Scorpions: A creature that can lurk in homes

The eight leg creature with pincers at its head and stinger on its tail, known as a scorpion, has been on the move lately with many citing them crawling in their homes. What an eerie sight to see and certainly is not pleasant when one of these annoying creatures stings you.

Most active from March to October, some of these scorpions will find their way into homes in search of a cooler place as well as water and many can be seen crawling around in the house as night falls or in the morning as the sun rises.

If you’re seeing one, you can expect to see more because a female scorpion can give birth to a brood of up to 100 at one time.

Scorpions commonly will enter a home under exterior gaps such as vents, under doors, ground-level windows, around plumbing pipes and utility lines and cracks in the foundations. They also can gain access when boxes, firewood or potted plants are brought into the house.

Once they have entered a home, the scorpions will seek basements, under kitchen cabinets, bathrooms or a dark place to hide.

Although the creature presents a scary appearance, they generally are not aggressive toward humans. Instead they are basically shy and their aggressiveness is directed towards their prey.

Even though they normally do not sting humans, the scorpion can inflict its venom through the stinger on its tail when handled, stepped on or bothered.

In most people who get stung, the sting is slightly more painful than a bee or wasp sting.

The main symptoms of a scorpion sting involves pain, tingling and numbness in the sting area and shouldn’t be any worse than a bad bee sting.

If a person gets stung the best first aid is to manage and treat it including:

• Clean the site of the sting with soap and water.

• Apply cool compresses or an ice pack to the sting.

• Keep the area raised and still to prevent the venom from spreading.

• Give acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain.

Some ways to try to control scorpions from entering the home is by caulking and weather-stripping gaps around windows, doors and the foundation.

Although it does not fully control scorpions getting inside, they do not like the smells of peppermint, lavender and using the odors may deter their entrance. Cinnamon oil may work as well.

There also are various over-the-counter insecticides a person can purchase or you can contact your local pest control business.

Because scorpions are creatures who can crawl on almost anything, to prevent them from getting into your bed there should never be anything, such as comforters, blankets, sheets or clothing left hanging from the bed to the floor. Also, placing the legs of the bed frame in glass mason jars. Scorpions cannot crawl on smooth surfaces.

Lastly, some may wonder why scorpions glow under a black light.

Scientists have not fully found out the answer, but what they do know is that something in the scorpion exoskeleton causes them to glow when exposed to a black light.

In a home, if you have access to a black light, you can wait until its dark and cut off all your lights and utilize the black light to help find the scorpion nest or hiding place.

You may not see any scorpions in your homes, but know these bothersome arachnids can be lurking inside your house. Hopefully you won’t experience their sting.