This is Arizona, you will never get rid of them completely if they have a habitat, like the stream bed, to breed in. It's a native insect.

You can make your yard less attractive to them. Scorpions need food and shelter. Make sure they don't get it.

1 - Clear out clutter they can live in or under.
2 - They eat insects, so minimize the things that attract crickets and cockroaches. (pet food, mulch near the house, mess around trash cans, clutter in garage).
3 - Sealing the cracks, weatherstripping, etc are good ideas. I don't know about the "j-rail", but it depends on what it leads to.
4 - Have a clean dirt barrier at the base of the foundation, about a foot wide. Keep it clean - no plants, no mulch, no mess. Bugs do not like to go out in the open because of predators.

5 - don't walk around barefoot,and watch where you put your hands when you are moving things.

The good news: the docs around here are good at treating the stings, and it's seldom fatal. The cars on your street are more a risk to your children then the scorpions.

I kind of figured that because of that dry bed on the side of this community would not help....But one of my neighbors told me that he has been here for 6 years and never had scorpions until 6 months ago. The community has several vacant homes....Could that be part of the problem??/ I dont know but hopefully we can keep them away from our home....can't anyone spray that dry stream (city or the HOA)

Jazzi -
Maybe the previous owners were doing something that let a population get established?

Neither the city nor the HOA is going to put enough pesticides on that stream bed to kill scorpions. They can be controlled by the less toxic methods I described.

Sometimes diatomaceous earth helps, if only by its effect on the scorpion's prey. Just follow the directions for band treatment on the box.

Good luck!
Kevin : )

Here is a link to great information on scorpions from the University of Arizona. I always like to use them as a resource because the information is reasearch based and they aren't trying to sell you something.

They also have a publication on bug-proofing your home at http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/az1320

Here is a link that might be useful: Scorpions

Did the previous owners tell you they had scorpions? This would be grounds to get out of the contract. You will never get rid of them

we built a house 5 years ago on 5 acres. there is a lot of glass doors in our house, and we've had scorpions, but not on a grand scale. Keep granular diazinon around the slab and in the yard, and spray inside the house and outside around the slab with anything labeled for scorpions. If you'll be diligent with spraying outside, you won't need to spray inside after the first time. I buy the gallon size bug killer from Home Depot that states it will kill scorpions. Its a black jug, about $8.00. scorpions might still come inside, but they'll die before they get far. I've heard that a cat will kill them also, and getting rid of crickets in your yard will be a deterrant. Hope this helps.

Oh, yea! My cats kill them, but like to bat them around the room first. Contrary to popular belief, scorpions can hurt cats. The reason they don't get stung as often as dogs is that they scoop with their paws rather than pounce on them.
I never found pest control methods very helpful and no longer have a service because I am trying to go organic with the gardening. BUT..
When my sons and grandsons visit, they take forceps, black lights and a bucket outside to catch them. They live in the tree bark and love any kind of tarp left lying around. The boys have caught as many as sixty in one session. We taught the grandkids to stay away from them and how to avoid them as early as two years old. They have never been stung. my husband and I have been stung several times, usually while gardening or doing yard work without gloves. Since the boys have been hunting them (They think it's great fun) we rarely ever get one in the house anymore. Just three or four times a year has made a drastic difference.

Hunt them with a black light at night

Get..... A...... Cat.......

Interesting to read everyone comments. A couple of other things -- How about sticky traps to catch the ones you don't see?

Also, don't forget to check your shoes before putting them on. If you're walking with slippers, get the open ones or check inside before you put your feet in. Yowee!

The good thing about scorpions is they are kinda slow, so you have time time find something to kill it with before they run off. (;

I've found that on the bugs higher on the food chain, the more you use pesticides, the worse it gets. It seems it's better to work on methods of getting rid of their food supply with methods such as lazy gardens described, as well as finding natural predators to encourage. Are there any nematodes or other methods that will work?
I've had great luck with boric acid on cockroaches and crickets inside the house. I feel very comfortable with boric acid, it's very non-toxic to pets and humans, even used as an eye wash when diluted with water.
We've had a couple ticks on our dogs this summer but our neighbor has had nearly a hundred on his dog. He sprays his yard weekly with poisons, we never, ever spray. I think this is an example of killing off all the good bugs and discouraging predatory wasps/birds, etc. We have so many birds, lizards and praying mantis in our yard. I'm sure they are keeping the ticks and scorpions down.

We moved in to our current house last November. The previous owners said there wasn't a problem with scorpions in the house. I think they must have meant there weren't any in the house at that moment. As the weather got warmer, we started seeing 2 or 3 scorpions a day and my son was stung twice, once while sleeping. I knew from experience years ago that poison doesn't work very well on scorpions, or at least the amount and type of poison required is worse than living with the scorpions. I got out my arsenal of essential oils that I knew were natural insect repellants and I mixed together about ten drops each of cedar, geranium, lavender, clove, peppermint and eucalyptus oils shaken well with a drop of dish detergent as an emulsifier in a quart spray bottle filled with water. I sprayed along baseboards, around windows, doors, under the sinks, and around pipes coming into the house. This eliminated the big water bugs, crickets and scorpions. I saw a scorpion after about two weeks and sprayed again. It was around three weeks before I saw another one and sprayed again. It's been about 6 weeks and there isn't a bug in my house. Even the resident gecko moved out because there is nothing for it to eat. No bugs, no poison. We've seen scorpions when moving rocks in the yard but they don't come inside. That's fine with me because I know they're wonderful predators and as long as they stay out of my house we'll coexist peacefully.

You asked about filling in the J-rail - don't! You're right, it is there as a moisture vent for the walls. If you fill it in you risk mold and mildew developing between the studs and insulation in the walls.

My parents live in the desert east of Yuma and work constantly to not be over-run by scorps in their yard but have not had one in their house for many years, and have been there for nearly 20 years. One thing they do that I think makes a big difference is to keep the plant litter raked away from the foundation like lazygarden suggested. They don't use bark chips or anything like that for mulch because it provides cover like plant litter. They check their weather stripping frequently - like with a fridge seal, it's not working if a piece of paper can slide easily. Potted plants are not kept near the house.

Sounds like you've got a really good start on keeping the scorpions you have out of the house! From what I've seen with my parents, with diligence, it is possible to keep your house scorpion free.

Secure the house and outside the house (remove habitat). They eat insects. Keep the bug population down inside and outside and their pops fall. Direct hunt with UV. Remember it takes a large number of insects to support a single scorpion.

When I first moved in in 1993, I found two bark scorpions in the back bedroom within three days of each other--the farthest location from any obvious entryway into the home--and opened every drawer, cabinet and access panel in the home. I capped off four cans of some fumigation insecticide including a can in the crawlspace and let it spray. I stood in my den with the AC running until I saw a swath of silverfish running out the AC vent before I could smell the stuff (sorry don't know what insecticide it was). Went back and killed the AC and left for the day (saw a movie and had late lunch). Came back and aired out the place by turning the AC back on and going to see another movie. Cleaned all my dishes and washed a lot of my clothes/bedsheets over the next few days. Lots of dead bugs (no scorpions) found.

This year was the first time I saw a scorpion in the house (in a bathroom) since. I do not consider scorpions a problem in my yard but I know they are around.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kill them . . . kill them all

Just a note: Do not leave your clothes on the floor at night or in the laundry room. Do not leave baby blankets on the floor. Do not put on shoes with out checking them first. Scorpions love nice dark places to hide. Keep it picked up.

Scorpions(Bark Scorpions) are not as dangerous at the media would lead you to believe. They do not normally sting to defend themselves, their first course of defense is to scurry away and hide, they will sting however if trapped like in a shoe or under a sheet. I have picked them up and also found them crawling on my leg without stinging.
We literally have hundreds if not thousands of Scorpions on our irrigated citrus lot, they definitely prefer being outside although we do occasionally find them in the house. They avoid the interior of the house because we spray for bugs in the house eliminating their food source(roaches and crickets).
I have been stung several times and so has my dog and my daughter when she was about 3 or 4 years old. Yes, it hurts, about as bad as a bee sting, but it lasts much longer(a day or two). I guess if you are allergic you could get very ill or possibly die(just like people who are allergic to bee stings) but I think that is very unlikely.(when was the last time you actually heard of someone dying from a scorpion sting?)
I was stung by a paper wasp on the knuckle and some kind of ant on the foot and those hurt 10 times worse than a scorpion sting.
We also have lots of Black Widow spiders, I'm much more afraid of those because I believe those bites actually are dangerous.
If you have the ability to keep a domestic chicken in your yard, they will eat every scorpion(and every other bug) they can find.
My family has learned to live in harmony with the scorpions, they keep the bug population under control, we no longer freak out when we see one, and when we have a party I get out a black light and go on a scorpion hunt with all of the kids, we usually can catch 50-60 in a half hour, sometimes we even find a mother with hundreds of tiny babies on her back.

I've been stung a couple times and agree with the previous poster, it isn't all that bad, although I didn't much appreciate being stung as I slept. And I too have picked 'em up in my hand without incident. I do believe stinging is their first line of defense though, they just don't sting while startled.

Check any overhead lighting in your house, they like the warmth. You can use a blacklight to find them quickly. I grew up in Cave Creek where we used to see them all the time. Since moving to Tempe, I haven't seen one in over 10 years.

1. A scorpion on you doesn't know it is on you. That is, it won't sting you (the area it is crawling upon) it stings the hand that comes to investigate or swat. If your bare foot comes down near it that too is a target (threatening warm blooded movement) and is crushing weight. It does not understand the hand is attached to the surface it is currently walking upon. PS: Best removal is a long comb skimming the surface coming up from behind.

2. Toxins are incredibly resource draining for all venomous creatures. So unless they are rewarded with a tasty snack (the usual purpose of venom which is why digestive enzymes are present; besides defense and occasionally territorial offense uses) more mature venomous creatures have usually developed control over injecting the venom unless the mechanism is automatic toxin delivery (ex: conch shell rasp delivery, honeybees). A needle sharp strike suffices to warn an non-food intruder. This is why some people get stung by something with little except fairly painless localized reaction.

3. Scorpions have the fastest muscles known present in their tail. A strike is lightening quick.

I'm new to AZ. In Michigan I used to get wasp and hornets nesting. One day, not having any wasp killer spray, I grabbed my can of carburetor cleaner and sprayed them. They were dead within a minute. I hunt them at night with a powerful blacklight flashlight and carry a can of carburetor cleaner. One shot of this and they go less than a foot and stop. They are dead soon after.

Forget about getting rid of scorpions if you skip these two venerable scorpion fighters:

1. lavenders, anything about them

2. Cy-Kick

Lavenders:

I planted 10x 1-qt and 5x 2.5-qt lavenders in my front and back yard. I put lavender essential oil vials near all doors, inside cabinets, and put dried lavender bags at baseboard corners.

Cy-Kick by BASF:

Notably the best pesticide to kill scorpion, ever. I use 2 oz Cy Kick CS per gallon water concentration and spray outside monthly — all the way to top of block fence, 3 ft up to exterior wall, and a perimeter along foundation. i also spray inside every three months. Some people suggest alternating Cy-Kick CS with Demand CS, another excellent pesticide to kill scorpion. Note that neither one is expected to kill instantly upon contact of any bug but they both work extremely well on scorpions and others. They also almost eradicate the entire food supply of scorpions.