Rob and I have both lived in Arizona our entire lives without ever seeing a scorpion. So we pretty much flipped the eff out when we saw one by the front door of our new house shortly after moving in.
And that was just the beginning.
We started finding them semi-regularly in our front yard, back yard and garage. Fortunately, we have yet to see one inside the house. We’ve had many friends and family members share that they have found scorpions in their home, too, including a friend who found one in her baby’s nursery. Yikes!
We’ve taken an aggressive approach to ridding our house and yard of these nasty things, so I thought I would share some of our tactics for anyone else facing the same issue.
Kill Them When You See Them
My preferred killing method is to spray it with the scorpion spray and then smash it with a hammer. Shoes or other blunt objects work just as well. If you are really dedicated to a cruelty-free lifestyle, you could always trap the scorpions in a jar and release them into nature away from your house. Far, far away.
Get a Blacklight. Like, Today.
The scorpion exoskeleton glows under ultraviolet light, so getting a blacklight flashlight to hunt for them at night is an easy way to hunt them out. I can personally attest that they glow quite brightly and are a lot easier to see with a blacklight. They are more active at night, so that’s another bonus. Yes, it is creepy looking for them in the dark. But wouldn’t you rather find them than not know they’re there and get stung?
Clean Up Your Yard
You may love that shrubbery around your fence, but so do the scorpions. They love to hide in dark, moist places. Take a good look around your yard to identify the places they might be hiding. That includes bushes and greenery, river rock, and piles of wood, compost or leaves. Get to work and clear all that shit away. Be sure to use gloves just to be safe!
Use an Exterminator That Specializes in Scorpions
The most common advice is to kill the bugs scorpions eat and you’ll be rid of the pesky creatures. But if you’re going to the expense of having your house sprayed by an exterminator, why not use one that can also kill scorpions while they’re at it?
My best advice is if you are going to invest in having your house professionally sprayed (which I would definitely recommend), don’t waste your money on an exterminator that doesn’t specialize in scorpion removal.
If you live in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend Responsible Pest Control Services. We are setting up a monthly service agreement to have them come up and spray regularly. I’m not sure what they use, but it’s strong enough to get the scorpions out of hiding. Every one we’ve found since they sprayed is dead (or close to it).
Many people are interested in natural methods of scorpion removal as they aren’t fans of pesticides and chemicals. I totally understand that desire and feel it’s a personal decision. To my husband and me, we hate them and want to do what it takes to get rid of them forever.
We have two dogs that we desperately don’t want to get stung. Our dogs were unaffected by having the yard professionally sprayed, and we always wait until the spray is completely dry before letting them outside again. To date, I haven’t seen them experience any side effects at all. But at the end of the day, you have to decide if this is the right method for you and your family.
25-for-1
Once you start disturbing their habitats and if you have your house sprayed, be prepared to start finding more scorpions. It can be frustrating, but think of it as a good thing. You are getting them out of their hiding places where you can find them and kill them. And most of the ones you will find should be dead – or close to it.
I try to focus on the bright side; each scorpion I kill is one that can’t reproduce and have 25 babies. Twenty-five nasty, creepy crawly babies.
If you have any advice you’ve tried for getting rid of scorpions, leave it in the comments below! Happy hunting!
AR
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