted to u? ive heard that about spiders. anyway im in pain now..i think im building an immunity :/

    • I have been over run for the last two years until this year and I got serious this year about removing them from my home and I sealed my home inside and out and used demon wp {powder poison you mix up your self],,,Email me if I can be help to you by the way I live at lake whitney,Texas……..Best of Luck….H.

      • I moved into a house last year without knowing that scorpions were an issue. I have lived in Tucson , AZ my entire life and grew up in my parents house just maybe 2 miles from my knew home and there was NEVER an issue. I found out that once scorpions have a path they never detour from it. We moved in during winter and once it got warm we had an issue. It did not help that the house was vacant for a year and that new construction was right outside our backyard wall. We have truly nolen come out and I have been getting upset paying them every month when the problem still exists. I have three children , one who is 16 months and into everything. We can check all around and then there is one a minute later running inches next to him. W had one warm day this week and sre enough there was one in the house after truly nolen just sprayed a month ago. It was “weak” in their defense but I am beside myself and do not want another year like last year. We have a two story house and the carpet upstairs is tri-clored and we would never be able to see one if there was. It is wood down stairs. I will have the hubby caulk the house and this WP poison you talk about? how is it with kids and dogs???? I want to move i hate it….as we all do. call me crazy but i want to caulk the house, use the seashells although i don’t know how safe those are, we have a black light, the doors need to be sealed. They even told us the can survive in water for a day or two!!! my infant and other kids almost got bit several times last year in the pool!!!!! once hiding under a leaf and the other times just sitting on the step with a scorpion right next to them on the step!!! ugh I want to fill in my pool, get rid of all y rocks in the backyard. I just don’t know what to do.

        • Hi Brittany….does your house have weep holes on the outside?

          We moved into a new house about 13 years ago here in Texas and had scorpions because of the construction. I found the weep hole covers online and after we installed them it eliminated the scorpion problem because they couldn’t get inside the weep holes, which was their main access into our home. They get inside the weep holes to eat insects that are nesting inside and then they make their way into the walls, plumbing, etc. We have installed the weep hole covers at every home we have lived in and have had no scorpions, or any bugs for that matter enter our home. I have ABC Pest spray our yard every 3 months just as a precaution, so in the past 2 years in the new home we are in right now I haven’t seen even one spider. I even keep glue traps in some places because I’m paranoid but they never have anything stuck on them when I go to change them out.

          Hope this helps….they are super easy to install….not sure what you should use for the yard, but many people have commented on sprays on this site.

          When you go to the weep hole site you will see a pic of how the cover fits into the weep hole….also, you may want to call the company because every time I click on the “purchase” button for the “retro fit weep hole covers” they don’t show up in my cart….probably just a glitch.

          Good luck!

  14. If you’ve found a scorpion in your home or your backyard, calling Scorpion Hunters with ABC15 might be a good idea. They’ll tell you how to kill it and how to prevent them from getting in your home. There’s a story that’ll be airing on Monday at 10 p.m. in case anybody’s interested! With the weather warming up and more scorpions coming out the play I highly recommend it: https://bit.ly/10d4QGK

    • Hi, this may be a few months late but I just want to offer some help for possibly you or others. I just wanted to point out that the belief that a juvenile scorpion sting is more harmful than a mature scorpion’s is a myth. Whereas baby rattlesnakes are more dangerous because they can’t control their venom output, The amount of venom in a scorpion’s sting sac remains the same their whole lives.

  15. Do not capture them alive (plastic cup) and flush them down the toilet. They will survive and crawl back out a sink or bathrtub drain. Make sure you crush them dead before you flush them. I finally figured this out after a few reappearances out of the drains. I don’t know how they do it, but they do. I catch them in the cup now, squirt bleach on them, let them die, then flush them. Or just stomp them hard and scrape them up. Good luck.

  16. We have had one too many encounters in our house- all five of them in the last two years have been found in different rooms. One above the crib of our four month baby boy- we have since placed glass bowls on the feet of the crib to prevent them from crawling up-but we really can’t do anything if they fall in. We hunt with our blacklights after each occurrence- when I say we-I mean my Husband. Each time we have associated the movement of an article-package-box from outside to inside and have since become diligent hunters before anything gets brought in.

    • Have you tried hanging a fine mesh/netting over the crib? That should keep them from falling in, I imagine.

    • I live in Mexico City….in the center of the city. I have a major infestation problem. My husband and I are about to become scorpion hunters. But as for us…..my ceilings are all Spanish stucco and wood. They fall from the ceilings constantly. I have been looking for mosquito nets to hang over all the beds in the house. Don’t know why it is so difficult to find here, but it is. With the baby crib. The suggestion to put the crib legs in bowls of water is good…..hang a mosquito net and then tuck the bottom in under the mattress (from the outside.). This way if one falls from the ceiling and lands softly on the mesh, it can’t climb down and into the bed from the bottom. Remember, they are looking for food and warmth…..good luck….

      • Put glass bowls on the bottom. Not water.. That attracts scorpions who come in looking for water to drink. I, too, live in Mexico. I am about 3 hours out from where you are. I don’t know why you can’t find any mosquito nets?! Maybe if you only hang out in the rich areas. If you go to the tianghis (open flea markets) or to the open marklets, especially where the Native tribes here sell, you can find them day and night. They sell for like 50-100 pesos.

  17. I woke up to a scorpion sting on my lower back and then two on my wrist. Being my first scorpion sting, I screamed and grabbed my newborn son off the bed. He was sleeping within arms reach. The scorpion came from the corner crak in the wall that wasn’t completely sealed. I waiting up a few hours obsessively checking the room while awaiting the scorpion’s attempt to come out. It responded to a flashlight by crawling further into the hole.

  18. Giving Benadryl is completely wrong! Scorpion stings are neurotoxic. Benadryl could possibly dry up the excessive secretions from a scorpion sting but can make your child extremely sleepy and make the symptoms worse. My daughter was not only blind from the nystagmus and in extreme pain she then became so sleepy she could have choked on her secretions. Obviously not all scorpion stings are the same but she was stung by a Bark scorpion which is the most neurotoxic.
    If your child is stung wait to see the effects. when you see what is going on symptom wise call poison control and they will tell you what to do. In our case we had to go to the ER for a level 4 sting. Most hospitals have AntiScorp or they can tell you which hospital to go to for this antivenom. With one infusion my daughter was perfect. No more blindness, no wiggly serpent tongue, not more symptoms!!! Thank God for AntiScorp! Before this drug the only other option was to hospitalize the child sedate, intubate, and wait till their symptoms past since most children are inconsolable during this period.

  19. I have lived in my home, which was new when I bought it and tonight I see a big old scorpion crawling up my wall in the living room! Is it a fluke or should I be concerned that there are many more? As I mentioned, it is a first for me ever!

    • Nancy, I just had the same situation. I’ve lived in my home for 8 years now, it was new when I bought, and have never had a scorpion. Tonight I found one just sitting on a floor tile. I could have easily stepped on it. Now I’m so nervous to go to bed and even more nervous for my 20 month old who is sleeping. Should I be concerned??

      • Must be a full moon, as my teenage daughter (who is completely freaked out by any bug) and I were proud to say that we’ve lived in AZ for six years now, and had never seen a scorpion. We’ve lived in a second story condo for a year now, and it’s backed up to a barren desert field.

        Last night, I was cat-napping on the sofa, and all of the sudden, my daughter starts screaming, as if someone is stabbing her. I hadn’t heard a scream like that, since Keaton, from Emblem 3 (X-Factor act), followed her on Twitter. I woke up and jumped up, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs and crying, while running into the kitchen. I look down in time to see a scorpion, running under the chair. We had left our patio door open the other night, with the screen door not closing completely, when our a/c went out. Due to recently getting a puppy, who took advantage of my ignorance regarding brown dog ticks, and a PetSmart employee, who definitely was not “Pet Smart”, we have a tick infestation that I’ve been fighting for a month. So, I have my rugs over my patio railing, and my area rug rolled up out there, and I’m afraid they may have found a new refuge. I am scared to death that there may be more in my home, and don’t have any options right now, for the rugs or the stacked boxes and items that are in my dining room, ready to be sold on ebay and craigslist, other than giving the items to the first person who comes to get them.

        Should I be worried that there are more in my home, and anything that I can do to repel them, possibly spraying the rugs? I had made up a homemade concoction of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, water, and a dash of salt and vegetable oil, to spray my dogs with, to try and repel any remaining ticks on them and in my home, since Advantix II did not work, and if they don’t like citrus, maybe I should spray my patio? How about spraying with lemon water? Any help would be appreciated, as we were ready to leave the condo and everything in it, prior to this, due to the tick problem, so now my daughter is probably packing her bags.

  20. Must be a full moon, as my teenage daughter (who is completely freaked out by any bug) and I were proud to say that we’ve lived in AZ for six years now, and had never seen a scorpion. We’ve lived in a second story condo for a year now, and it’s backed up to a barren desert field.

    Last night, I was cat-napping on the sofa, and all of the sudden, my daughter starts screaming, as if someone is stabbing her. I hadn’t heard a scream like that, since Keaton, from Emblem 3 (X-Factor act), followed her on Twitter. I woke up and jumped up, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs and crying, while running into the kitchen. I look down in time to see a scorpion, running under the chair. It had stung her finger, after she felt something crawling on her back, and put her hand back there. It hurt her terribly, for a few hours after.We had left our patio door open the other night, with the screen door not closing completely, when our a/c went out. Due to recently getting a puppy, who took advantage of my ignorance regarding brown dog ticks, and a PetSmart employee, who definitely was not “Pet Smart”, we have a tick infestation that I’ve been fighting for a month. So, I have my rugs over my patio railing, and my area rug rolled up out there, and I’m afraid they may have found a new refuge. I am scared to death that there may be more in my home, and don’t have any options right now, for the rugs or the stacked boxes and items that are in my dining room, ready to be sold on ebay and craigslist, other than giving the items to the first person who comes to get them. And we met our neighbors across from us, by my knocking on doors until I could find a man to come over and kill the scorpion.

    Should I be worried that there are more in my home, and anything that I can do to repel them, possibly spraying the rugs? I had made up a homemade concoction of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, water, and a dash of salt and vegetable oil, to spray my dogs with, to try and repel any remaining ticks on them and in my home, since Advantix II did not work, and if they don’t like citrus, maybe I should spray my patio? How about spraying with lemon water? Any help would be appreciated, as we were ready to leave the condo and everything in it, prior to this, due to the tick problem, so now my daughter is probably packing her bags.

  21. I have experienced the same situation. My infestation I was killing 20-30 a night up till this year. I am at 1-3 a night now. I use the black light to hunt them. I have tried everything to get rid of these creatures. I have been stung 11 times. They crawl into my light fixtures which are domed, they can’t get out. On my face book page I have video & pics. Everyone always has advice but don’t understand how bad the infestation is and how I have tried everything from pesticides to lavender. Killing them works the best.

  22. just a note for those who are unfortunate to get stung by one of Arizona’s finest, the scorpion…. take some fresh garlic and chew up two cloves by the next day the pain will be gone. I tried this when stung on the top of my leg and by the next day I could hardly walk. I heard about the garlic ate it and the pain was gone.

    • I’ve been stung twice. In both cases the pain was gone the next day without chewing any garlic or doing anything other than putting ice on the sting for a few minutes. I do take antihistamines every day (Allegra) so I assume that helps. The stings hurt like nothing I’ve ever imagined for about 30 minutes, and then it goes down. The garlic is an old wives’ tale. Sounds like, from the comments, the lavender is too. We must’ve built our home in scorpion territory. We see 5-10 a year normally, but this year there are a lot more. Fortunately we don’t get those big bark scorpions here in North Texas, at least not on my property. I will be getting a black light and some more wasp spray.

  23. Just watched one crawl up the arm of the chair I was sitting on . Second one I Three weeks
    Pest control coming Monday. I caught in a cup and pour vodka on it ( worked btw )
    Killed it so I flushed. I heard I way to get rid of for sure. Good luck all it hurts a bit more then a bee sting
    But lingers a bit longer that’s it.

  24. Last night my husband yelled scorpion!!! Jesssica scorpion!!! Come here!! I jumped out of bed running… he went to smoke on the back porch and when he opened it and a cockroach was running arose the back porch and a bark scorpion following… he smashed it with his shoe… but I put it in a plastic baggy.. so I can take it to the pest control place Monday to make sure its a bark scorpion… this morning when I woke up I went to the garage to grab the cy-kick cs and the gallon sprayer I noticed there were a ton of dead cockroaches from my last spray job last month as I was observing them all I noticed a dead baby scorpion… picked him up and added him to the same bag as the other scorpion… gheez ive seen a ton of roaches and scorpions this last week… is something going on???!! I filled my gallon sprayer with double the ammount of cy-kick cs and sprayed again today 3 feet up on the foundation and a foot out.. I don’t want them coming inside and if they do they will for damnable sure be dead before they do anything!!! I’m going to spray talstar in the house tomorrow as it is a not as effective in this Arizona heat as cy-kick is… I used the last of it today too will have to hop on amazon and get some more for sure if its going to get bad this year..

    • We had a minor cockroach infestation the last few weeks of June and today I found a scorpion in the house (first time since I’ve lived here–over a year). Maybe it’s a “thing” right now–lots of creepy bugs. Plague from Heaven maybe? 😛

  25. Ok… my first encounter was about 10 baby scorpions in my freakin mailbox! I had let natural growth honeysuckle etc… grow up around it and decided to cut it down after that. No more in the mailbox thus far. Then I had a problem under my kitchen sink with a leaky faucet and in the process of moving junk out from under the cabinet low and behold there was a “petrified adult” one there! I live in an Atlanta Georgia suburb and no one believed me about the mailbox incident saying scorpions didn’t live around here. Well a few weeks ago I found one behind my wing chair caught in a spider web. He appeared to be dead so I left it and then he and the spider disappeared! Today I was sweeping off my back deck and moved my 5 gallon bucket of basil and holy mother of god there was the biggest one I’ve seen yet which I instantly smushed with my shoe. After my total freakout was over :-)I then continued sweeping and there was another one of the suckers just sitting on the deck sunning himself as well. I have overgrown islands and lots of natural areas that I have left for the birds and wildlife and think this may be my problem as well as a moldy wet smell in my yard. I have a lavender bush in the front of the house and other than the mailbox have never seen any in the front. Soooo recommendations…I am so anti chemical spray but clearly with grandkids am not going to let this continue…Opinions seem to be split regarding the professionals and do it yourselfers….I would like the most natural method but want them gone like yesterday!!!!! Suggestions????? Sleep with the lights on???

  26. I have moved into a new apartment just about a month ago and live on the 2nd floor. I’m a single mom and feel safe being up away to prevent break ins and bugs. To my amazement, I have found 3 scorpions all alive in the past week. The pest control company has come out and sprayed after finding the 1st scorpion but now being woken up by my dog barking at one at 2am is really making me upset. I’m ready to move out!!! HELP what do I do if I’m in an apartment?? I have a 3 year old and I’m deathly afraid of them.

  27. My wife just got stung by a scorpion the other day. She mixed some essential oils together. She used peppermint, Melaleuca, lavender, on guard, wild orange…not from any recipe but because this is what we had. It stopped the spread of pain immediately, knocked the pain WAY back, and she was pain free the next day. This is much better than being numb for 2 weeks.

  28. I got stung by a scorpion last night on the face. it was in my pillow case. We got some chickens this year and they have helped a lot. We have less scorpions this year then last year which was horrible. I’m going to have to try the lavender oils for in the house and see if that will help keep them away from my bed at least. My 15mth old was sleeping next to me and I’m just glad she didn’t get stung.

  29. I live out in San tan valley and I have been stung three times by two different scorpions, one in my garage and the other was in my bed. I get the creepy crawlies all the time when I lay down to go to sleep. These little buggers just seem to be attracted to me. My mom has hired an extermination company that is only environmental but the stuff just isn’t working and considering we have a two year old in the house you’d think she’d realize that it’s nothing to mess with. She finally decided to listen to me when I showed her the baby one I found near where my nephew plays in the house. Although she still had yet to call anybody, anyways I was wondering how many times can I be stung until I have a serious reaction to it all I’ve done in the past is put ice on it and take Benadryl.

    • I have been stung numerous times and now have an epi pen. I have not had to use it though, because after spending time in ER with hives and trouble breathing, I do 3 things before heading to the ER just in case — 1. Pour the strongest drinking alcohol on it. I use Vodka as it doesn’t make me smell like a boozer, lol. 2. Liberally apply Lavender Oil — essential oil of lavendula agustifolia – and reapply frequently. 3. Break 2 Benedryl capsules on my tongue and swallow it with water.
      So far I have not had to use the epi pen, but I keep it close.
      The first few times I was stung it was nothing major, just painful. Then came the one that hurt worse than any pain I had ever had, and it became infected and I had red streaks running up my arm within 24 hours. So if you don’t have vodka handy, be sure to wash it well with soap and water as they carry bacteria as well as venom. And good luck. I hope you never get stung again.

  30. They can’t climb up glass, put baby cribs away from walls and stand crib legs in glass jars.

    Weather seal all windows doors etc, they can get into tiniest cracks under doors over doors between windows and wall, so seal all with sealant.

    Home Depot do a scorpion specific spray, spray around perimeter of house.

    We put dried lavender under sofas, in clothes drawers etc and are now looking into cedar oil.

    Good luck!

  31. Just saw a baby one today my son screamed at 11:00 and told me SCORPION! There was just a storm so they are coming indoors

  32. I moved into a new house in Phoenix and have had 2 in the house and 4 outside. First you must spray and kill all crickets and any cockroaches outside. This is what scorpions eat. They can live with out food for months but not water. They do like bathrooms for water if inside. Amazon has some good black lights for 7 dollars on triple a batteries, they light up like christmas trees, bluish green color! At night look inside, garage, then outside. Buy a solid metal cooking spatula, like one in the BBQ cooking section. Break there exosketon with the end edge of the spatula, trust me you hear it. You can then scope them up and dispose of them. Then go to lowes or Home Depot and buy Diatomaceous. It’s a fine dust that the belly of the scorpion will scratch up that exoskeleton and dehydrate them to death in our desert heat. If it monsoon rains you must re apply Diatomaceous as it breaks down. Try to seal and cracks to your home, if you find them with silicone or something. Try to get your neighbors doing the same. Avoid creating rocks and hiding places. Decompressed granite is better then crushed rock if your HOA allows it.

    Never touch a scorpion if you find them your pool, they might not be dead, tell the kids too.

    They move into your yard in just one night, they can move fast. Spring around May-ish they give live birth and run for new territories and the adults will eat the young. You can see a spike at that time around your home.

    One kinds will burrow under to stay warm the ground so they don’t die. They are so lethargic at that time kill them with the spatula.

    In the winter when it’s near freezing with gloves pickup larger rocks, see if they crawled between the dirt and rock to stay warm. Remember they climb walls not ceilings.

    Keep the headboard or kids bed away from the wall. They can fall off the wall onto your bed when you are asleep. Keep that backlight in or on your nightstand.

    Hope that helps give you piece of mind to remove these poisonous pests.

  33. So my BIL was telling me a few months ago that when he was little they had scorpions and someone told them if they put in grass they would go away. They did and it worked. While scorpion hunts sound more exciting than lawn-mowing, I think I would opt for grass anyway.

  34. I was laying down for bed a couple weeks ago, slipped my arm under the pillow and there was one waiting for me. I got stung near my wrist. The pain was excruciating and lasted for hours, followed by several days of numbness in my arm and around the sting. I found a Bark scorpion under my compost bin this morning. I would never want to relive the sting but I especially don’t want our kids or little dogs suffering, so if it has to be, let it be me. Lol I’ve lived in the Phoenix area for over 20 years, and in at least a dozen different parts of the valley and it seems the scorpions are more prominent in certain areas but I’ve never linked any common thread between them O.o Good luck to all!

  35. This is the 2nd time there’s a scorpion in my kitchen sick in my downstairs apartment, I turn the garbage disposal on and push it down in there with something. Do you think that kills them? And why do they keep coming back!?

  36. I just found a dead scorpion floating in the water where I was soaking my babies bottles. I’m so freaked out right now! The bug people said it most likely came from the light above the sink. Gross. Thanks for the info. What did the doctor say about a baby getting stung? I have a 4 year old and a 4 month old, in terrified for both of them.

  37. I live in Atlanta, Georgia and I was on my way to sleep and my dog got up to go outside and I sat up in he bed and I saw what looked like a black spot on he carpet so I went to turn my flash light on my phone on and it was gone…. So I got up thinking ok it’s a spider and I’m scared of them to….. So I couldn’t find it I’m thinking it crawled up the covers so Im shaking the covers and I see nothing…. I moved the table I have and it was in between the wall and the carpet I was scared to death I didn’t have anything but ant spray so I sprayed it with that and it’s dead I think (hope) I could not go to sleep I was up all night…..

  38. I live next to Lake Powell, I just moved here at the end of December. We have been warned to check beds before getting in them, keeping blankets in a rubbermaid storage box when not in use and no pillow cases on the pillow. I haven’t seen any but with the monsoons that just passed through here I’m fully expecting to find some eventually. We have a black widow infestation in our immediate area. :/ So far, I really hate AZ… Thanks for the tips, I don’t know if my husband is brave enough to go Hunting, but with 2 sets of twins under 3, he might not have a choice now that I know this is the most effective method.

  39. Nice Work,
    Scorpion galore here too in Surprise. When I first moved here I installed a Doggy Door, Big mistake!!!!
    No folks mentioned the Scorp promblem. Your right, the only thing you can do is Search and Destroy.
    I too use the same method as you do. I would add just one more item to the seal the home. The garage door can be adjusted to hug the frame a bit tighter. Very simple and it’s made a 99.9% differance in the garage.
    One more thing too. I first tried the Torro $8.00 per can. It works but takes about 3 min to kill them.
    I now use Eliminator Ant, Roach anh Spider killer and it’s only$1.95 a can kills them fast. Available at Walmart.

    • I live in surprise too and I’ve had a huge issue this summer. I’m ready to sell and move. What company did you use to seal your home? I was worried about the garage door.
      Thank you!

    • I just killed a scorpion in the bedroom so I found you guys on this site. We live in surprise also. This is our first one, I pray our last but I am going to take some suggestions from everyone and try taking precautions. Our neighbor just had their home sprayed so I figured they move my way. I hate those creepy things. I will not sleep well tonight. I didn’t realize surprise had a bad problem with them until now. I am kind of freaked out.

  40. I was stung yesterday on my finger. My husband suggested drawing salve (Prid) with a bandage. Today I seem to have no effects left, but as sore and numb for quite a few hours yesterday. The scorpion’s stinger was left in my finger; the salve drew it out and Other than seeing the puncture wound we can’t tell today. I thought I would share since you seem to have some serious allergies; this might help reduce recovery time for you. Good luck.

  41. My husband got stung a few days ago while moving rocks in the yard (with bare hands), then today the kids killed 1 in the bathroom while I was at work.
    I live in Arkansas, and we’ve only seen a few in the house, all this year.
    I’ve done a lot of reading today & there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer.
    I think I’ll put out the sticky traps and get a black light and metal spatula. That sounds like fun. 🙂

  42. Our development had a well known infestation, yet the extermination company was fired by our HOA Board?! I found this out because I was IN THE SHOWER and suddenly my heart dropped when I realized I WASNT ALONE!!! This 2 1/2 disgusting creepy crawler was crawling from under one of my daughters bath toys & trying to get out. It kept crawling up & droppung from the tub. OMG!! 6 months without an extermination company apparently makes OUR monthly one not count. 3 Days later, one was crawling the wall, then one in the other bathroom all the way down the hall. HELLO?! Get an extermination company hired before you fire one!!!

  43. Ive lived in a rent home in the country for 5 1/2 months; had problem with spider n roaches first then scorpions! Have seen 25+ in the last month!! Totally freaked out n landlord won’t do crap; has Orkin spraying an all purpose bug spray maybe once every 2 months; still huge proble seen them in every room of the house; I hv 3 kids 12,5, and a 1 yr old!!!

  44. We live in the Tx “Hill Country”, and have always had a problem with the small, clear/reddish scorps. We use Terro spray and DE, and still see them on sticky traps about once a month in the house.
    We just started new construction on the same property, and BAM, tonight, one was on my kitchen floor and my tiny kitten was playing with it. I won’t sleep a wink tonight, because this house hasn’t been treated. We have tarantulas, rattle snakes and rats… And none of them bother me as much as scorps.

  45. Be careful if stomping or crushing a scorpion with a shoe. They carry their babies on their backs. So if you squash one then babies. Everywhere. I live in alabama and we have them here too along with snakes. Apparently it’s a rite of passage that my dogs be bitten by a copperhead. And I live in an urban area. Staring down a scorpion on my wall and deciding what to do. I have a 1 year old too!

  46. Using a black light at night is the best way to find scorpions.Using duct tape is the best way to catch them. If they are high up on a wall or ceiling put the duct tape on the end of your broom and stick it to them that way they don’t fall on you.Then just dispose of them. Home depot also has scorpion spray that works really good. If you do get stung put the wound site in ice water it will help stop the numbness from traveling. Something about the ice coldness helps break down the venom faster. Another way to tell if your having a reaction is to check the persons tong out it will look like it’s doing the wave.

  47. As a teen when my mom remarried we moved into his house that was about a mile from a lake & almost surrounded with minnow ponds. That was my 1st experience with scorpions. I would kill the almost daily. I slept in the floor some so I could watch tv. Thinking about that now creeps me out SO bad. Then a house I lived in after I married, had one son & another on the way had scorpions. Thankfully we didn’t live there long. Since then I’ve always said if I had then again I would at least move but would prefer to surround the house with a gas filled trench & burn it to the ground. I’ve been in this house over 8 years. I resently reached up to get a mixing bowl from a top shelf & when I looked in it the was a small scorpion in it. I had told my husband of 8 years about what I would do if ever I saw one in our home. I assure u he didn’t understand how terrified I am of them. He found out. I did my own “scorpion dance” screaming for him to come here. He kept saying calm down, but I couldn’t. He took the bowl that I had put on the counter & suddenly I saw “his life” flash before my eyes, he dumped the scorpion on to the floor. He killed & disposed of it, thank God, but I did tell him how close to death he had come. If it had gotten away from him I’m thinkin I would have had to kill him. Moving or burning is out of the question so I’ve been on my own search for a remedy. One think I was told was to spray carborator cleaner on them to kill them. Thank u for sharing ur knowledge. Lord knows if I’m ever stung I’ll probably did of a heart attack before the sting it’s self even has time to kick in. Thanks again. Denise in Hackett AR.

  48. Living with these awful creatures here in the Texas Hill Country. Am trying lavender bunches under all beds. My husband and I have both been stung by very small baby scorpions in our bed. I have been strung twice getting out of the shower when the critters are in the towel. Honestly the sting is not very painful, but a large red spot stays around the sting for several days and itches. Once after a shower sting near my armpit my lower jaw was numb after an hour or so and then went away by another few hours. I assume some of the venom went into my lymph system. Traps and pesticides have helped. We have been told to throw moth balls into our attic area also. Sealing the house seems like a lot of work but will consider that next. We have a fireplace and I think they come in through there. We often see one at the top of the rock chimney. Grandchildren are very fearful of them. Didn’t know the full moon had anything to do with them….good information!

  49. Moms, put your cribs and bed legs in a glass ice type bucket. The scorps can’t climb up glass nothing more creepy then find a scorp in your bed. You also could put some glass tiles along the wall behind your bed.

  50. We moved to a new community in Peoria in 2006. We found scorpions constantly in the house. The absolute worst time was one morning when I was washing my hair in the bathroom sink as was my daily habit. I finished, wrapped a towel around my hair and looked down. There was a scorpion looking out of the sink hole. I started screaming, my husband almost killed himself jumping out of the shower asking what was wrong. We had to flush the scorpion out of the hole, trap it and then flush it. Needless to say, I put tape across the hole and never stuck my head in a sink again with my eyes closed. It really freaked me out.

  51. Wow. This is just sad. All you people hate scorpions. I have 23 of them. Ever thought of keeping them as pets? Selling them? Letting them GO outside??? I swear you people are so ignorant. No need to kill them..

  52. I live I n Vegas next to a plant nersury and we have had on our living room wall 3 bark scorpions about 6 feet apart I was stung 8 times in one summer , so we moved been a ton better where we live now ! Some advice don’t ever move next to plant nersury ! By the way landlord Southwest Management did nothing for us

  53. My two kids (5 and 14) and I currently live in north Texas with my parents who have owned their property for over 30 years now. I think that we may have come across 2 maybe 3 scorpions the entire time we’ve lived here…. until this year. I don’t know what changed this year, but we have found numerous scorpions. The other day one appeared on my bed when i left my room for a few minutes and came back. Later that night, i climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. I had a night light on and could just see a scorpion right next to where my hands were pulling on the covers. Needless to say, i wasn’t in the bed seconds later. Tonight, my 5 year old daughter and i were in the dimly lit living room and she was walking maybe a foot from where i noticed what, at first, looked like a small dark shadow on the carpet. Being more paranoid given all the recent encounters with them, i immediately looked closer and, sure enough, it was a scorpion. Unfortunately, they are very close in color to our beige carpet. I think my daughter will be wearing shoes in the house…. after we check them for scorpions. Btw…. to the guy who wonders why everyone kills scorpions and doesn’t keep them as pets or let them go outside… speaking from my own experience and as someone who hates to kill ANYTHING, i have to say that i don’t like to kill them…. I’d rather not kill them, BUT they could harm my daughter who is young enough that a sting could be potentially dangerous and one female scorpion generally has around 20 to 30 babies when she mates. If i continue to let them flourish, my daughter is much more likely to get stung. I’m sorry, that means any scorpion i find dies. Thanks to the original poster and many others who have shared their tips and tricks for dealing with these invasive critters. No doubt we’ll be putting some of these ideas to use soon. I keep feeling like something’s crawling on me and it REALLY creeps me out. We’ve got to get these things gone.

  54. I moved into a newly built home in the north Georgia mountains in May 2013 and the scorpions started almost immediately. I had a Termidor treatment done, which should have killed anything (not just potential termites). And I arranged for regular pest control. They now are here every 2-3 weeks. It is now Oct. 2013 and the scorpions are still coming in. I have taped up doors, I have made double-sticky tape at entry points to the bedroom, and I live in continual anxiety. I don’t even like to use my shower. I am totally blind without glasses and don’t even want to get up in the night to use the bathroom. I go around my house watching every step I take and wondering what I will find. I now hate my house so much that I just hope I can keep my sanity until spring and try to sell (and hopefully have somewhere in place to move to). Oh, god, do I hate my house.

  55. I just killed (with Raid) a scorpion on my stairs inside my house, we have had a bad infestation for the last 3 years, I also live in Surprise, AZ. Here are a few tips I got from my bug guy. Put cheesecloth inside your vent fans, that’s where they often come in. When you remove the air vents/fan covers, you will see where the drywall isn’t flush with the air duct. The cheesecloth prevents them from getting through, and it’s inexpensive. We haven’t seen any until today inside the house since we did that, but with the weather cooling off I have had the windows open so I am guessing that’s where it got in. Also, we go scorpion hunting regularly. We find them often in the block fencing. We found that Raid works much better (faster) than the ‘scorpion’ spray sold at Home Depot. They are dead in seconds verses minutes. We also use DE, but haven’t found it to be particularly effective. I was actually researching Cy kick and came across this blog. I have heard really good things about it, but it seems like Amazon is the only place to get it. 🙁 We are busting out the pitchforks and torches and teaming up with our neighbors to hunt tonight. After all, it’s almost a full moon!!

  56. Wow! I thought I was the only one battling these deadly little nuisances! We have had a regular pest control service for 15 months and we are now seeing little bark scorpions as a regular uninvited guest in our home. I am mainly freaked out as we have a newborn and we have had too many close encounters too. Like you, we stay vigilant. Def going to look into sealing the house as the little buggers are getting in somehow! The full moon thing makes total sense as that is when I have seen them the most. And hubby and I have been “scorpion hunters” for about a year now- fun , thrilling and eek! Scary!! P.s. We found the biggest culprit was out above ground hot tub so we sold it. It was a scorpion haven! Stay safe everybody !

  57. Great article!!! We have been battling the scorpion issue for four years in our south chandler home. My husband is very DIY and uses chemicals from bug and weed mart. They are very knowledgeable and basically equate it to waging war on the scorpions. My husband also hunts regularly outside. One suggestion I didn’t see mentioned and that I wanted to share is how he kills them once he finds them with black light outside. They are obviously very fast and get in tight spaces. A friend of ours suggested a blow torch. Sounds crazy but it works and he just fires it up once he sees one outside and torches those puppies. It is highly effective but smells pretty bad. He puts a tick mark for every “kill” he gets on the blowtorch. Anywho, just thought I would share as I’m laying in bed afraid to sleep after I just found second scorpion in house in less than two days. Time to spray! Got a good chuckle about your first reaction being moving or burning house down. We bought our house when I was 8 months preggo and of we could have backed out I would have after scorpion discovery. Ugh!!!

  58. Hello, First of all if you live in anywhere in the US except Arizona where the really bad ones live, scorpion bites are not likely to kill you or cause long term problems, unless you have an extreme allergic reaction. May hurt like hell for awhile, but you will soon get over it. Now that being said, the only good scorpion is a dead one. They are simply not worth the pain and misery they often cause to adults, children and pets! If you are one of those people who are opposed to using chemicals, then read no further. I am big on chemicals, if it means piece of mind for my family!

    To spray inside your home, try a product made by Martins and called Viper. It comes in a one ounce concentrate, which is enough to fill a 1 gallon sprayer and cost about $7. One gallon of this stuff goes a long way. I only spray my baseboards in every room, along with under the sink, & under & behind stove & refrigerator. This should do it! Don’t spray on furniture, beds and clothing. Ok, this stuff stinks for awhile, so make plans to stay out of the house for a few hours after spraying and until dry. The only scorpions you will find after this are the dead and dying.

    To spray outside your home, try a product called Hi-Yield 38 Plus which cost about $14 a bottle. Read directions, because I can’t remember the mixing ratio. I do not spray the yard itself, but do spray the foundation and up the side of the house a couple of feet all the way around house. I am sure I killed more outside than I actually saw, but did find numerous bodies on the front porch. Hope this information helps someone out! Terry (Corpus Christi, Texas) [email protected]

    • Hello again!! I forgot to tell everyone that I purchased the two products at a local farm and ranch store. I do not believe that they can be bought at stores such as Home Depot & Lowes. May find them at feed stores or your local Co-Op. Terry

  59. Recently moved to north Texas and our terrier found a scorpion roving across our living room rug… She was stung on her nose, rapidly backed off and hubby killed it! Looked like a bark scorpion.. Called the vet and they said give 1mg per pound of her weight and bring her in if she started vomiting or having convulsions, airway problems etc. Next day we found a small one in a bathroom and have sprayed everything outside and inside with home Defense we got at Home Depot… Luckily pup had no problems but seems very vigilant!!

  60. I bought a handy dandy bug killer that looks something like a tennis racket you push a button on contact with a bug and it fries them.this works great I’m scorpions because you do not have to get too close to him and stomping on them is so disgusting and they have a hard shell I hate scorpions unfortunately they seem to be attracted to me

  61. I have been fighting scorpions ever since I moved into my new house. The worst has been the last couple of years. We have been in a drought and I’m not sure if that makes them worse or not. It’s now November and I have killed 239 so far since January. That’s inside and outside the house. I hunt about ever night when the weather is warm. But I don’t hunt when the moon is out. They don’t seem to come out when there is too much light. I live in Oklahoma. I know serveral people who have problems with them, but it’s always the people with the new houses. My theory is that Chordane was banned 10 or 15 years ago. All of the older homes have had Chordane sprayed around them. They used to use this for termites. They banned Chordane because of the residual value of it. They didn’t know if it was hurting anything, but it stayed in the soil for years. I wish I could get my hands on some of that stuff.

    • Hello, I think you should try Tempo, its a safe concentrate bug spray. Buy it online is the best. Ive used it and my bug problem it solved.

      Ted, from Mesa Az

  62. Oh man, I hate these things. My parents were born and raised in central Mexico and they used to talk about their scorpion run-ins back home. Well, one day I decided to visit their hometown and I stayed at my dad’s sister’s place. For the first time, I saw these ugly creatures there. Needless to say, this sent chills up my spine as I hate spiders. Now I had temporarily deal with giant arachnids that have scary looking tails. There are two things that keep me from going back: Drug war and scorpions.

  63. Hello Ladies!!
    Thanks so much for all the stories and tips on how to get rid of these little suckers. I live in north central Texas and haven’t seen scorpions around here since I was a little kid. But about 2 to 3 weeks ago i caught one trying to come in under my front door. When I ran to get something to kill it with it disappeared. I was hoping it was a freak moment or that my eyes were just playing tricks on me. (Moms you can relate) I have a two year old and a 6 month old. Needless to say I haven’t had good sleep in about 3 years. However, tonight I was rounding up the trash and I got to the nursery and bent down by the changing table and sure enough one had come out from under the changing table. I told my husband I can deal the bugs during the summer (we live in the country) but I drawl the line on scorpions!!! My husband about flipped out of his chair! ( It was kinda worth it!, gave me a much needed laugh) After he got over his shock of what he was looking at, we went to work putting out glue traps. Unfortunately, we have been iced in our house since last friday. Only in Texas is it 80 degrees on Monday and 48 hours later (or sooner) it’s 20 degrees with 4 freaking inches of ice on the ground. I read that cinnamon is good to put out around base boards, etc, any idea if it works? I need something that won’t harm my kids since it doesn’t appear that we are going anywhere anytime soon. Thanks for suggestions you may have!!

  64. I used to live up in North Dakota, nates, misquotes, you name it . When i came across a safe spray called TEMPO. I had a lot of bugs, earwigs, beetles, scorpions when i moved down here to AZ finding there way into my house. You can buy this online. Its not cheap but goes a long way until it rains then you need to reapply it. Takes care of cockroaches, spiders, scorpions and restraints use it all the time along with cattle barns for flys. Spray this stuff aroung your entry way, doors, windows were ever those little sob can get into your space and you will get ride of them.. well 99.99 per cent of them. Check it out. Bug companys don’t want you to know about this. It works been around a long time. You can get it at where they sell cattle supplies, or online. Lastes a long time and very effective when you see those SOB rolling over dead outside. …TEMPO. IT WORKS. !!!!

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