Scorpions hanging out in AC vents is anything but cool
Scorpions are good climbers that can fit in small gaps.
They enter your home through cracks or vents.
They usually stay in the walls but can exit through AC vents.
To prevent scorpions, eliminate gaps and cracks inside your home.
Scorpions can be found in much of the U.S. and are particularly common in the desert areas of the Southwest, such as California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. These potentially dangerous creatures can climb walls and squeeze through spaces as small as a credit card. That likely makes you ask whether scorpions can come through air vents and into your home. Unfortunately, one of the most common places scorpions enter homes is through air conditioning vent covers. Here’s what you need to know.
Scorpions are good climbers; they can climb the stucco outside your home to the roof. They are also very flat and can squeeze into spaces as thin as 1/16th of an inch. That flat shape allows them to enter through home ventilation areas such as:
Attic vents
Dryer vents
Bathroom fan vents
Gas vents
Range vents
Plumbing vents
Ridge, soffit, box, off ridge, cupola, or turbine vents in the roof
Weep holes at the bottom of stucco
The good news is that most of these are closed systems, meaning a scorpion that finds its way through one of these entry points won’t be able to enter your living areas. The bad news is that not all of those systems are closed, such as fan vents, and if scorpions get into your walls, they can get out anywhere they find gaps in the walls.
Some of the most common passageways for scorpions are through air conditioning vents. The pests are attracted to the cool water that condenses outside AC ducts. They often find gaps where the duct connects to the vent cover. From there, they can easily climb into your home’s interior.
A scorpion has made its way inside—now what? Getting rid of scorpions can be dangerous, so we recommend calling a wildlife removal pro if you don’t know what type of scorpion you’re dealing with. Arizona bark scorpions are the most venomous species in the U.S., so don’t get near one if you can help it.
Remove sources of food, water, and shelter that might be attracting critters. You can purchase chemical sprays or Diatomaceous earth to kill scorpions, and they hate the smell of lavender, cinnamon, peppermint, and cedar, so get those essential oils ready.
Wildlife control professionals will likely charge an inspection fee of around $150 and then $150 to $300 per visit for removing scorpions. The pest control costs depend on the type and number of scorpions present as well as the size of your property.
You can’t seal up your home completely. Screening some external vents can cause problems when the screens fail to ventilate and trap in dust, dryer lint, heat, moisture, or dangerous gases. Rather than trying to keep scorpions out altogether, focus on ways to keep them out of your living space.
Consult a local animal removal expert who can help identify the entry points scorpions will most likely use to get into your home. In the meantime, follow these steps to close off your space to scorpions.
All the sealing in the world won’t help if scorpions can just walk through your front door. Opening windows is fine if you have a tight-fitting screen with no holes. Install a door sweep under your door to prevent these pests from entering through the crack below.
The best way to prevent scorpions from sneaking out of your fan and air condition vents is by screening the vent covers.
Remove the vent cover
Cut screen material to fit over the gaps
Secure the screen with duct tape
Reinstall the vent cover
Ensure the vent cover fits tightly to the ceiling or wall
Use caulking to seal any small gaps or cracks around your home. Pay special attention to sealing around doors, windows, and pipes coming through the walls. Be sure your light fixtures, electrical sockets, and switches are all fitted tightly against walls or ceilings and your baseboards are installed against the flooring.
Scorpions may be native to desert climates, but they are nocturnal and like to find shelter in dark, cool places during the day. Your home has many ideal spots to conceal themselves in. Beyond that, they can get all the food they need from the other insects or spiders hiding in the walls of your home, and your air conditioning vents likely have condensation to provide them with cool water to drink.
Scorpions can live in water for up to two days and often seek out pipes for drinking water, but they typically will not live in drains. While a scorpion can enter a home through a drain, this is rare. More often than not, when someone finds them in their sink, toilet, or tub, the creature fell after climbing through an air vent or crack in the wall.
