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Arizona is home to a variety of different scorpion species, from the common Arizona stripetail scorpion to the deadly Arizona bark scorpion. While most of these critters are most commonly found hiding out in rocky desert areas; here in the East Valley, it’s not uncommon to find scorpion nests in your home! That makes knowing where to find scorpion nests an important first step to preventing painful scorpion stings for you and your family.
Where Do Scorpions Nest Around the Home?
Playing hide-and-seek with scorpions is not a game you should play. According to our experts, some of the most common scorpion hideouts include gardens, garages, and inside your home.
Gardens
During the heat of the day, scorpions will hide under rocks, piles of wood, tree bark, or other small areas of shelter in your yard. Bark scorpions even prefer to be upside down, meaning they can surprise you by being on the underside of garden furniture!
To protect yourself and your family against scorpion stings in your garden:
- Be cautious disturbing rocks or garden ornaments.
- Avoid using redwood bark as mulch in your flowerbeds. It might look nice, but scorpions love to hide in it!
- Wear thick gardening gloves when digging or pulling weeds.
- Check beneath tables, chairs, elevated pedestals, and other furniture before moving it.
- Keep debris out of your yard, where it might provide a shady place for a scorpion to take refuge.
Garages
Scorpions like to lurk in shady corners, making your garage a perfect place to escape from the Arizona heat. Pro Tip: if you leave your shoes in the garage, it is always a good idea to check your shoes before sliding your feet in!
Found Scorpions in Your Shoes? Kick Them Out!
Inside Your Home
Scorpions can sneak into your home via loose weather stripping and other small cracks and crevices, then hiding in laundry piles, pantries, and other quiet and dark places. Once inside your home, scorpions can live for months without food or water. It’s crucial to find them before they become too invested in your home.
How to Find Scorpion Nests in Your Home
The easiest way to find hidden scorpions is by searching them out with an ultraviolet (UV) blacklight. Turn off the lights after the sun has gone down, and shine the blacklight on piles of linens, in your pantry, and other dark and quiet places scorpions may be hiding. Scorpion’s exoskeletons glow under the light, making them easier to detect and get rid of before they have a chance to sting. Since scorpions can spend months in your home, it's better to search them out instead of waiting for them to catch you off guard when you least expect it.
How to Prevent Scorpion Nests In Your Home
Once you’ve dealt with the stress of removing a scorpion from your home, you will want to make sure you never have to go through it again! Luckily, scorpion-proofing your home is a fairly simple process. Our experts recommend to:
- Check your weather-stripping. If you can slide a business card under your weather-stripping, there’s enough room for a scorpion to wiggle through! Try patching up bare spots or installing new thicker weather stripping if your current weatherstripping is too thin.
- Caulk or plug the spaces where electric lines or water pipes enter your house. Scorpions don’t need much of an opening to sneak into your home, so be sure to check your kitchen and bathrooms for areas where pipes come out of the wall. If there are any gaps, fill them in to prevent scorpions from sneaking through!
- Close all window cracks, door openings, and screen openings. While Arizona does have beautiful weather, leaving doors and windows open is an open invitation for scorpions to invade. If you do decide to let in some fresh air, make sure screens are intact to keep scorpions out!
- Keep the outside of your home and garage clean. Scorpions hide in debris. Cut your grass low and trim down trees and shrubs that are outside homes to scorpions before they enter into your own house. Also, keep your garage neat and tidy so there aren’t good places for scorpions to hide.
How to Get Rid of Scorpions
While there are commercially available insecticides designed for getting rid of scorpion nests, trying to remove them is often a job best left to the experts! Here at Defense Pest Control, our expert exterminators are trained on how to safely eliminate scorpions, ridding your home of these feisty critters without getting stung in the process. If you’ve spotted scorpions in your home, we are here to help! With packages starting as low as $39 a month, we’ve got a plan that will work for you!
If you have a scorpion problem that you simply can not handle, give us a call at F:P:Sub:Phone} today! Our team of pest control experts at Defense Pest Control can help you prevent any scorpions from making their home in and around your house.