Dry conditions lead to early scorpion season
Mar 14, 2014, 3:15 PM | Updated: 3:52 pm
PHOENIX — The dry conditions in Arizona are leading to some unwanted pests showing up earlier this year.
“The scorpion population is breeding early,” said Sage Garvey, director of technical operations for Burns Pest Elimination in Phoenix. “We’re starting to see those early. Normally, we wouldn’t see babies until April or May.”
Garvey said that they could be hiding in a lot of places near you.
“They live in and around your house in cracks and crevices, log piles, up underneath your brush and bushes that are a little bit too close to your home,” he said. “Also, door thresholds that haven’t been sealed from the outside. They also happen to like the fake Christmas trees you might have in your garage.”
Garvey said that smaller or baby scorpions are more likely to sting you because they are haven’t learned to run away from humans.
Garvey said it might be time to go around your yard with a black light to see if there are any scorpions in your yard.
“Go ahead and just kind of look around at about 9 or 10 o’clock at night,” said Garvey. “If you identify some scorpions, they’re going to be kind of phosphorus looking, kind of a bright greenish color under that black light. You can either go ahead and squash them, or just leave them alone and get a hold of your exterminator.”
Garvey said that using an exterminator to get rid of scorpions should cost you between $100 and $150. If you do call one out, Garvey said to make sure you show the exterminator exactly where you saw the scorpions so that he knows which area to attack.
