Our chickens do keep the bugs down, but there is a tradeoff, big ol' chicken droppings on the porch (yuck!). They have a chicken yard so we usually keep them in there and only let them out when we irrigate.

Scorpions are really just part of AZ. I am a native and never had them in my house growing up, but they were in neighboring houses and now we occasionally see them. Try and keep their food source (other bugs) in control and you shouldn't see them too often. Cats also do a good job about catching them and tend not to make a mess on the porch :) I have also heard that DE (the stuff some pool filters take) will kill them, but don't know if that is just an urban myth - may be worth a try. I hate the things myself, because I still have little kids and I worry about them trying to squash them.

Good luck.

They love crickets so definitely get rid of them. I'd spray around the outside of the house and also inside along the wall boards. Check to make sure they didn't leave any openings where pipes come in. If so put brillo pad or something there to fill in so that bugs of any kind can't come in. Also make sure all your doors and windows seal tight. If you have any palm trees spray alot around those as they like to make their nest in them. Homedepot or Lowes may be better to tell you what to spray.

Good luck,
gemfire

There was a story last summer on the local news about scorpions, and they were saying that they tend to migrate along the ancient underground water ways. And that if your house happened to be situated above one, your home would always have them coming and going through. They said the only way to get rid of them was to wait until night, take a black light out into the yard and catch an that you can find. Of course they did not say what to do with them beyond that. Not exactly the solution I'm sure you were looking for - LOL.

Anyway... In the past, the best thing I have seen work were my cats. Most cats are immune to their sting, though some are allergic and will have a bad reaction. They usually find them before I do and at least kill them. They don't eat them, so you will have the carcass to remove, but at least the thing is no longer moving.

You could try sprinkling Diatomaceous Earth, but that will kill all the good bugs too. One last thing... don't squish them when you find them... they will stain painted walls. I used to catch them with a mason jar and a magazine and then flush them in the toilet. They are easy to catch, the stupid things stand their ground so they don't really run from you. and once you turn the jar over, they can't climb the walls of the glass.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Make sure they are dead when you do flush them.. if you just have a septic, they can just crawl right back up.

(On a side note a co-worker in an experiment put a live one in a bowl of water, put it in the freezer for a few months, thawed the water, and the scorpion was still alive after all those months!) They are tough little critters! Squish them or burn them to make sure they are dead!

The same co-worker told me that she sprays around the perimeter of the rooms and house with an ammonium and water mixture.. I forget the ratio she used, but it was quite a bit of ammonium. She claimed they didn't like the smell and it seemed to work for her. That being said, I've never tried it. I've also heard they don't like the smell of lavender plants... but I've no proof of that either.

I second the cats.. they will kill them. Dogs might be a different story. My watch dog does just that.. watches them.

These critters can actually seal off their exoskeleton which is why most pesticides are ineffective. Their favorite foods are cockroaches and crickets, so if you eliminate their food source they are likely to go elsewhere. Scorpions can also crawl through pretty tiny spaces so be sure to weatherproof around doors and windows.

Cockroaches are attracted to damp environments, so be sure you aren't overwatering your landscape. There are a number of non-toxic ways to reduce their populations like using boric acid powder near the foundation of your home.

Here is information from the University of Arizona on scorpions and their control.

Here is a link that might be useful: How To Bug Proof Your Home

I find them coming up the drains in the sinks in baths and kitchen.

We've been getting them in our house, too. We've been in the new house a year, and have found 6 inside. I put out some diatomaceous earth, but it was only recently, so haven't had a chance to gauge the effects yet.

We've been in our new house since Dec. Five acres, with lots a vacant area around (for now). I collected a couple of these guys in a jar to show to the exterminator before we moved in. She was very helpful, sprayed up high and gave me two bags of diatomaceous earth. She said to flush it down the toilets. The next month, a new guy came out. He looked at the then six scorps in my jar and said, "Yep. Them's scorpions," and did a less than stellar job. I canceled the exterminator and did my own research. Got DE by the big bag from the feed store. The folks there were very familiar with its use and told me to put it all around the foundation with a flour sifter, flush some and put some down the drains. It isn't affected by rain (what's that?) because it's inert, and it's totally nontoxic, though you should wear a mask to avoid lung irritation. The reason you get it at the feed store (aside from it being MUCH cheaper, is that it is "food grade," the stuff that farmers feed to their livestock to rid them of internal parasites). I also found a spray which is strictly for scorpions at Lowes. I spread the DE under all the cupboards and appliances, all around the foundation, and anywhere else I could think of, then followed with the spray. We haven't seen a scorp yet this season--knock on wood. We also have a couple of cats,so they could have seen some. We are starting to see crickets and spiders, so I guess it's time to treat again. I hate killing the good guys, but we have several friends who have been stung by these things, and I don't want anyone I love to go through that. Hope this helps.

I rented a place that was on an acre. On the day I moved in I killed 20+ scorpion inside and outside the house. I continued to kill scorpions about 10 per night. We lived there 2 years before I gave up just because of the bug problems. I killed over 300 of them. I became very knowledgeable about the little critters. We were never stung though.

My thought was to kill them on the outside so that less would come in on the inside. I worked very hard at getting rid of their habitat. They love "junk". I had a lot of cats and a dozen chickens and still had bunches of scorpions. I had a bug guy come every month. They go away in the winter and come out like crazy as soon as it gets warm. I found that "Raid ant and roach" kills them immediately. DE is recommended and I sprinkled everything everywhere. It looked like it snowed. But I found that the best bug killer was "ME". I got myself a battery operated black light and every night I would go "hunting" with my can of Raid, a jar with a lid and a needle nose pliers. They glow bright green with a black light. I would spray them with Raid, wait till they died and then stuck them in the jar with my pliers. I picked them up like this because if I didn't I would try to kill them again the next night. All I can say is good luck and good hunting.

Scary!! When we moved in we had an infestation of them! We just had bug ppl come and spray, and they slowly started to go away

Yeah, like everyone said, it comes with living in AZ. I think you get more of them as you live closer to the mountains, at least I did. Get an exterminator service to come out once per month in the hotter parts of the year and keep the crickets under control. The older the house is, I suspect more will get in because it's probably not sealed up as well as a new house would be.

I have been living here, in this west Peoria home for the past three years, and every year we've been getting more and more of those nasty little bark scorpions even on the cold winter days! But like everyone else, its more a seasonal type of thing. This past week I alone have found five of them and I killed them all on contact with that scorpion killer spray, its a orange and blue tall can with a long needle tip spayer can't remember what its called but it works Great & immidiately if you spray them directly on contact. Great stuff look for it at your Homedepot ,Lowes, and now recently I've been purchasing it through walmart Superstores. Hope this info can help and save a few elderly and young infant babies lives because those are the more likely to be fatal if stung by one of these evil little disgusting creatures.

I have been living here, in this west Peoria home for the past three years, and every year we've been getting more and more of those nasty little bark scorpions even on the cold winter days! But like everyone else, its more a seasonal type of thing. This past week I alone have found five of them and I killed them all on contact with that scorpion killer spray, its a orange and blue tall can with a long needle tip spayer can't remember what its called but it works Great & immidiately if you spray them directly on contact. Great stuff look for it at your Homedepot ,Lowes, and now recently I've been purchasing it through walmart Superstores. Hope this info can help and save a few elderly and young infant babies lives because those are the more likely to be fatal if stung by one of these evil little disgusting creatures.

We have them. They are in certain neighborhoods and there is nothing much you can do. They follow palmetto bugs(the outdoor cockroaches) and crickets into your house. I spray the parameter of the houses and the roof to keep out the roaches and crickets. I put diatamacous earth around the foundation plantings and keep larger stone pioles out of the yard.

A professional exterminator told me he no longer sprays at all because nothing on the market will kill them.He uses black lights to spot them at night and stomp them dead. I sealed one in a plastic storage bin without air holes and it looked dead after 2 months but woke up when it got some air. Attract lizards and birds.

Has anyone been bitten? I hear conflicting info on how serious a bite is.

Here's a little information on scorpions and their control from the University of Arizona.

Here is a link that might be useful: Info on Scorpions in Arizona

I'm not mike0mike, but I will tell you that Cy-Kick CS is one of the better sprays I've found. Bifen IT has worked for me as well, but I believe Cy-Kick to be the better of the two. If you look at the Cy-Kick reviews at domyownpestcontrol.com, you'll notice a lot of positive comments from AZ folks. BTW, I have no affiliation with that site.

I also use Diatomaceous Earth in a few places around the house. Even after using these things scorpions will still find their way in. Just had one the other night. Even neighbors who use the pros still get them in their houses. Probably the best thing to do is to seal the lower perimeter of the house, which I haven't done yet. Nighttime seek and destroy helps some. If you have a standard block wall then that's where you'll find a lot of scorpions. I'll start to seek them out about 2-3 weeks after I spray.