Posted: 7/22/2008 8:31:53 PM EDT
| I've lived out here for a couple years and finally saw a scorpion in my house. (lucky me) It was on my bathroom wall, it was tan and about 1/2" long. Are these things dangerous, and whats the best way to get rid of them? |
| The bigger they are the less dangerous they are and half an inch sounds small so I would try to take care of it immediatly. If you live in a remote are it is common. If you live near construction it is common. but my wife doesnt care how common they are, she likes them gone. So, I usually call a pest control company to spray for them. It usually kills they other bugs too that the scorpions are hunting for food. A good way to look for them is with a black light in the dark. Those little guys glow when you use a black light. I use a company called Burns Pest Elimination, but all of the companies will come. They usually sprinkle some chemical near the nest area, if they have nested near, in or around your house. And they would use the black light at night to see where they were too. |
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Most common scorpion in this area is the giant desert hairy , not a threat unless you are allergic, an adolescent or elderly. Haven't seen any in southern az, but 2 other species common up north and in NV are the devil scorpion, which in much smaller than the giant hairy, but like the hairy does not have a dangerous venom. The one that does possess a dangerous sting regardless of your age or heath condition is the bark scorpion, these can be identified easily has they have a very long and slender tail and small delicate looking pincher's. Size wise they are in between the Giant Hairy and Devil. I have been stung by a giant desert hairy and a devil, both hurt like a son of a bitch. Never been stung by a Bark, though I have seen a past co worker sent to the ER room because of one while working in Vegas many years ago. All that to say, call an exterminator |
Bear
| I've been hit 4 times since I moved out here, they say you can have a bad reaction if allegic to them, the first time I was hit, I obviously found out I wasn't.. it hurts like hell.. call poison control or go to ER... luckly my wife or daughter hasn't been hit, however we have the daughter and new grandbaby staying with us, so I was a bit concerned.. they say there is no real cure or way to kill them, so you are left with taking away their food and habitat.. they are said to love crickets and spiders... so we do a good pesticide treatment, we are also trying diamatasious earth or DE, the stuff they use in pool filters, this is supposed to create a border, to prevent them from going into the house,(it's supposed to be like glass to them).. it is also recommend to keep any build up of wood product away from the foundation, and get rid of the palms, palms are scorpion magnets... good luck.. |
| We have a monthly yard and house spray. I've lived here all my life and as a kid in Tucson you never walked barefoot at night in the house. The come out in the Monsoons so be vareful, where there is one you saw there are a hundred you didn't. Have an exterminator come in hte early morning befoe the rain, 3 hours of spray will kill most of them. |
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If it was on the wall, chances are it's a Bark Scorpion. Not the ones you want in your house. They can also climb on the ceiling. Bark Scorpions are pretty nasty. I've heard it feels like someone is putting out a cigar on your skin, and then the feeling moves through your body. That's if your NOT allergic. Take no prisoners. Where about in the valley are you? If you have river rock near by, they like to breed there. Also, construction near by brings them out. They can fit through an opening the width of a dime. Good luck |
Check your roof vents to see if they have screening. I had them coming in that way until I got some window screen and zip tied it around all my roof vents. |
First off, Close all the bathroom drains in your house, they like the moisture and the other insects that like the moisture. Then use SUSPEND-SC and CY-KICK CS. You can get them at any Bug and Weed store...Not HD or Lowes. I also bought Delta Dust...do a Google search. I have been using all these products for 6 years at my home with great success. I am not an exterminator, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once...
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Straw color & climbing would be the bark scorpion. I've been stung once felt like a needle was stuck in me for the next 3 hours. Scorpions are very hard to poison, killing their food supply is easier. The best defense is to keep them out of the house. seal up any cracks along the foundation. Make sure the outside door seals are tight. As far as being dangerous hoe many deaths have you heard about being attributed to a scorpion? I can't recommend going out and getting stung by one. People who are allergic, elderly or young should get medical attention. |
Actually, he works for GoDaddy. ETA: Get a small blacklight and check the floor when you go to take a leak at night. A sting is not gonna kill you but it sure doesn't feel good. The blacklight makes them shine green - you won't miss 'em. |
Do you know what department? I remember him making a comment to me one day like 3 years ago on here, and I figured he worked there, but he never answered me back. |
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I have the bark scorpions out here (63rd Ave and Deer Valley) as well. So far this year I've only seen maybe two or three indoors and a hell of a lot outdoors. Indoor offenders usually get trapped and disposed of instantly. The outdoor ones get my foot or bug spray (which just slows them down). I personally haven't been stung (yet), but my younger brother and sister have. According to them, it was really no big deal. A day later the swelling goes down and all is good. The same can be said for the desert hairy too. I was tempted to raise the bs flag on some of the earlier posts in this thread about the "danger" of bark scorpions. Unless you are young, elderly, or allergic and get hit by a bark scorpion, you have nothing to worry about. |
| Get the battery operated blacklight from Loewes, not Home Depot. Depot make you buy the light assy and then puchase the blacklight bulb separately.( for an extra 10 bucks). A couple nights a week hunting them in your yard and problem solved. Its also a great way to get out of the house, drink beer,and kill things. And the old lady thinks your out doing something constructive. |
+1 for get a cat. Cats have natural defenses to Scorpion Poison. And it's really cool to watch them WTF PWN those little bastards, cause cat's are messed up in the head when they get into killer kitty mode...  Seriously tho, if you get stung, it burns like hell and it generally not pleasant, but as long as it was not a baby scorpion (small translucent tani sh color) or a bark, you should not need immediate medical attention. Hospital told me to use a cool compress and wash area with soapy water. Kids and old folks... or a baby scorpion sting... might wanna see the doctor. Never know... ACE-OF-SPADES |
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Defintiely sounds like the bark scorp. They are freaking nasty as hell, I've been lucky to not have gotten tagged yet, but my wife got dinged by the bark. She just finished up in the shower, grabbed her towel and started drying off when WHAM!!!! Luckily she only got stung on the thumb, but according to her, it was 18 hours of hell. She said it was like every nerve was on the surface of her skin and someone was slapping her arm with a belt. She felt the pain slowly move up her arm, then back down, but it still took a couple months before she got the feeling back in her thumb. At that time, we were using a cheap exterminator service, but that got us to switch to Sexton. Since we started using Sexton 4 years ago, I have only seen one scorp in the house and it was just a brown and it was dead. Sexton has a great system and are reliable as hell. |
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Bifenthrin kills them, per a university study. I order Talstar online, but you can also find it in Ortho Home Defense Max. Kills the insects they eat too. Spraying won't be as effective if you don't control the outside environment first. Get rid of all their preferred habitat outside such as rock and debris piles. They live in trees, that's why they're called Bark scorpions. Spray your tree trunks, especially palm trees. Cut any tree branches back that hang over your house. I had hundreds (long story) when I first bought my house (my son and I collected almost two hundred one night) and now haven't seen any in two years. |
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Got bit about 4 years ago, by a little 1/2" bastard, hurt like a burn for 24 hours. Got bit about 3 months ago on the neck near my jugular. Happened about 6PM, didn't hurt as much as the 1st time, sat around till 11pm waiting to go nto convulsions. Nothing happened, the pain subsided, so I went to bed. |
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Just found a big nest with dozens of them under a shed I took down in the back yard this week, along with hundreds of crickets. These were the little 1"-1.5" ones, they looked pinkish. We smashed as many as we could see, but I think some got away. Exterminator is coming out next week. |
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My buddy who's living out in Vistancia with the parents (until class starts back up) found a HUGE desert hairy last night on his front porch. I should have taken a pic, this thing was a BEAST. He added it to his interesting collection of pets (also has a nice sized praying mantis). Kind of odd for a 22 year old kid
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Yes...... step on a fresh dead one and if the stinger gets in your skin, welcome to hell. |
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We found one in the house last night. My wife actually picked it up. A small yellow, but the poison I had on the floor had really made it groggy. Took it outside and burned it. Monsoons have all insects coming out so I spray double around the doors and windows. Have Sierra Pest coming next week for normal monthly spraying. We've had the yard and huse sprayed monthly for 5 years which must take a toll on the little critters cause we see few of them. When I was akid in Tucson, we never walked around barefoot at night as they were much more common. |
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A few years ago, I was raped by one in my bed as I slept. The one place that I feel safe and warm....and that son of a bitch climbed up my sheets and paid me a little visit. Got me on my Arm. It woke me up, but at first I thought the tingling in my arm it falling alseep so I moved it, and WHAM WHAM! I was stung a second and third time. For about the next 5 hours my arm felt like it was on fire. Finally after hour number 5, the burning started subsiding... |
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They are tough little bastards. I was watching my parents house in Gilbert while they were out of the country. One day, I found a live one in their sink. I decided to leave it until it died. Six weeks passed and it was still alive without food or water. I spray once every other month (which I need to bump to once a month). I don't think the spray kills them directly but it does poison their food source and they eat it. I usually find a few dead ones after I spray. Also, get rid of the food source and hopefully they will go also. |
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This is what a bark scorpion looks like, they are the most venomous of AZ scorpions. Note the long and thin tail and thin claws and how the business end of the tail is laying on its side, all characteristic of the bark scorpion. There are other species that look very similar to the bark scorpion but have fatter tails and claws. 
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Im a pest control technician, not an exterminator. The only way to exterminate is to drop a nuke on the site to kill anything above and below the ground. Even at that, roaches will still survive. Here are the facts about scorpions regarding pest control. The only way to completely get rid of them is to find the nest. The nest may or may not be on your property and you will most likely will not find the nest. Most pesticides in its residual state will not effect the scorpion. Some will including Demand CS in which I use. Even a quality residual pesticide isnt very effective as a residual for scorps because of their thick exoskeleton. Scorps will die at immediate contact with most pesticides. In short, pest control technicians only spray in the day time when scorpions are hiding. In general, the scorpions will not suffer from immediate contact because they are hiding in day time. Scorps will come out at night. This is the best time to use a black light to hunt and kill them. Combining pest control sprays to eliminate their food supply and night blacklight hunting is the most effective tactic to control them. DE powder such as; mother earth D or delta dust is a great tool to apply at the door cracks for when they get into your house. it will help off them faster. Beware of delta dust though, its very strong and has killed a few customers pets from ingesting it. I'm in a hurry to type this because i need to take off. Please feel free to ask me any more questions about pest control. |
My mom is a "little person"....not a dwarf or a midget. My dad is a "custodial arts major"...not a janitor. My sister is a "mail person"...not a mailman. Do we REALLY need to split hairs about this title? I would rather have "Exterminator" on my shirt, but hey....thats just me....... 
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There is a big difference between control and exterminating. You sir are being silly. |
| My wife found one in the kitchen last night. it was only about 1/2 inch stretched out so I don't know if it was a baby or not. I found a website that had photo's of scorps native to arizona and still could not figure out what it was because they all basically look alike and I wasn't about to stick my face any closer. I did notice looking through the photo's that the bark scorpion has a variety of colorings. Anyways my wife and I are a little freaked out because we have a 17 month old daughter running around the house usually in her bare feet. |
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Southern & 24th St here. I have found about one scorpion a year in my house. Last night the little bastard found ME! I climbed in bed, rolled over and snuggled up to the wife, then felt something like a zipper digging into my upper arm. I moved and it didn't stop, in fact it got a lot worse. I rolled out and hit the floor with a mini Mag Lite and there it was scooting along under the bed. I caught it and waited to see if my arm was going to drop off. Unique pain, almost like a wasp sting but tingling around the site and numbness ( and cold flesh) going down the arm. It still hurt this morning and all day, but mostly subsided by the time I left work. Oh and when I got home I caught the little bastard a cricket and fed it to him. Fascinating. This 1-1/2" bug ate an ENTIRE cricket as big as he except for two legs and the head! |
They only need to eat every two months. We kept Barks at my office for a long time in aquariums. They are terrible hunters, basically the crickets have to land on them. There are lots and lots of crickets in Phoenix. |
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do you know what kind of centipede? scolopendra polymorpha more than likely. In my past I kept a large collection of spiders and scorpions, I had a few centipedes aswell. The comon sonoran centipedes are agressive little critters, I would much rather have 10 bark scorpions let loose on me than a single centipede. Wait till one runs up your arm and leaves you with a nice "zipper" mark... |