Summer and fall are prime time for scorpion sightings. Below are a few details on why you might see them in and around your home, and what can be done to reduce their presence.
While scorpions are beneficial, feeding on cockroaches, crickets, and other pest insects, you definitely don’t want to see them in your home. Scorpions enter homes by accident in search of food, moisture or shelter. Once inside, they can’t find a way out and generally don’t do well for lack of food and other environmental conditions.
They are attracted to moisture and rocky hiding spaces. They will also hide in wood piles, wood construction and behind loose bark. At night, scorpions come out to feed, mate or just “porch sit” near their hiding spaces. A nighttime inspection of the home, armed with an ultraviolet “blacklight,” will help you locate them. Scorpions, alive and dead, will fluoresce or glow under the light of a blacklight.
By reducing their potential habitat through eliminating brush piles and excess debris in your yard or near your house, you can minimize desirable living conditions for them. For example, you can eliminate rock piles that have no use, and if you have woodpiles, keep them stacked neatly and raised off the ground. If you have shrubs, trimming them to raise the vegetation off the ground, is also a good tactic.
For more details about scorpions, read our full article on them here.
Please, note, while the above guidelines may be effective in making your yard or home a less likely place for scorpions and can aid in prevention, if you’re seeing scorpions frequently, make sure to contact us, so that a professional can get involved to safely eliminate them from your home.
