Scorpions typically stay outside where they hunt for insects and food, but they can get riled up by the weather or predators and head indoors for protection. If it’s simply too cold, too hot or even raining a lot they may look for a better place to lay low.

Unfortunately, that better place can be your house. Even more unfortunately, they can really lay low — meaning for months at a time they will stay in the same spot without eating, or even moving! So even with a thorough pest service you may still see them indoors even though they actually wandered inside months before. So prevention is a great idea regarding scorpions — more on that below.

But first, how do you know if you have or may get scorpions?

If you live near a construction area, or with a lot of trees, near wood piles or debris or rocky areas (yep, that’s pretty much everywhere) you may see scorpions inside your home. But in our experience most scorpion activity around Austin is in the hill country and west and southwest of town where areas are less developed or are undergoing a lot of construction.

The striped bark scorpion is most common in the Austin area. It is yellow-tan with two dark stripes, and can be up to about 2½ inches long.

You can also check out this interesting and kind of freaky way to see if you may have scorpions: the exoskeleton of scorpions will actually glow brightly when seen with a black light. You can buy a black light flashlight and walk around your home at night when scorpions are out and most active. If you have any scorpions you will certainly see one or two (or more!) as you walk around the house as bright yellow or greenish yellow shapes.

Scorpion Prevention

There are some easy steps to take to help keep scorpions out:

• First, remove all trash, wood piles, stones, bricks or any other piles or collections of debris near the house. Scorpions will naturally move into these areas as a safe place to nest or hide in between hunting for food. Always wear long sleeve and thick gloves and try to use shovels or other equipment to remove these piles!
• Keep the lawn cut short — especially close to the home. Trim bushes and remove any tree branches that touch or hang far over the structure. Anything touching or hanging on the structure provides an easy path to the roof and inside.
• Don’t ever bring firewood inside the home to store it unless it is placed directly on the fire. Don’t store firewood right up next to the house.
• Install weather-stripping around loose-fitting doors and windows. If you can see light around the edges that is an entry point.
• Plug weep holes around the foundation with aluminum mesh or window screen. This will block access to the interior for scorpions and other pests, but allow the walls of the house to still “breathe” as needed and emit moisture.
• Use sealant around roof eaves, pipes, and any other cracks on the structure.
• Keep window screens in good repair & make sure they fit tightly in the window frame.

Scorpion Pest Control Treatment

Scorpions are one of the more difficult pests to treat. They hide in walls and other hard to reach areas.

We can help you keep scorpions out with our scorpion treatment program which includes both preventive techniques as well as applying product to kill existing scorpions. The service helps remove other insects as well, which takes away a scorpion’s food supply.

Call us at 512-443-0123 or fill out our pest control form for a free quote! No contracts required!