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Two bark scorpions this week alone were found in the house and this means we will probably have a bad year for scorpions. I usually find about one or two in a month over the spring to fall months in our house. Since we have been living in this house we must have killed four dozen bark scorpions.
Note: Most forms of pest control cannot kill scorpions, they are immune to most poisons and the types of poison that kill bark scorpions can harm pets and children so you can’t really spray the inside of your house with the poison that is needed to actually terminate scorpions. Besides, bark scorpions don’t always come from your walls, they come from your toilet bowl, sinks and sometimes out from your electrical outlets.
 Bark Scorpion |
The bad thing is when we tiled and carpeted our house we chose brown carpets and wood colored flooring. The tan and yellow bark scorpions are so well camouflaged that we can barely make them out when they stand still. People always say you shouldn’t wear your shoes in the house, but scorpions are one of the reasons why I wear socks and sneakers in my house all day long when I am at home.
We are just extra cautious when picking up objects on the floor, they like to hide. Wooden blocks that the kids play with are often hiding spots for these sneaky monstrosities.
There are so many homes in disarray in the neighborhood that scorpions are plentiful, with crickets all over the area we can’t keep them from entering even with monthly pest control treatments. Ironically there is never a cricket in sight on my house, so this means they must be coming up from the drains. I always forget to keep my sinks plugged at night, not like this would help too much anyway because scorpions can flatten themselves out so well they can climb through nearly any hole.
One other note, if you catch a bark scorpion you have to squash it. I used about five folded sheets of paper towel to make too thick a barrier for them to sting through (or the bottom of your shoe). But rather than smash them into the carpet, I will pinch them up in the paper towel and squish them without messing up the carpets.
You can’t just flush them live in the toilet bowl because they are excellent swimmers and can survive up to 45 minutes completely submerged in water.
Can you handle living in a house invaded by scorpions? This is normal life here in the rural areas of the desert, I know some people who live in the Greater Phoenix area who never see scorpions, but we see them all the time.
-Justin Germino
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