How do I deal with scorpions in house?

[simka2]

Alrighty, we are in the process of moving onto a large acreage this week. Yesterday, by beloved dc turned over a large rock next to the back steps and there were 3 good sized scorpions. :eek:

 

How do I deal with this? I understand that they are not deadly, but I also understand that they can get in the house, crawl into beds, and sting us in our sleep!!!! Or, worse yet crawl into the toilet and hide under the lid just waiting for an opportune moment to fulfill my worst nightmare! :glare:

 

Ideas? Methods of extermination? Animals that eat scorpions?

[ChristusG]

Sell the house.

[NorthwestMom]

1. Leave

2. Set the house on fire.

[Impish]

A big shoe.

[simka2]

Sell the house.

 

1. Leave

2. Set the house on fire.

 

I was thinking along these lines!!! But that is not going to happen. I really love it our there, so I am going to have to figure out a way to deal.

:tongue_smilie:

[Remudamom]

We have tons of scorpions every spring and fall. One fell out of our attic fan once. We see them on the floor mostly, at least once in a bed, never inside a toilet. Sting feels like a yellow jacket.

Get used to them, we've never been able to get rid of them completely, an exterminator will help.

[Farrar]

Everyone already made the exact jokes I thought of!

 

We had the little white ones in my house as a kid. But they weren't too bad so the shoe method prevailed.

[RoughCollie]

1. Leave

2. Set the house on fire.

 

Yeah, I agree. I was going to suggest moving. There are some good things about living in a place where it snows. No scorpions, alligators, snakes, roaches, Palmetto bugs, etc.... is where it's at. :D

[Jaz]

First, scorpion stings can be dangerous. You need to seek immediate treatment if a child is stung. Here's some more information.

 

One trick that works well to help keep them out of cribs and beds is to put glasses on the floor cupping the bed posts inside. The glass is slippery and scorpions often can't climb up. Also, be sure to check your shoes before you slide your feet into them.

 

Cats are very helpful in keeping the scorpion population down. You also want to work on killing their food source, such as crickets and other insects.

 

My understanding is that scorpions live in particular areas, either you have them on your property or you don't. I'm sorry you do. :grouphug:

[Joker]

I grew up in a house with lots of them and I don't know that there is much you can do. We got stung often. We just knew to never walk around barefoot and made a game of who could squash the most in a day. :D

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Well my first reaction was "move";) but other than that I got nothing. Sorry!

[Remudamom]

Yeah, I agree. I was going to suggest moving. There are some good things about living in a place where it snows. No scorpions, alligators, snakes, roaches, Palmetto bugs, etc.... is where it's at. :D

 

Snows here and we've still got them. There's a rocky hill behind our house, they love it there.

[jennsmile]

I had one on my towel this morning. Thankfully my 9 yo ds could get a shoe while I hid in the shower so he could squash it. Shoes work great. So does catching them in glass mason jars for future science lessons. If you google them they can live anywhere.

 

I did get stung on vacation. I took tylenol and it helped some, it hurt for a week. And i could feel my tongue tingling and it was my big toe that got stung. Keep benadryl on hand. Meat tenderizer is also to help with the sting.

[Gooblink]

We had lots of scorpions in the house when we built several years ago. We hired an exterminator and had the house treated every 3 months for the entire 4 years we lived there. I never found them in the bed, never on the toilet. We had scored/stained concrete floors and they blended in very well with the floor so we stepped on a few - once with bare feet but didn't get stung.

 

With the extermination regimen, scorpion sightings in the house were pretty rare. It took a couple treatments, but they were effective.

[Tammyla]

:lol::lol::lol:

Sell the house.

 

I hope you find a way to decimate the things.

[Kebo]

We have scorpions -- many if not most around here do. I have been stung, which is a lot like a bee or wasp sting, but leaves a tingly numbness for hours. Stings are dangerous for small children! My neighbors 2YO grandchild was stung and had to be rushed to the ER, seizuring. If you don't have bark scorpions (we do), then yours may not be nearly as serious. Bark scorpions are the only ones to climb vertical surfaces.

 

The most helpful things for us have been:

1. Get the house sealed along the foundation, doors, windows. We had a company do it for us.

2. Invest in a black light. Go out after dark (in good shoes!) and hunt for them. If you find one, you can squash it or spray it directly with an insecticide for scorpions. Patrol the house and garage with the black light at night as well. During the cooler months you may not find many, but remember to go back on patrol when the weather warms up. We mostly find ours in the cracks in our block fence.

3. Eliminate any woodpiles, brush or leaf buildup, construction materials, or other hiding spots from your yard. Keep the yard as clear of debris as you can.

4. Spray for other insects. Spraying is not very effective for scorpions, but you will be killing their food supply. I don't like to do this one because I'm not a fan of chemical warfare, but I have done it when they got particularly bad.

 

Good luck!

[charlestonmom03]

Jen at the Conversion Diary blog has been dealing with scorpions in the house for some time, and it sounds like they finally are getting some relief. See #4 on this post:

http://www.conversiondiary.com/2011/08/7-quick-takes-friday-vol-140.html

[NorCalMom]

While living in AZ, we used a local pest control service once a month for the outside only. In 6 yrs., I never found a scorpion inside the house. I came across only a handful outside, but they were already dead.

[tessbois]

we live in New England and every year I buy my chlldren's Halloween candy for something they want. It makes all of us happy. This year, my youngest ds had talked us into buying a scorpion!!!!! An Emporer Scorpion which is big and ugly. A live one! It freaks me out.

 

Gosh I hope this works out. I can't imagine being attacked by a legion of them. I hate bug movies, they scare me silly! He reads about the deadliest, scariest creatures known to this earth, says, "did you know...and it can kill humans?" and I'm beginning to dream about them.

 

New idea! Why don't you just send them up here? The post office will let you right?http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/images/icons/icon5.gif

[ThatCyndiGirl]

My current strategy is to freeze in terror and do nothing while a friend whacks them with a shoe or rolls over them with a pizza cutter.

 

YYMV, though.

 

We got cats to eat the scorpions, but the coyotes at the cats. All of them. So, we can't get more cats until we get a donkey to kick the coyotes, but that involves fixing the fence around our property.

 

It's a whole 'hole in my bucket' situation. :confused:

 

 

For now I just shriek like a little girl when I see one. As previously stated, my strategy may not work for everyone.

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

To help keep them out of beds, don't use bed skirts, don't push bed against floor-length curtains. Unless they are those vertical climbing suckers mentioned above. Yikes!

[AlisonK]

Oh my this thread has totally given me the willies! :eek: I am so sorry for those of you who have to deal with this problem. I am not going to complain about my fruit fly invasion any more! :001_smile:

[iona]

Try to keep piles of things off of the floor. If you are picking up a shirt or shoe off of the floor give it a good shake or inspection before putting it on.

 

btw, we have a similar "worst fear":001_smile:

[Cinder]

Exterminator! We've had a few in the house, too. The exterminator said they come in when there's food (crickets, beetles, etc) around for them. Dh has been trying to seal all the nooks and crannies he can find in the basement but they still manage to get in. Have the inside treated then have the exterminator treat the outside regularly.

[NorthwestMom]

You should move up here to Seattle. We've got NOTHING like scorpions.

 

I am really appreciating the PNW after this thread. Dear God.

[CalicoKat]

I grew up in a house with lots of them and I don't know that there is much you can do. We got stung often. We just knew to never walk around barefoot and made a game of who could squash the most in a day. :D

 

And teach them to shake out their shoes before putting them on. Or at least look inside them.

 

I was going to suggest cats too. Cats eat a lot of bugs here. I don't know if they'll eat a scorpion though.

 

Ugh, call an exterminator!

[ChandlerMom]

DE (diatomaceous earth, used for pool and beer filters) works pretty well with most insects (anything with an exoskeleton). The fossilized coral acts like tiny razor blades and slices up their exoskeletons and eventually they die of dehydration. muhahaha! :)

 

We sprinkle it along the foundation and inside along the walls in the garage (and across the garage door side like some "do not enter" line :lol: ).

 

Aside from that, agree that it's dangerous for young kids and sensitive adults, backlight hunting is important (know the scale of the problem), chemicals rarely kill them but removes their food source (crickets). I think they can live without eating for a year though, so it takes time.

 

In your case, I'd consider having the house/foundation sprayed just to discourage them. :tongue_smilie: You can seal outlets (foam cutouts) and baseboards/exterior with sealant. They can get thru a crack the thickness of a credit card, though. :ack2:

 

A good hunting cat is supposed to do well -- they can get stung, but cats are low to the ground and quick and I think the fur helps protect them. Just hope they don't bring any "trophies" to you!

 

ETA: oh, one more thing: flypaper style traps. We put them under the kitchen sink, stove, garage corner, and behind our master bath toilet. Can't put them where the kiddos may get to them, but it's another way to keep track of what is wandering around in the dark of night.

 

Good luck! We only had crickets, but I was freaked out and wouldn't walk barefoot in the house for months, until my nocturnal backlight hunts turned up empty. ;) In my defense, I'm allergic to all things that sting/bite and my 3yo hasn't seen a biting ant that he doesn't want to pet. :ack:

Edited October 25, 2011 by ChandlerMom

[CalicoKat]

To help keep them out of beds, don't use bed skirts, don't push bed against floor-length curtains. Unless they are those vertical climbing suckers mentioned above. Yikes!

 

My folks used to put the bed posts in a can of water -- at least for the cribs. But that was to discourage driver's ants. The rest of us got mosquito nets, good for mosquitos & other flying, crawling, bump in the night insects.

[Once Again]

We've had to deal with scorpions ever since we moved onto an acreage. Exterminators have told me that the spray they use gets rid of the critters the scorpions are after and the scorpions (theoretically) leave your house because there is nothing to eat. Unfortunately, it never completely works. The thing I've found most effective is glue traps. I scatter them around and at the height of "scorpion season" we may have 2-4 a night. A big shoe also works as a PP stated. I've never found one on the toilet, but they've been known to fall from the overhead air vents and light fixtures. Apparently, they congregate in the attic. I don't ever intend to go into my attic again. I used to hate winter, but at least the cold gets rid of the scorpions, so now I am looking forward to freezing weather.

 

Edited to add: I live in NE Oklahoma, so we do not have bark scorpions here. But the ones we do have are quite capable of climbing vertical surfaces, I am sorry to say. Also, no bedskirts and glasses with water for the feet of cribs are a good idea. And nets that drape the crib for the scorpions that fall from the ceiling. Shoes at all times as well.

Edited October 25, 2011 by Once Again

[Impish]

We've had to deal with scorpions ever since we moved onto an acreage. Exterminators have told me that the spray they use gets rid of the critters the scorpions are after and the scorpions (theoretically) leave your house because there is nothing to eat. Unfortunately, it never completely works. The thing I've found most effective is glue traps. I scatter them around and at the height of "scorpion season" we may have 2-4 a night. A big shoe also works as a PP stated. I've never found one on the toilet, but they've been known to fall from the overhead air vents and light fixtures. Apparently, they congregate in the attic. I don't ever intend to go into my attic again. I used to hate winter, but at least the cold gets rid of the scorpions, so now I am looking forward to freezing weather.

*runs screaming from the thread*

[Meriwether]

Sell the house.

 

1. Leave

2. Set the house on fire.

 

 

I see it didn't take long for my options to be listed.:D

[cin]

Try to keep piles of things off of the floor. If you are picking up a shirt or shoe off of the floor give it a good shake or inspection before putting it on.

 

btw, we have a similar "worst fear":001_smile:

 

 

Seriously, they would hear me in China if I shook my shoe and a freakin' Scorpion fell out. I. CANNOT. IMAGINE.

[Mom-ninja.]

Move. I would have to move far far away.

 

This is why I will never ever live in the Southwest.

[cin]

Seriously, they would hear me in China if I shook my shoe and a freakin' Scorpion fell out. I. CANNOT. IMAGINE.

 

 

*runs screaming from the thread*

 

:willy_nilly::willy_nilly:

[jennsmile]

After reading this post I am beginning to wonder if the influx of scorpions is due to the barn cat dying and not the drought...Either way I have seen more this year than I have since I moved in 6 years ago...

[Clear Creek]

I have faced the same problem...living in town I never saw a single scorpion, but the house we moved into outside of town has the occasional one. The sight of one makes me scream (as does the red-headed centipede). Here is an article that tells how to get rid of scorpions, and here is the place to buy all the products at the lowest prices that I could find. I have had those places bookmarked for a while, but it is expensive to treat for scorpions so I am saving up for it. Those poor suckers don't know what is in store for them! :D

 

Don't walk barefoot in your house at night, knock your shoes/boots together before putting them on, shake out your pants before putting them on, and inspect both sides of your towel before wrapping it around yourself. And check under your blankets before getting into bed. This is not paranoid behavior; I know people who have been stung by scorpions by not doing each of the above.

 

I really, really hate scorpions. :ack2:

[Aurelia]

What I have found to be most effective:

 

1. Shoe

2. Diatomaceous earth

3. Glue traps

 

Also make sure that you don't have any dripping or standing water (like the bathtub or leaky pipe), since that's often the reason scorpions come in the house in the first place, at least where I live.

[Parker Martin]

I would just call a pest control company and have them take care of it.

[DaffodilDreams]

My uncle had scorpions in two of his houses. He had a regular spray service and that helped. We mostly saw them outside. The few that got in to this last home were usually groggy and moving slowly, so the stuff they had to walk through to get inside the house must have been somewhat effective. Still, whenever we stayed with him, we always made a point to look down at our feet if we were barefoot, and we turned on lights if we had to get up in the middle of the night.

[Bootsie]

I have seen several scorpion within and outside my house, but have never been stung by one. After hearing from neighbors who have been stung, I always look INSIDE my shoes before I put them on. Scorpions apparently like warm dark places, like the inside of tennis shoes.

[tex-mex]

We have tons of scorpions every spring and fall. One fell out of our attic fan once. We see them on the floor mostly, at least once in a bed, never inside a toilet. Sting feels like a yellow jacket.

Get used to them, we've never been able to get rid of them completely, an exterminator will help.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

Our family's summer lake home is in the southwestern desert. Over the ten summers we have spent in that lake home, we have seen an occasional scorpion on the ground and only once (in the dark -- I was barefoot) did I get stung. Hurts like the dickens -- worse than a yellowjacket IMO.

 

We had a cat that loved to hunt and chase the critters (i.e. snakes and scorpions) and he never got bit. I have NEVER seen a scorpion in our beds or in the potty. ;) They are reclusive by nature and any sound or footstep gets them scared and scurrying for cover. However, if you seal your windows and doors tight like we did -- you will not likely see many of them inside. If you garden, then you will see them hiding under a rock or in a dark place. HTH

[tex-mex]

Move. I would have to move far far away.

 

This is why I will never ever live in the Southwest.

Scorpions are not that bad. Really.

 

I will take a scorpion over a Mojave Green Rattlesnake. Used to live in the Mojave Desert for years and Mojave Greens are very deadly. Used to find them in our garden near the chicken coop and hubby learned to to kill them with a "McCloud" type of tool his dad owned.

[simka2]

What I have found to be most effective:

 

1. Shoe

2. Diatomaceous earth

3. Glue traps

 

Also make sure that you don't have any dripping or standing water (like the bathtub or leaky pipe), since that's often the reason scorpions come in the house in the first place, at least where I live.

 

this is where i found them!!! under a rock next to a spigot.

[tex-mex]

What I have found to be most effective:

 

2. Diatomaceous earth

We do have about 3" of diatomaceous earth spread out in the lake home door's "entry" area where the screen door and door meet. We use it for fire ants from gaining entry but this tip above may also make sense.

[txhomemom]

I have seen quite a few scorpions in the last few places I have lived. I think I see so many because our house is located next to a greenbelt/creek runoff area. I don't like those stupid things, they really freak me out, but for some reason my 13 year old dd does not get as freaked out as me. She found one in her bathroom late at night and actually managed to try to kill it by herself, but after that I would not even want to step in the bathroom!

 

We have seen them in our living room and also in our upstairs gameroom which has an attic...probably how they are getting in the majority of the time.

 

I just watch where I walk at night, wear socks a lot, look in my shoes before putting them on, etc. Helps to keep things picked up around the house, don't leave piles of clothes on the floor. I also try to organize things in the attic and the garage into plastic bins as much as I can, but they probably can find a way in there as well.

 

I have heard that if you place a dish of water outside of the house that will keep them from coming in to look for a water source especially in the summer. Also, I think you can get screens for the air conditioning vents for this problem, then you don't have to worry about them dropping down through the vents in the ceilings.

 

One time when we lived in a 3 story condo, we had a millipede, about 6 inches long or so (big fat ugly sucker) show up in our 2nd floor bathroom, scared me to death! Our cats were trying to play with it, so we had to quickly get ride of the thing before it harmed the cats, I think some of those can be poisonous to cats.

 

Oh and don't get me started on snakes, we have those too!

[simka2]

i grew up in seattle and am really missing it right now. :(

You should move up here to Seattle. We've got NOTHING like scorpions.

 

I am really appreciating the PNW after this thread. Dear God.

[justamouse]

Heavens to Mergatroy, as if scorpions weren't bad enough--Fire Ants?

 

:svengo:

 

No. No, no, no.

[simka2]

what is the height of scorpion season? or rather when?

We've had to deal with scorpions ever since we moved onto an acreage. Exterminators have told me that the spray they use gets rid of the critters the scorpions are after and the scorpions (theoretically) leave your house because there is nothing to eat. Unfortunately, it never completely works. The thing I've found most effective is glue traps. I scatter them around and at the height of "scorpion season" we may have 2-4 a night. A big shoe also works as a PP stated. I've never found one on the toilet, but they've been known to fall from the overhead air vents and light fixtures. Apparently, they congregate in the attic. I don't ever intend to go into my attic again. I used to hate winter, but at least the cold gets rid of the scorpions, so now I am looking forward to freezing weather.

 

Edited to add: I live in NE Oklahoma, so we do not have bark scorpions here. But the ones we do have are quite capable of climbing vertical surfaces, I am sorry to say. Also, no bedskirts and glasses with water for the feet of cribs are a good idea. And nets that drape the crib for the scorpions that fall from the ceiling. Shoes at all times as well.

[simka2]

Fire ants I have covered. Those hurt! And for days! Scorpions were a new one for me, and thankfully I haven't seen any copperheads yet. They killed two last week and three the month before.

 

What an adventure, right? ;)

Heavens to Mergatroy, as if scorpions weren't bad enough--Fire Ants?

 

:svengo:

 

No. No, no, no.

[Once Again]

what is the height of scorpion season? or rather when?

 

 

Spring, Summer and Fall. They seem to come in cycles. We'll have 2-4 in the traps for several days, then none at all for a week or two. It's definitely picked up in the last week here. My daughter just found one caught in the glue trap on her bedroom floor. That's 3 in the last 3 days.