Scorpions

Arizona is a beautiful place to live, but it certainly comes with its share of challenges. Like most desert climates, it extremely dry, averaging about 9” of rain annually in contrast to the country’s average of 38”. The summers are so incredibly sweltering, you might sometimes think you’ve gone to Hades instead of the American Southwest. The wildlife here is fierce, snarly, and venomous, not to mention literally on your doorstep. We’ve got coyotes, wolves, rattlesnakes, Gila Monsters, poisonous spiders, centipedes, and killer bees. That list goes on and on, but there’s one particularly problematic creature we absolutely have to talk about and that’s scorpions.

The Common Scorpions Of Arizona

Arizona is positively teeming with scorpions and records more stings than any other state—a whopping 68% of them, in fact. Texas is second on that list, with only about 10%. There are at least 30 different species found here, the most commonly sighted being the Giant Hairy, the Striped Tail, and the Arizona Bark. Hairy is a big, burly beast that can grow to over 5” in length. The Striped Tail is smaller, rarely exceeding 3”, while the Arizona Bark is the smallest, at about 2.5” long, and has a very narrow tail and appendages compared to the other two. You might be inclined to think that Giant Hairy is the scariest of the bunch, but it’s that little guy you need to really worry about.

The Troublesome Arizona Bark Scorpion

The Arizona Bark is the most abundant as well as the most dangerous in the state. They are not typically aggressive, but they’ll sting you if they are startled or feel threatened, and, unfortunately, that happens quite frequently. Although most scorpions have a painful and debilitating sting, the Bark is the only one that is known to be fatal. Deaths are fairly rare, but young children, the elderly, pets, and people with compromised immune systems are definitely at risk. Even for a healthy adult, that agonizing sting is packed with neurotoxins and may come with some serious and long-lasting health repercussions, including paralysis. It’s the most venomous scorpion in North America.

Perhaps worst of all, this acrobatic arachnid is constantly getting into our homes. Unlike most of its creepy comrades, the Bark is an excellent jumper and climber. It can easily scale high vertical walls as long as the surface is textured and not smooth. It can scurry along your ceiling and drop on you and can squeeze through a crack as tiny as 1/16”­, as narrow as a credit card. This predatory desert dweller is continually looking for a shady spot to get out of that scorching Arizona sun, and if there’s a water source nearby, all the better. Your home is a tantalizing tropical oasis to the Bark, and they’ve been breaking in in record numbers lately. Local poison control centers have reported a 20% increase in stings in 2020 alone, and it’s been a steady climb for the past decade. Many of those stings occur right inside the home. Experts consider them a very serious threat that Arizona homeowners need to be constantly on the alert for.

What You Need To Know

There are a few other things you should know about scorpions, and particularly the Arizona Bark: They are nocturnal and rarely come out during the daytime. They especially love to hide in crevices, nooks, and crannies. Outside, that might include under rocks, leaves, or tree limbs, in woodpiles, sidewalk cracks, or amongst accumulated debris. Inside your home, that means, cupboards, cabinets, drawers, closets, furniture, bedding, and inside your shoes.

You can spot scorpions with a blacklight, since their exoskeletons glow a fluorescent green color under UV light, except immediately after they’ve molted. Bark Scorpions typically live 5 to 6 years and will give birth to about 25 to 35 scorplings yearly, usually during the summer. The mother carries the live babies on her back until their first molt, a few weeks after birth. (If you are wondering if they will breed inside your home, the answer is yes.) They are difficult to kill. If you swat one, make sure you’ve truly squashed it. They are very clever and have been well known to “play possum.”

If you are stung, the CDC recommends that you stay calm, put ice on it, do not take any sedatives (not even Benadryl, which can make you drowsy), and contact a poison control center immediately. They also suggest that you try to capture the scorpion if possible so that it can be conclusively identified, but please use extreme caution if you do.

The Ongoing Battle

For Arizona homeowners, including the residents of Chandler, it’s a constant battle. There are many steps people take to avoid stings here. You can declutter your home inside and out, keep beds, cribs, and furniture well away from walls, always wear shoes, check between your sheets before you climb into bed, and go on daily hunts with a blacklight to reduce scorpion populations in and around your house. But by far, the smartest thing homeowners do to guard against infestations is to employ the services of a professional pest control company.

A certified expert in scorpion control can do much more for you than you can do on your own. Not only can they eliminate an existing infestation, but they can also develop a customized exclusion plan for your home, which involves sealing up potential points of entry so they cannot get in. In Arizona, professional pest control is not a luxury, it’s a necessity—the only true way to achieve peace of mind and eliminate the constant worry about scorpions and the many dangers they pose to your family.

Why You Need Blue Gecko

In Chandler and the surrounding areas, the only pro you need is Blue Gecko Termite & Pest Control. We’re the number one scorpion control expert in the area. We have the skill, experience, and technology to handle pest issues effectively and swiftly. At Blue Gecko, we pride ourselves on the quality of our services as well as our affordability. We’re also a locally owned company with a caring commitment to our community. Inspections and estimates are free, so please don’t wait—those scorpions are there, even if you haven’t seen one yet. Give us a call today and let us help.