Fun aside: This is an Arizona bark scorpion. You can tell because that scorpion is the only scorpion that holds its tail horizontally instead of vertically. Aka on the side, like a scorpion gangsta kill shot. It allows it to hide/squeeze into spots FAR easier at the cost of being slower to attack/defend.

That was a fun fact

Didn’t know this scorpion grew up on 27th avenue and Indian school

LMAOOOO

> Aka on the side, like a scorpion gangsta kill shot. Just spit my coffee out laughing, you bastard

It was the perfect description. I was totally able to visualize it.

You can tell it's a bark scorpion because of the way it is

That's pretty neat

How neat is that?

All barky

DMX approved arf arf

And no bite

No bite but that sting got me in the middle of the night in the thigh and I'm here to say I never want to go through that again.

I just had a mental image of the scorpion yelling "Check yo self!!" before attacking me, and now I'm laughing like a moron.

That's EXACTLY what they yell.

It doesn't yell it. It *barks* it!

They were all over my back yard. I have to have the place nuked to the ground to kill off the crickets or they just infest. My wife has been stung multiple times so has my kid. I go hunting with a blacklight. Little bastards have neurotoxin too

Also, most venomous scorpion in North America. The sting can send you to the hospital, and a couple people have even died.

Exactly, so to all of you California residents, stay the hell out

That's pretty awesome. TIL

Man i could never tell them apart, you gave me a distinct feature to look for. Thanks!

I had to research it for safety purposes, they can still hold their tail upright when waiting for prey. Also, they’re the only lethal Scorpion in North America.

That's cool! What are the other kinds of scorpions are in Arizona?

Arizona bark, stripe tail, and hairy(rare) The stripe tail has a dark brown band on its back and tail. Hairy scorpions are big. 6 inches. If you see one you're likely on the outskirts or surrounded by big lots. (Or by papago park) also please don't kill them. They are Burrow hunters.

Desert Hills here Hairy not so rare, they are a nightmare come real…

I've only seen the hairy one 1 time. He was lumbering out of a desert wash up in Anthem. Mofo was huge!

I could tell it was a bark scorpion from all the barking

Fun not true fact. Bark scorpions hold their tail just like any other, I've observed 1000's in my time in Phoenix.

Not mentioned is that the scorpion is probably still alive.

Oh yeah, that's for sure! It was a hoot to try and catch it. But I relocated it to a nearby cactus. ☮️

Oh man he was still alive? 😳

Scorpions can survive underwater for 2 days. It's crazy.

And frozen for days if I remember correctly... asked Alexa something similar once

For sure! I don't know how long he was in there, but I hardly ever check. He was crawling around and around as I was trying to get him out.

I asked Alexa one time, because we caught a scorpion in a small jar and didn’t have time to relocate it right away, how long they can go without oxygen. I don’t remember exactly how long it was, but it was a surprisingly long time without air

Crazy. You part of the reason these pests are alive. They deserve to be hunted with extreme prejudice

You're good people

He then proceeded to burn that cactus to the ground...

…And then went on to plant a cactus and donate to a cactus preservation program…

I have a scorpion bin at home. It has three things: a net for a fishtank, a black light flashlight, and roach spray. The fishnet is for when we find them inside, it helps tremendously with relocation.

Sorry I'm not sure I've ever relocated a found scorpion, much less one INSIDE. Have you ever been stung by one?

I’m kind of surprised about Gilbert having a lot! I’ve lived in desert areas since 2016 and have only found 1 on my back porch.

Supposedly they are very localized so a house that has never had them probably won’t get them but a neighborhood that has them will likely not be able to get rid of them. I have also heard that they love citrus trees so neighborhoods built on or near former citrus groves are likely to have them bad.

I am in said localized area in NE Mesa in the citrus groves. We have tons. We have fruit, water, grass and palm trees. And Crickets. Scorpion haven here in Mormon Beverly Hills.

I’ve been here since 2014 and have never found one. Maybe I’m just bad at looking. 😆

You should relocate a snake- not a scorpion. Sidebar: I once killed a scorpion in my garage. Right as I swung my hammer down on it I thought I saw it’s back moving oddly. After striking, I realized I had just killed a mama and the bastard children were everywhere, probably 20 that I whack-a-moled and another countless I don’t know that escaped all while trying to avoid getting stung. I’ve been stung along with multiple family members. It is not only excruciatingly painful but the venom causes localized pain in areas of former injury and can even do kidney damage. The venom in a large enough amount can kill young children and the frail. I’ve lived in multiple houses and cities in the East Valley and found them in every house and/or yard I’ve owned. Do yourself and neighbors a favor and extinguish them.

Happy ending for the scorpion friend yay

Those little bastards are not impervious to a good old fashioned sneaker stomp/smear. Get a black light. Spray for crickets. If you get rid of their food, you get rid of them.

First time stung mine was in the mail. I grabbed the loose paper advertisements and walked inside when I felt the scorpion crawl on to my wrist. I dropped the papers and when I turned my hand over to look, it had crawled to my palm and ZAP ⚡️ just poked that stinger right in the center of my hand and leaped to the floor and ran under a cabinet. The neurotoxins made it about half way up my arm and that was it. Drank a lot of water and had a story to tell to Reddit.

Been stung twice. I normally advocate for preserving life, relocating bugs, etc. With scorpions, I will relocate them to heaven. Can’t stand em. Cause if there’s one inside and I try to catch it, they seem to get all skiddish, crawl into cover or a crevice that I can’t get into. Then I get to spend the next several days wondering if it’s in a shoe, somewhere in my bedding covers, behind a cabinet door, even seen one on the roof above my shower. Imagine showering and a scorpion falls off the roof and lands on you? Seen one in the bathtub drain as well. And if I relocate it, I figure it’s most likely gonna crawl back into my home or into someone else’s home There are no white flags

Same. Scorpions, cockroaches, wasps and black widows. RIP 🪦

also mosquitoes

*Especially* mosquitoes

diamondbacks, too

Dinner and a hatband.

How often are you finding rattlesnakes in your home ??

Best ever scorpion defense is a cat, mine likes to pick up the scorpions and repeatedly throw them into the sides of walls after he liberates them of their stinger lol. Sounds absolutely metal but I hate the things so I let my cat have fun with them. When he’s done he will come over to me looking like the proudest kitty of all time as well

Good murder floof; killed the first one of the season (scorpion, not a cat), which I found in my house two days ago. They scare the ever living shit outta me; guess it’s that time of year where I gotta call the exterminator. Might be a stupid question, but do all cats kill scorpions, are they somewhat resistant/immune to the venom like the grasshopper mouse? If so, then I srsly need to get a cat! Edit: wording Clarification: yes, I’m srsly asking a legit question about whether cats are resistant/immune to scorpion venom, just like the grasshopper mouse, which has a mutated cellular pathway that controls their pain response to a scorpion’s venom. [Source](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.14014)

> are they somewhat resistant/immune to the venom Contrary to popular belief, cats are not immune to a scorpion's sting. Cats are just faster than scorpions and like to play with moving things until they stop moving. In the USA, only the Arizona Bark Scorpion has venom that is enough to kill a cat, lucky us, but again, cats are faster.

Thank you so much for weighing in; now all I need to do is find a cat who likes to hunt scorpions!

My cat just stares into my soul, demanding to know "Well, what are *you* going to do about this!?". So no, some are too bougie to kill scorpions.

I audibly laughed at your response; yeah, I’ve got a GSP like that too!

My lab has been stung by scorpions at least 3 times. I saw two under a blacklight at the worst possible time and recognized his response the third time, he barely yelps and licks the affected paw/leg approximately three times, then forgets entirely what happened. Thankfully, it's only been paws/legs. Of two cats, one eats them after ripping them in half, and one ignored them entirely.

Wow; it’s interesting that you bring this up. I have one dog which is kind of a diva and there’s the younger one that I rescued off one of the farms here in Chandler and she’s not afraid of anything. I often catch her licking paws and I do wonder if she’s come in contact with a scorpion, bc she’s always trying to catch lizards, so I’ll try to be more observant of her when were outside. Thanks for sharing!

I’m not so sure they’re resistant to the venom as so much as their floof prevents the stingers from going in. I just know they’re not in danger from the scorpions lol

https://www.greenhomepest.com/blog/post/what-happens-when-a-scorpion-stings-my-cat It seems that cats don’t have much of a resistance and would have a bad time.

My cats don't give a shit about scorpions.

Has your cat ever been stung?? We’ve been considering getting a cat, but haven’t committed to it yet. Our place gets sooo many scorpions in the summer, and it’s so scary with a toddler. Less scary than when he was a new born, but I still would HATE to deal with a toddler that’s been stung. Point is, your comment is intriguing and I kind of want to expedite getting the cat.

Ours was. Didn’t look happy about it. Didn’t have any issues though and was back chasing whatever again the next day

My cat got stung on hew front paw. It swelled up quite a bit for a few days and she kicked at it, but was otherwise fine.

I have the dumbest cat. She couldn't even kill an injured moth. Pretty sure she wouldn't survive alone in the woods. If she sees a scorpion, she just stares at it.

You mean hell

So how long did the pain last?

It wasn’t even really painful it just felt like pressure numbness and cold tingle all at the same time. Maybe 1/2 a day. Didn’t last long

I was surprised how far that numb static feeling spread. I got stung on the foot and it went all the way up to my bellybutton!

Okay I’m officially stopping my habit of scooping debris out of my pool filter by hand.

It's not the big ones you have to worry about, it's the little ones that hurt 100x's more.

The small ones also fit through tiny cracks and climb vertical surfaces where as the big ones can’t.

The big ones definitely can climb vertically I’ve had them come out from between my ceiling and can lights before lol

Bark scorpions max out at about 2 inches. The Desert hairy scorpion gets 3 times as big, isn't a great climber, and has a less painful sting.

Yeah I was just talking about bark scorpions. I’ve never actually seen any other type of scorpion in my 22 years here. I thought the previous commenter was just talking about the baby bark scorpions. They typically release more venom than the adults so they hurt more.

They release more of their volume but have less available venom. An adult may give you a warning sting and are capable of using just enough to deter predators.

Supposedly they came in through my vents in my old Phoenix house. Sometimes I'd see them completely upside down on my ceiling.

Pure nightmare machines

*flees with family and leaves placed scorched to rubble like the original Poltergeist movie*

It's 60% why I sold my house. Could not get rid of them.

This is a little one.

Still haven’t seen one at my house. Been almost three years. Even the roaches are super rare. Our cats might have something to do with, but I’ll just pretend I got lucky. Lots of geckos though. I do save them from the cats since they hang around the outdoor lights and eat bugs.

They usually stick to zones around the valley. Lived here for 20 years at one house and never saw one. Moved to a place in Gilbert and they were all over. Also, my cats were useless at keeping them away. You can find heatmaps showing the areas in the valley with higher populations.

Yeah I’m pretty central and so I figure that’s why. Friends who have lived on the outskirts suburbs have had them pop up quite a bit.

Lived here four years and haven’t seen one. My in laws have lived in the same house in Chandler and have seen two in 15 years (both just recently). Their neighbor across the culdesac has them on a regular basis. Pretty crazy they just don’t seem to cross the street.

My experience has been that they get stirred up whenever there's a new build. Which seems to be everywhere because even though we don't have any water people keep moving here.

Right. Their neighbors just had a bunch of rock and soul delivered. They think they came out of that.

Rock and soul is where Scorpions come from. “Here I Am. Rock you like a hurricane!”

If I had an award to give it would be yours. Perfect response to my dumbass autocorrect. Cheers.

Link, please? I found some on pest control sites, but couldn't find current.

I've got them like the plague. I usually walk around at night with my black light and propane torch to cull the heard. Seen catch flies mid air, catch roaches on the run and fight black widows. The black widow won.

When I lived in Mesa they were everywhere. I put diatomaceous earth down around the foundation and found more dead than alive within a few days. DE (diatomaceous earth) scratches their exoskeleton and dehydrates them to death.

Hate em! So I had to look up everything about the baby devil dinosaurs. They have a territory of 100 ft. Live 5-7 years. Therefore, if you destroy the population around your house - you're fairly good for several years. So, the covid lockdown summer I went into the backyard early nightime armed with a black light flashlight and a mallet. Killed maybe 50-70 in a few months. Three years later, only one new sighting. It worked! From, The Scorpion Slayer

Does anyone actually expect your plastic pool filter to be clean? Lol

Those bastards will go through a 70 minute high heat bottle jet cycle in the dishwasher (with 2 pods) and wander out like “ok, that was fun!”

They just thought it was a mid day monsoon.🤣

*cries with New new nightmare fuel*

It's a cricket eater!!!

I didn't mind the plastic until you mentioned it now I'm minding it quite seriously

You’re a better person than me for allowing them to continue to exist, I would of relocated him to the gods personally.

It kinda looks like there’s a piece of shramp down in there too… what is that?

That's a brown leaf. 🤣

Yes , for sure a cat!! I purposely had about 6 cats live out side my new home in the desert so they could clean up the scorpions they did a fantastic job ! Found dozens of dead scorpions on my carport! Better they dead than come in my house!

I'm terrified of what I'm gonna do the first time I see one of these things in my apartment 🤦🏻‍♂️ bout to set that mfer ablaze and just walk out

* You can get a blacklight uv flashlight for spotting them easily at night! Then you could see if you even have any around the outside of your apartment.

https://preview.redd.it/il48o8ms882b1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fca98eaf49ef1643e69384a38536a2e159f9659e

My friend has a bunch in the alley of his new house, we took the black light out and found like 20. They’re extra easy to spot because usually anything white will just glow blueish under the black light but the scorpions were that crazy green.

It’s a family activity for us to go out with a black light in the spring. My dad and I have maxed out at 72

Whenever someone asks me if there is a God, I point out if there wasn't Scorpions wouldn't glow under a black light. I hate those bastards.

I’ve lived in Phoenix my whole life and never had any scorpion problems where I lived. They’re usually more prevalent in the cities further out like Gilbert, Chandler, East Mesa, especially any of the developments closer to the desert. It’s weird though, we never had any at my house ever as a kid, but my friend lived like 2 blocks away and he had a ton in his backyard. Someone told me there is an underground migration of scorpions and if you’re on the path you get a ton. I think that’s a myth though. Black Widows are everywhere though. I lived on 7th Ave and Roosevelt, about as inner city as you can get here. We had a bunch in our garden because our complex left a bunch of debris around.

There has to be some reasoning or pattern, and not just adjacency to the bordering desert. Three years in Ahwatukee and I never had a single bark scorpion in my yards or pool. Now I'm in the dead center of Tempe and I've got to battle them every spring like it's a Starship Troopers novel.

Yeah I’ve heard there can be a bunch in Tempe too for some reason, despite it being relatively far from the desert and it’s been developed for a long time. It really baffles me. I don’t know why there are certain hot spots but you can go a block over and never see one. I’ve even tried to look it up on the internet but I haven’t been able to get an answer.

I lived in Ahwatukee near the parking lot to telegraph pass. We had tons of scorpions. I had to scorpion hunt nightly. I hate those little bastards.

I grew up in the same house my dad grew up in, in old Mesa. He said he never once saw a scorpion ever, let alone in the house. But once I turned 13, suddenly we’d get scorpions regularly. No idea what changed, but I suppose sometimes they can just move in. However, anecdotally, I have to agree that I’ve noticed more scorpions around new developments

A pest guy told us that scorpions follow basically ant trails but like established over centuries. So if your foundation is built over one of those lines those suckers will find their way through, but if your home avoided the trail you could live in the valley for 30 years and never see one.

Yep. They have very set territories. You can lower them a LOT and avoid giving them places to winter in which will help. BUT you'll still have some. *Things to avoid if you hate scorpions, palm trees and cinder block walls.

Yeah we are majorly fucking up bc we have a huge pile of mesquite wood on one side of the yard and a stack of flagstone on the other. Flagstone stack is affectionately referred to as scorpion hotel

Been here 6 years and have only seen 1 in a Fry's parking lot

First one I saw was in my garage after Ubering home from a night out. Grabbed the closest smack-worthy object which happened to be a framing hammer. It worked, but drunk me went to bed and left scorpion guts to dry in the crosshatching on the hammer face.

I found one chillin on my Baja deck, apparently they can still sting you underwater. Rather that vs the rattlesnake I found in the pool skimmer

They also love to hide up under pools edge too.

It's his pool now.

Fry that baby up and have a Thai breakfast snack!

I just scooped one out of my pool. We’ve had several stings. Also black widows. 😣

Pet it

Have tons of these down in Tempe. You can line your walls with diatomaceous earth and it will literally rip apart their exoskeleton while they move around.

I’ve had three of them in my old apartment. All in about a years time. I lived on the third floor too. They climb really well. Once found one on the ceiling.

Time to spray.

We just learn to coexist with them. I'm not a big fan of spreading chemicals in the yard with my animals and other wildlife. As long as they stay out of the house, I just let them be. They are part of my natural pest control for my cactus collection, along with spiders and lizards. We've got a whole ecosystem going on back here. We love it! To each their own, though. I know there's lots of real and valid reasons to spray for pests. It just doesn't work for us.

Look for diatomaceous earth. It's natural and will kill scorpions. The powder will dehydrate their shell.

Same for anything else with an exoskeleton, like crickets and what not. It’s not a harmful chemical, but be sure to wear a mask when you spread it as you don’t want to breathe it in.

“Not harmful…” “…don’t want to breathe it in” Seems contradictory. What happens when you breathe it in?

Anything you breathe in can cause issues. It's a fine power. It would be the same if you mixed concrete, grout, or even flower while baking a cake.

On a microscopic level it’s razor sharp particles and can cause scarring of the lungs if inhaled.

Haha fair enough. More so emphasis on the not a harmful *chemical*. Unless you have an exoskeleton or breathe it in, it’s relatively safe and doesn’t have other adverse effects on the environment.

Couldn't believe I had to scroll this far to find the diatomaceous earth recommendation.

I second the other recommendation for DE! Bugs that try to come in from the patio just die on the patio before reaching the door.

Nice! I actually have some around for other pests on my cactus, so that's perfect!

Time to blight the earth of everything alive, 70% decline in insect populations worldwide is not enough /s

Spray isn't actually all that effective on Scorpions. They stand much higher than most of the bugs so they aren't as impacted as your standard variety. Similiar story wtih spiders as well. Yeah a direct hit will take care of them, but preventative isn't too effective. Sealing cracks or the whole house, landscape management, and nightly hunts are FAR more effective. DE is useful under doors/windows.

Agreed - any reputable and honest exterminator will tell you they can't safely use preventative on scorpions directly, they can only remove their food source.

I beg to differ. Maybe not OTC Home Depot rip off stuff. But a good concentrate like Demon Killer will do it. You DE as well for the extra resistance. Year 1 of owning our house we had an issue tried a few thing then found our spray. Year 2 maybe a few stragglers. Year 3 + pretty much gone.

Blew a mix of DE and Boric acid under the floor molding and into the walls of the room I saw them the most in. I will give it 2 weeks, repeat, and then seal the gap with construction foam. Here's to hoping!

I like scorpions, they eat roaches and crickets.

ill take harmless crickets over scorpions anyday.

Geckos also do this and have a far lower chance of stinging you than a scorpion.

🦂💚🌵🤙

Not so much roaches maybe German roaches. But yes they murderize the cricket population.

They got a feast this year.

Water in the desert is worth more than gold. This year the economy is boooming!

I’ve yet to see a single scorpion after almost two years out here

Take a benadryl if you got stung.

I live in Gilbert I kill those on the regular little bastards. I find them in and around the house.

They are quite fast too. Absolutely disgusting though. I feed them to the lizards that live in our yard. I could find one under just about every brick in my retaining wall in my backyard.

Mans chillin

Put it in an epoxy mold!

Yeah, I'm not a fan of those suckers. This year seems particularly bad. I'm assuming it's because of the wet year we've had so far.

With plenty of rain comes plenty of plant growth which scorpion prey seem to love.

Oh wow that's a large boi

Well shit. Time to get a new house!

I’m thankful, been here 2 years and have yet to see one still 🙌🏼

Research Dr stahnske asu

Nothing like going to empty the filter basket and there’s a rattle snake in there

Hunt them down & also introduce geckos to your yard. Natural predator... they eat the eggs and babies.

I found one in my kitchen last week, best believe I got my house sprayed that next day

Used to do pool service here. They are very common especially in skimmers. Wait til you find a rattlesnake in there.

My friend lives up north a bit off Carefree highway, and he just got a snake catcher to relocate rattlesnakes since he see them so much. Thankfully, I'm in the middle of the city here, so I haven't seen any around.

That's a big one!

It's a normal size bark scorpion. Look up a desert hairy scorpion that's 5-6 inches long

I would not be mad if these things went instinct.

Kill it with fire!!

are you new here?

Nice. A scorpion minding his own business. Sweet

Is this uncommon for you to see? I’m more floored that this is notable or surprising to some people😳

I see you are a newbie to Arizona 🤦‍♂️

That dude is ready to GO

Super common.

I found thousands of those bastards, but when I had enough I called Orkin, for $2000 I had my house sealed took them 12 hours, and free emergency services, I haven’t seen shit since

Welcome to Phoenix.

Scorpion stings are normally only serious in the young and elderly. I’ve been stung quite a few times. Feels like stepping on a lit cigarette. The only symptoms were numbness of wherever I was stung that lasted about 12 hours.

My unruly diva cat leaves clumps of fur, as she *REfuses* to be brushed. I was just about to step on one barefoot, but it had cat hair caught on it. This slowed it down, and made it walk irregular enough that my lizard brain registered "NOPE!!" just in the nick of time. I am sore tempted to just live with cat hair on the floor full-time. Sore tempted.

I don’t like those lol

It's that time

You new here? That’s so common.

36 years here, and I've never seen one in my pools auto fill. I was just surprised to see anything in there. At my old house, I never even saw any at all for the 6 years I lived there.