The guy came out on Wednesday to spray. He explained to me that scorpions are really, REALLY hard to kill, because their exoskeletons are pretty much impermeable (yes, we knew that. The Interwebz are a wonderful thing). The goal really is to kill off their food supply, then hope that they move elsewhere, like outside, in search of a meal.
Random factoids: Scorpions can live for 10-15 years. ?!?!?!?! They also carry their babies around on their backs until they are old enough to be on their own. Ok, bugs don't normally give me the creeps, but looking at a picture of a mama scorpion and her babies is officially creepy. Gah.
ANYway, Wednesday when I came home from work, there was one scorpion in the barn aisle that was on its last legs. I gleefully smushed it. I found another in the hallway, belly-up. I did a little happy dance. Wednesday night while we were watching a show on TV, one came limping across the living room floor. My husband promptly clubbed it to death with a shoe while I screamed "KILL IT! KILL IT!". There was another dead one Thursday morning, and a final dead one Thursday afternoon. Total body count that I know about: 5. I'm hoping there are an equal number that died somewhere cold and alone.
Belly-up and really, really dead. You have no idea how happy this makes me.
Friday, I called up the pest control guy and told him that I loved him. I think that might have been a first for him.
If we had scorpions, I would probably cry.
ReplyDeleteDom, the problem with crying is that no bugs die. ;)
DeleteBahaha. While it might not be funny for you, bugs make for very entertaining stories for us :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it will be funny, in about six months or so when all the scorpions are DEAD! ;)
DeleteI recently found out that we have scorpions in my area. I may be having nightmares for a while.
ReplyDeleteDon't know how you stood it!
LL, it's not easy or fun. All I can say is, always shake out your shoes, clothes, and gloves before you put them on, check your bedsheets before you get in bed, and don't walk around without shoes on. Chester might be a good scorpion-deterrent!
DeleteScorpions would be a deal breaker for me. Do they crunch when you club them?! (Glad the pest control guy got you some results!)
ReplyDeleteThey are surprisingly hard to kill. Hubby had to hit that one about 10 times before it stopped moving, but it was on the carpet. If they're on a hard floor, yes, they do crunch. Eugh.
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling this way with my dog's fleas. I bathe her, get flea collar, and put the monthly skin applications on her - fleas go away for a day then they come back! It sucks. I never had to deal with scorpians but I hope they leave your house soon. It's amazing how bugs can ruin a home. :(
ReplyDeleteOh my, yes, the fleas are AWFUL. If you have carpet, try sprinkling DE on it and broom it in a bit. It's dusty but it does seem to help, over time. Also, vacuum carpet daily or every other day. That gets up a surprising number of fleas, larvae, and eggs. Just don't forget to get rid of the vacuum bag, 'cause the little blood-suckers will breed in there too! Wash your dog's bedding too. Flea collars do not seem to work, nor does that stuff that goes behind the neck. I've had good luck with "natural" flea baths, but... even though it's "natural" it's still pretty strong. Good luck!
DeleteThe imagery in this made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found more dead ones that you saw live ones!! That's a good sign... hopefully a bunch of them die and no more come back. Are you leaving the dead bodies laying around for other scorpions to see? LOL
ReplyDeleteEeew, no, I might step on them if I left them around. All bugs must leave the house, dead or alive. Preferably dead.
DeleteThose little bastards used to come up my shower drain when I lived further out in the country.... and I wear glasses so whenever I get into the shower barefooted I am pretty much blind. Haven't seen any yet in my new house but the black widows in this area more than make up for them.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll take scorpions over black widows. At least scorpions merely hurt - black widows can do some serious damage. Be careful!
DeleteYep, I would have burned the house down.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the little bastards are also in the barn, so it wouldn't solve the problem. Boo.
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