Take the sting out of scorpion prevention
While beneficial in nature by helping control pest populations, even the most fervent nature lover probably doesn’t want these arachnids in their home. Fortunately, there are many ways you can make your home less attractive to scorpions and get rid of them for good.
As with other types of pests, it's best to take proper safety precautions before removing them. If you decide to proceed with this DIY, put on long sleeves, pants, high socks, boots, and gloves first to help protect yourself. If you have an infestation or aren’t confident in your DIY pest control skills, it’s best to hire a professional exterminator who can get rid of the scorpions safely for you instead.
Wait until it gets dark to see just how bad your scorpion problem is. Most types of scorpions love to feast on crickets and other bugs, which are attracted to porch lights and other shining objects in your yard at night.
If you want to see what you’re dealing with, shut off your outdoor lights and wait 20 minutes. Then, proceed around your yard with a UV flashlight. Scorpions will glow a neon blue color under UV light. This can help you figure out where they’re hiding and if you have a large problem, which enables you to come up with a game plan to get rid of them.
Like other pests, scorpions take advantage of opportunities when they’re presented. This could be a gap in your front door or a hole in your bedroom window. That’s why it’s important not to overlook these tiny entrances to your home—seal cracks and reinforce screens as needed and perform window maintenance.
Scorpions commonly enter your home through:
Holes in screens
Uncovered windows
Large gaps underneath doorways
Cracks in foundation or crawl space
Gaps surrounding plumbing lines
They may also enter through boxes of firewood, potted plants, or secondhand furniture.
Scorpions like to hide underneath all sorts of yard debris, including rocks, leaves, sticks, and bark. These areas also house critters that scorpions prey on, like termites, beetles, and spiders. As a result, yard maintenance wards off scorpions in two ways: They’ll have fewer places to hide and less to eat.
Once you’ve gathered up yard waste, you can:
Compost it
Turn it into mulch
Dispose of it via curbside waste collection
Donate it to a local landscaping company
If that doesn’t solve your scorpion problem, you can go a little further and clear brush as well, especially if it doesn’t serve a purpose in your yard. You can remove small, manageable brush with pruning shears, a weed whacker, or even by hand. You might need a brush grubber to remove large bushes, shrubs, or stumps—manual versions of which cost around $75 to $250.
Scorpions dislike the scents of lavender, cinnamon, peppermint, and cedar—all of which can be found bottled as essential oils.
Once you know the areas where scorpions are frequenting, mix 2 cups of water with 10 to 20 drops of each of these oils and spray these areas as well as entry points around your home to help get rid of scorpions. Bonus: Essential oils repel spiders and mice as well, especially peppermint.
Sticky traps make it easy to get rid of scorpions, and you can put them in places where you suspect activity but can’t easily access on a regular basis: behind or under appliances like fridges and stoves, in bathroom or laundry room cabinets, and other spots you suspect these pests could be hiding.
Scorpion sticky traps cost $5 to $8 for a two-pack. Read the instructions on the label, then dispose of them after use.
Like other pest control substances, companies make scorpion-killing spray to help get rid of pests. It costs between $15 and $40, depending on the brand.
The most common scorpion deterrent products come as:
Powder dusted in high-traffic areas
Capsules distributed throughout yard/home
Powder mixed with water to form a sticky residue
Glue strips
Carefully read the instruction manual before use to ensure the safety of your family and pets. In most cases, you’ll be instructed to leave the product in areas you’ve seen scorpions and to clean it up or dispose of traps after use. Put on a mask, eye protection, and gloves before application.
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is another option for killing scorpions. DE damages the exoskeleton of insects by drying them out, and it’s easily applied in hot spots like the perimeter of your home, behind appliances, in cabinets and closets, and more.
Use food-grade diatomaceous earth only and apply in areas not frequented by pets or children. Wear gloves, goggles, and a face mask during application.
Scorpions, though larger (and perhaps a little scarier looking) than other common household pests, are attracted to many of the same things that bring in other bugs and critters.
Water sources: Damp basements, leaky pipes, water hoses, bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms
Food sources: Termites, flees, crickets, roaches, beetles, spiders, centipedes, and even other scorpions
Shelter sources: Fruit trees, palm trees, tree bark, rocks, wood, and floorboards
If you have large pest populations inside or outside of your home (or both), scorpions may find it an attractive place to set up shop. Consider talking to a pest control pro in your area to help you get rid of these pests if the situation is severe.
If you’ve seen one scorpion, there’s a chance you’ll find more. While they can be elusive and tend to hide during the day, if your home has a lot of scorpion prey (crickets, roaches, etc.), you could attract scorpions.
Scorpions are most active at night. Here’s where they tend to hide inside your home and out:
Holes in walls and floorboards
Behind curtains
Behind your fridge or other large appliances
Inside decor like vases or bowls
Under your bed or in your closet
Inside shoes
Leaf and stick piles
Near or in piles of trash
Under logs or rocks
Palm tree fronds
If you really want to see if you have a scorpion problem, invest in a UV flashlight ($10 to $15 online) and search at night. Since scorpions glow under UV light, you’ll be able to easily see them in the dark. But you can also simply check the areas where scorpions tend to linger—just put on long sleeves, pants, high socks, boots, and gloves first.
Once you rid your home or yard of scorpions, there are some steps you can take to make sure they don’t feel welcome to return in a couple of weeks or months.
Clear ground cover (remove rocks and grass clippings, rake leaves, and other debris)
Remove moisture and standing water
Trim overhanging branches
Trim palm tree bark
Remove damp piles of wood/leaves
Keep wood/leave piles and compost piles off the ground
Put boxes on higher shelves in basement/attic
Mow lawn regularly
Repair damaged screens
Avoid overwatering lawn or garden
Still having problems? Call a local wildlife control expert to help send scorpions packing from your yard.
If battling arachnids isn't your cup of tea, a local pest control specialist can diagnose the extent of your issue and handle the situation. We recommend hiring a pro rather than DIYing if you’ve identified the culprit as the venomous bark scorpion, or if you’re experiencing an infestation.
Pest control costs anywhere from $50 to $500, though most people pay an average of $170. This price range fluctuates according to the type of pest in the home and the extent of the infestation. Some issues require multiple visits, which tacks up the price, and others require tenting and extreme protocols.
If you live in an area known to house scorpions, many pest control companies will charge a monthly fee of around $50 to handle repeat invaders. A one-time scorpion treatment typically clocks in at $150 to $200.
In a house, scorpions tend to live in crawl spaces, attics, in the nooks and crannies of closets and furniture, gaps under doors/windows, and cracks in your foundation. Outside your home, scorpions like to inhabit shady spaces, such as beneath trees.
Spotting a single scorpion in the home doesn’t mean you have a full-blown infestation, but it does mean there’s a way for them to get inside. Other scorpions could easily use the same method, like entering through an air vent, as these arachnids are social creatures that tend to live in groups. If you see a baby scorpion, however, that likely indicates a nest somewhere in the home. This is also true if you spot a scorpion with an infant on its back.
Scorpions can climb walls with rough surfaces (like stucco siding). They need something to grip onto, which is why they can easily climb on clothes, comforters on beds, and other items in your home.
However, it’s worth noting that scorpions cannot climb clean glass. So if you have a hole or damaged area where scorpions are coming in, a temporary fix may be to secure a piece of glass over the area.
