Summerlin bug/pest control by Bulwark Exterminating

East Valley Tribune needs to get it facts straight. Truth: Scorpions nest. The most you’d see at a time is four, maybe five, according to Andy Baldwin of Mesa Community College’s life sciences department. And that’s just the bark scorpion, which is more tolerant of living with other scorpions and is the only one of the East Valley’s three species common around people. Bulwark Exterminating Customers set the record straight for Bulwark.

East Valley Tribune needs to get it facts straight. Truth: Scorpions nest. The most you’d see at a time is four, maybe five, according to Andy Baldwin of Mesa Community College’s life sciences department. And that’s just the bark scorpion, which is more tolerant of living with other scorpions and is the only one of the East Valley’s three species common around people. Bulwark Exterminating Customers set the record straight for Bulwark.

In the news this week it was reported that two men where stung by the infamous Arizona bark scorpion. One man was on an airplane going from Phoenix to Indiana. The plane was just landing when a Scorpion dropped from the baggage compartment and landed on his leg. He went to swat the Scorpion off of his leg and it stung him on his hand. It was reported that the incident caused some temporary commotion amongst the other passengers. Most where climbing on to their seats in panic. Upon further inspection of the baggage compartment they found 5 more smaller scorpions. They suspect that the scorpions hitched a ride in with someone’s carry on.  Not surprising since scorpions like to hide in folded clothes, shoes, towels, etc. Always smart to check your shoes before you slip them on… or just get a scorpion control service.

Just two days later a 19 year old man had just cleared security in the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport when he felt a sharp prick on his neck.He looked down to find a scorpion on his shoulder and quickly brushed it off and smashed it. The young man ended up going to the ER and was under observation for about 6 hours. This was probably not necessary but because the sting was so close to his head it was a healthy precaution.

No one can determine how the scorpion got into the airport.  It could be an airport problem, or they could just be carried in by the Phoenix crowds. And last time I checked you are not allowed suspicious liquid products in the airport… not that a can of bug repellent would really work to well against a scorpion that might happen to fall out of a light fixture and land on your shoulder. But the scorpion could have just as easily hitched a ride in on the young man’s backpack… or crawled up his sleeve will in the car… yes, we have gotten reports of scorpions being found in cars.

Well next time you visit Phoenix you could have some added peace of mind if you stay at one of our customer’s scorpion free homes… but our job is to keep unwelcomed guests out, so we probablly shouldn’t offer you our customer’s home.

So this was totally unexpected phone call yesterday.  It was during the AM rush hour.  My phone rings.  The next thing I hear is “Help there is a Scorpion on my dashboard!” WOW.  That was unexpected.

This guy calls me on his way to work in Phoenix and tells me that he has scorpion crawling across his dashboard.  He wants to know what to do, if he should pull over, is it going to sting him…  “How do I get rid of the scorpion!”

Well, the first thing you need to do is not aggravate the scorpion.  Yelling probably doesn’t help sense they are highly sensitive to vibrations, although if you are driving they extra noise won’t make much difference.  So here are the tougher questions…

How did the scorpion get into my car?

Probably climbed up the tire, down the axle, up the engine and into the ventilation system since that is going to have some nice moisture to drink.  Keep in mind that any crack the with of a credit card is a nice open door for a scorpion. Besides if a kitten can climb up a tire and get stuck in a car vent then a scorpion most certainly can… really happened, we had a kitten get stuck in our VW van’s vent when I was a kid… Don’t worry, we saved him.

So back to the scorpion… tire, or fell on to the hood, followed moisture, went into your vent, came out of vent inside of your car and on the dashboard.

How do I get rid of this Scorpion in my car?

Well, I wouldn’t advise spraying your car with pestisides, unless you were seeing a lot of scorpions in your car, but even then I think you should probably spray your garage first and see if that solves the problem.  And you don’t want to use powders on your dashboard, because who knows where they would end up.

My advice is to kill it with your shoe (boots work better then high heels).

Actually the best tip I can give you is to set some sticky traps in your car.  Put some down by your feet at night and up on the dashboard.  Wedge it against the corner of the window and the dash.  Scorpions like to walk along walls since they are pretty much blind.

Ideally you should have your home and garage sprayed regularly to keep the local scorpion population down.

A recent scorpion request for help in Las Vegas -

“My family moved into a new home in 3/09.  Since we have been in the home we have seen 6 scorpions in the downstairs area.  We have a pest control service that comes once a month, but they are unable to treat scorpions.  We have young children and would like to get this situation handled.” – Jadon D.

Jadon, I understand your concern for your children and yes we can help you! Having 6 scorpions in less then 3 months sounds like a pretty good scorpion problem… but I have seen worse.  And while scorpions may be difficult to control we can do it! And with regular service there after we can keep the scorpions from come back.

Just check out our reviews in Las Vegas: Pest Control Las Vegas Insiderpages and Pest Control Reviews Google.

Thanks for checking in and let us know how the treatment goes!

I have been getting many questions lately regarding how the scorpions actually get inside the home. During the summer when it is hot outside people tend to crank up the AC. When the hot air from the outside meets the cold air on the inside it creates condensation inside the walls. Similar to what happens to your car windows on a cold morning. When a home is built it has to have ways for the moisture to escape. So homes are built with little openings in the foundation. If you live in a brick or stone home you have what’s called weep holes. Weep holes are little spaces between the brick that look like it’s missing the mortar. If you live in a stucco home you have what’s called a J Rail. By using a mirror and looking under the over hang around the foundation you will see little holes every 3-6 inches big enough for the scorpions to get in. When the scorpions get close to our walls they can feel the cool air coming out of the holes and it draws them inside.

As a Scorpion specialist one of the most common questions that I am asked is How are the scorpions getting into my home in the first place? Or I found a Scorpion in my kids room up stairs how did it get there? Well even though it might not be pleasant to think about the facts are, Scorpions get into our home through openings that are only 1/16^th of an inch. Once inside the walls of the house they use the electrical wiring to move through out the voids of the walls, kind of like there own little high way. Because the wiring runs throughout the entire home they can follow it into any room of the home and find any crack the size of a credit card to get out. Most common places are around the outlet covers, vents in the ceiling, where the pipes come out of the wall under the sink or even in the shower or bathtub, and in some cases they will come out by ceiling lights.

PHOENIX — Banner’s Poison Control Center reported more than 100 calls about scorpion stings in the past week alone. This is due to the warm weather that we have been having lately. Scorpions are typically more active when the temperature reaches over 75-80 Degrees. Be aware that Scorpions could be anywhere. If you pick up a dog bowl or pick up some rocks in the yard or open a baseball glove,.. Beware!  It’s that element of surprise that will get you stung. You don’t really want to be surprised by one. If you have small children you can put the legs of the crib inside mason jars to prevent them from climging into your child’s crib since scorpions cannot climb clean glass. Also pull the bed away from the wall. This will help prevent them from climbing the wall and then climbing into bed with you. Make sure that the bed or crib is not underneath of any vents or light fixtures since in some cases scorpions can make there way to the attic and then drop out of these openings. Scorpions only need 1/16th of an inch opening to get through.

According to a recent article, there has been a significant increase in reported scorpion stings this year.

Photo © and courtesy of Kenton Elliott, Firesandsgraphics.com

Scorpions Glow under black light because of proteins close to the surface of there skin. The use of a black light is the best way to hunt for these guys at night. Find your AZ bark scorpions using a black light at night in your yard or nearby wash.  Scopions glow from more then 50 feet away. Best place to look around your home is the cinder block wall.  Be careful!  Bark scorpions are dangerous scorpions.  The AZ bark scorpion sting is the most dangerous of the US scorpion species.