Although most wrongly assume that these creatures are insects, scorpions actually have more in common with a daddy-longlegs than with a bug. These arachnids pose a real threat to homeowners, especially in the southwestern regions of the United States. Places like Arizona, New Mexico and Texas are all favorite stomping grounds of this venomous arachnid.
When you’ve seen some of the signs that a lot of scorpions are inhabiting your living space, or even worse, suffered a scorpion sting, you need to find a solution as quickly as possible. At Home Pros makes the process of finding a professional a swift one, without needless delays or dead ends. Contact our team today to achieve a pest-free environment as fast as possible.
What Are Scorpions?
Despite common assumptions, scorpions aren’t insects; they’re arachnids, whose closest relatives are mites, ticks and spiders. Scorpions have an elongated body with a segmented tail tipped with a mean stinger. Common only in the southwestern areas of the country, there are 1,300 species worldwide.
Scorpions are usually around 1¾” long, and blend easily into their surroundings with their brownish, tan or green exoskeletons. Some even come in black. These nocturnal hunters live in a range of habitats, like caves, deserts, rain forests, pine forests, grasslands and more. Most scorpions that sneak into your home don’t have a highly venomous sting, but it’s still safest to handle these critters with the utmost care.
Scorpions have some highly unusual traits. They can survive for months without eating, regenerate parts of themselves and withstand a wide range of temperatures, from freezing to 122˚F. They don’t nest together, so if you see a lot of scorpions on your property, it’s probably a case of limited resources. These nocturnal creatures hide out in dark places and mostly avoid people; however, if you surprise them, corner them or otherwise make them feel threatened, they may sting you.
Ahp's Bug pro chelle Hartzer says:
Scorpions are beneficial because they eat a lot of pests…as long as they stay outside!
Why Are They Detrimental?
Scorpion stings can range from a wasp-sting intensity to something much more severe, with the most extreme cases necessitating medical professionals. Even if you get stung with mild results, with localized pain and swelling, the site may still become infected.
Scorpions are arachnids that give live birth to a brood of up to 100 babies, which are called nymphs, as they resemble the adult scorpions. The babies have a soft exoskeleton until their first molting, so they stay on their mother’s back for 10 to 20 days. That’s why, if you see a scorpion, you shouldn’t swat it with a fly swatter, as you risk the baby scorpions scattering in every direction.
Mostly scorpions sneak into structures that provide protection and can slink through the narrowest of gaps. Since scorpions can’t climb clean glass, an ingenious home remedy to keep scorpions off furniture is to stand the legs of chairs, beds, or cribs in mason jars to keep these arachnids from getting a foothold. Another one is to smear the legs with petroleum jelly, which also deters them from climbing.
How Scorpions Get In
Scorpions can sneak through surprisingly small gaps; in fact, the only deadly scorpion found in the United States, the Arizona bark scorpion, can use very narrow cracks to infiltrate your property. The main characteristic that a scorpion is looking for when assessing a property is whether or not it can provide it protection.
Scorpions especially like to find shelter through gaps in your door frames or window frames, openings around wires or pipes, unkempt landscaping, and piles of rocks, brush, trash or even firewood.
There are some tactics you can adopt to ensure that, even if a scorpion has made it into your home, you’ll avoid getting stung.
- Look first: You should never put your hands or feet (or any other body part) anywhere that you can’t directly see. Scorpions don’t want to sting you, but they will if they feel threatened. Don’t put them in a situation in which they feel pressured to defend themselves, and you are less likely to get stung.
- Shake out shoes: Especially if you live in a southwestern area of the U.S., you should always shake out any closed-toe shoes you want to wear.
- Use a UV light: Scorpions’ exoskeletons glow in UV light, so if you have to work at night in areas that may be frequented by scorpions, you can use a UV light to make them glow.
- Wear slippers: Walking around barefoot at night is an open invitation for a scorpion sting, especially in the summer months in the southwest.
- Brush, don’t swat: Swatting a scorpion directly on its body may make it sting you when it otherwise wouldn’t have. The blow from your hand may force the scorpion’s stinger into your flesh. If you do find a scorpion on you, brush it off. Likewise, if you encounter a scorpion, you should suck it up with a vacuum cleaner or dustbuster instead of dealing with it one-on-one.
To fortify your property against scorpions, pay attention to a few key details. Sealing up high-traffic areas and removing any elements scorpions find attractive are just a few things you can do to make your home less attractive to scorpions.
Ahp's Bug pro chelle Hartzer says:
CYA – check your apparel! Leaving footwear or clothes outside allows scorpions to find a nice hiding spot.
What the Homeowner Can Do
The best tactic for avoiding any nasty confrontations with a scorpion is to create an impenetrable barrier for your home. Here are a few great tips that you can accomplish in your spare time to make sure that you won’t have a surprise run-in in the middle of the night.
- Eliminate hiding spots: By cleaning up all organic waste and trash on your property, you’re eliminating the hiding places of scorpions.
- Seal up gaps: The most common entry point on any property is the gaps around doors, windows, wires or pipes.
- Clean glass screens regularly: Interestingly, scorpions are unable to walk on clean glass. If you have glass screen inserts in your doors or windows, clean them weekly to make sure scorpions aren’t able to gain access.
- Prune shrubs and trees: Scorpions and other pests often find their way into your place via the trees and branches overhanging your roof. Once on the roof, scorpions have no problem finding a small gap you may have overlooked from the ground.
- Tighten screens: Keeping all windows and doors impenetrable is a solid way to keep your house free of scorpions. Make it a habit to check screens and screen inserts for any wiggle room as scorpions are adept at squeezing through the narrowest of cracks.
- Apply weather stripping: By tending to the edges of vents, doors and windows, you can feel confident that scorpions aren’t finding their way into your home.
- Use cinnamon oil: With tons of anti-scorpion properties, cinnamon oil is a more natural way to repel scorpions. Place drops or diffusers in various locations, like dark corners or other hard-to-reach areas, to deter scorpions from setting up camp.
- Kill scorpions’ prey: Reducing the number of pests on your property will limit scorpions’ food source, making your place less appealing to them. Borax or diatomite sprinkled around will keep the bug population low, and focusing your energies on the outdoor areas of your home will be most beneficial as scorpions mainly hunt outdoors.
- Glue boards: Sticky pest traps can help you eliminate scorpions that roam the hallways at night.
With an integrated pest control method, blending both mild pesticides and more holistic methods, you should be able to rid yourself of any threat a scorpion might pose to you or your family’s well being.
In some cases, scorpions may find your property so appealing that they don’t want to leave. If you continually find scorpions or, worse yet, get stung multiple times, you need to call in a professional. At Home Pros can help.
What Does a Professional Do?
You absolutely need to hire a professional exterminator for some solutions. If you have a severe enough scorpion problem that you are considering using intense chemicals or pesticides, you need a professional’s help to apply it safely.
Dust-type pesticides are the way that many pest control specialists control scorpion populations. For safe application, a professional will use products that contain carbaryl, esfenvalerate, cyfluthrin and bifenthrin, and apply them in closed-off areas, well away from pets and kids.
Using residual insecticides — those that do not wear off after drying — is the most effective method pest control teams use. They may also use hygroscopic powders, which absorb moisture from the atmosphere. A pest control specialist will apply these types of absorbent powders, as well as chemical dusts, around power outlets, in attics, and around pipe fittings. They will also fill in crevices around electrical outlets, as well as ones they find around windows and doors.
One of the oldest methods of dealing with scorpions is to adopt a cat or chicken into your household. Both of these pets enjoy hunting and killing scorpions, so having one on patrol will keep the scorpion population to a minimum.
Generally speaking, the smaller the scorpion, the more lethal it is — which is unfortunate for homeowners as these arachnids only need the smallest of gaps to gain access to your home. If you have seen multiple scorpions, you need a solid team at your side. Don’t wait for the problem to get out of hand. Contact At Home Pros and connect to reputable pest control professionals today.
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