Scorpions

[Allen]

The mention of scorpions came up in a recent thread about palm trees.

In the semi-tropical region that I live in we have to put up with a lot of crap--scorpions not being one of them.

I know they live in hot and dry areas, my grandfather was stung in the foot by one and always talked about the pain and how bad his foot swelled up. I know some are quite small while others get about as big as a crawfish.

So here come the questions: What do you do about them? How to protect children playing in the yard from them? How much worse is the sting than that of a wasp? Do you kill them with bug spray or call exterminators? If your house is not on a slab are they bad about living underneath them and in sheds? Do they have any natural enemies?

[Sunray]

All of that will depend on the critter. Most are not fatal to humans. Put on your boots and go here. In Alabama you have nothing to worry about though. The assorted snakes will get you first. snicker.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/scorpions/

https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/occasional-invaders/scorpions/

[S.A. Boggs]

I have a simple thing when I am on the tractor, shoot every snake that is not black or green in my AO. I have rattlers and copperheads to deal with, having said that the worst are the yellow jacket nests! I doubt a flamethrower would bother them in the slightest!
Sam

[Roadkingtrax]

Get a cat.

Scorpions glow when illuminated with a black light. They aren't really a big deal.

[Allen]

I have a simple thing when I am on the tractor, shoot every snake that is not black or green in my AO. I have rattlers and copperheads to deal with, having said that the worst are the yellow jacket nests! I doubt a flamethrower would bother them in the slightest!
Sam

Agree with the snakes. Green snakes have become somewhat rare--tried to buy a couple when my kids were young with no luck. My neighbors father was killed by yellow jackets. They live in the ground usually and you don't know you're on them till it's too late. My wife also got attacked by them while mowing grass--got stung about 8 times before she could run. When I find them I look for the hole in the ground where they are coming from. Later, at night when they are kinda dormant I take a plastic bottle full of gasoline and plug the hole with it, the open end being down and pouring of course. Bumble bees, the same way, and my wife was attacked by them too while on a mower. They make huge nest underground.

What would concern me if I lived in scorpion country is getting one inside the house.

[Allen]

All of that will depend on the critter. Most are not fatal to humans. Put on your boots and go here. In Alabama you have nothing to worry about though. The assorted snakes will get you first. snicker.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/scorpions/

https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide...ers/scorpions/

Thanks for the links. I guess my grandfather was stung by one of those Arizona Bark models.

[Former Cav]

The arizona tree bark scorpion can KILL you. The others out here (6 species I am told of around the Phoenix area, one of which is the tree bark scorpion) will hurt like a wasp sting. Benedryl is your friend.

You don't put your hands where you can't see what is there.
You don't play in bushes ...trimming them etc without gloves.
We also have brown recluses and of course black widow spiders here as well. Snakes too!
I watch were I step, wear shoes, and don't let tree branches brush your roof as the critters crawl off the tree, onto your roof, them come in your bathroom fan vents etc.
oh, and BTW.... diamond back rattlers can SWIM. Had one sun bathing in my pool on a 107 degree day once, scooped him out with my pool net and dropped it off in the wild (back when there was a desert wash on the other side of my wall).
If you don't have a dog, cat or kids, you can sprinkle pool diametacious earth around your foundation and the particles are sharp and will kill scorpions. A bug guy told me this.

[Merc]

Maybe Dryheat or other AZ natives will see this and comment. The high deserts of Arizona are home to a wide variety of wildlife that would amaze most of us non-desert people. The Ace hardware store in Carefree has several scorpions in an aquarium at the check-out counter. They must make interesting pets. The backyard wildlife show begins around dusk. Scorpions, tarantulas and a wide variety of snakes come out. The horse people leave water for the horses that attracts mule deer. The rabbits come to eat leftover hay and the pack rats look for food or something cool to carry off. Coyotes, bobcats, hawks and owls wander through the yard to hunt the rats and rabbits. The quail come and go. Rarely see them fly, always running. Roadrunners too. Havolina are less common, but occasionally make an appearance.

[barretcreek]

Had a GF in Cave Creek. Dogs were raising hell out on the deck, yearling cougar was on the other side of the fence. We'd sit in the bathtub, looking out the picture window at quail, javelina, and the scrawniest coyotes I ever seen. One of the old hard drives has a video of the wash beyond her yard looking like the junction of the Ohio where it joins the Mississippi. Spur Cross is an incredible journey into the long gone Sonoran Desert.

[dryheat]

I have been lucky only to have seen a few scorpions up close. They creep me out. I had a buddy and a girlfriend that built homes in the boulder pile mtn's near here. Those rock piles must have been home to thousands of scorpions. They found them in their houses often. The buddy got stung twice. Said it was like putting your finger in a light socket for a couple of days. He purchased some special insecticide, the regular stuff didn't work on them.

[Merc]

Had a GF in Cave Creek. Dogs were raising hell out on the deck, yearling cougar was on the other side of the fence. We'd sit in the bathtub, looking out the picture window at quail, javelina, and the scrawniest coyotes I ever seen. One of the old hard drives has a video of the wash beyond her yard looking like the junction of the Ohio where it joins the Mississippi. Spur Cross is an incredible journey into the long gone Sonoran Desert.

My sister also lived in Cave Creek. I’ve been there many times. Quite a place. Had a great view of Black Mountain. The coyotes in the old neighborhood are very scrawny and rough looking. The eastern coyote looks almost wolf-like and altogether different than their western brothers.

There’s a bar in Cave Creek called Harold’s Corral that’s one of the largest Steelers bar I’ve ever seen.

[retread12345]

Been in Phx over 40 years . I live in an established area that were cultivated as cotton and . sorghum for near a century . NO problem with scorpions . New developed areas are built over virgin desert, and what are called " Scorpion Belts" . Really no way to eradicate them except with a size 10 boot

[dryheat]

I have seen one on the place in the thirty years I've lived here. It was drowned in the pool and blew in with the wind for all I know. But I live 5 miles from Scorpion Mountain. Gila monsters too(ooh,scary). I believe they can live anywhere, at least around here. I pulled up an old beam laying out the perimeter of an old abandoned place. That might have been the first one I had seen. One time I pulled a rock off a bluff and underneath was a little yellow scorpion hanging on the face. The lesson I've taken from seeing scorpions crawling up the stairs is don't build on virgin rocky desert land unless your not in a non-scorpion belt. Or your good with animals.

Merc, you haven't seen a coyote up in Flagstaff in winter. I had one run across from me. It ran out in a farm field. If it wasn't wolf looking, it was really,really big fox.

[Allen]

Gila monsters too(ooh,scary).

I used to hear about those all the time when I was a kid but not any more. We don't have those here.

Coyote's we have plenty of--they resemble a scranny German Shepard with a long tail. It is mostly their wicked, strange behavior that sets them apart.

We have all the swamp wildlife, black bears, black panthers (4 legged type), bobcats and many others plus every type snake in the world. What isn't native already some A-hole will release his "pet" and they take over.

Most anything that can bare 300 days a year of rain and not drown will live here since our winters are mild.

Though we are fortunate to not have scorpions and giant lizards in a natural form here we do have these little bast*rds called red velvet ants (cow ants). They are actually wingless wasp and have a stinger >1/4". Their bodies are tough and hard to kill. The good thing is they are bright and colorful so seeing them before stepping on them is normal. That is not my hand in the picture.

[Merc]

While we’re talking about pests, it’s hard to overlook deer ticks. The number of cases of Lime Disease in PA grows every year. I had it and so have several people I know. The deer tick is very small and its bite usually goes unnoticed. The aftermath usually includes flu-like symptoms and a big hard red target shaped welt at the sight. Complications can be severe if left untreated.

While in Gettysburg a few years ago, I left my car door open for a few minutes near a field and had about 6 dog ticks enter the car and we’re crawling around. They’re about the size of a ladybug so they’re easy to spot. It took me about 15 minutes to find them all. I stopped at a convenience store and bought some repellent with DEET so any that we’re left in the car would leave me alone. That was the trip that the deer tick got me.