(ThyBlackMan.com) Many people are terrified of scorpions because they can sting and inject you with poison. For some, it is just about how the creatures look. While it is true that most species of scorpions can clamp on bare skin and deliver venom to your body, some are actually not that bad and can be kept as pets.
One species that doesn’t fall in this category is the Arizona bark scorpion. These little brown arachnids live in dry areas and survive mostly on insects and are not an uncommon sighting in Arizona homes as they look for places to hide before going hunting at night.
The bark scorpion uses the venom in its crab-like pincers to completely paralyze its victim before devouring it, though on humans a bark scorpion sting has an equally sufferable effect as a bee sting. Here are more facts about bark scorpions that can help you get a better understanding of the pest, including how to rid your home of it with the help of a scorpion exterminator.
Bark scorpions are nocturnal.
All species of scorpions are nocturnal, meaning they will come out at night to hunt spiders, cockroaches, crickets, and sometimes even
other scorpions. Bark scorpions will, however, just feed on roaches and other insects in your home.
Bark scorpions can be anywhere in your home
There is something very special about the Arizona bark scorpion: they can climb up trees and even hang from ceilings. They could be anywhere at night, but watch out for them more on wall edges, fascia boards, and baseboards as they need those physical structures during hunting to make up for their poor vision at night.
Did a bark scorpion sting you? He probably didn’t mean it
Bark scorpions do not intend to use their pincers as a defense mechanism against humans. If anything, they are always on the run, trying to avoid human contact as much as they can. You will only be stung if you are reckless while handling stones, pieces of wood, and other material in your yard that the scorpion could be hiding under. If the bark scorpion finds you first, they will run into hiding rather than sting you.
The bark scorpion’s sting is sufferable, but painful
Only two people in Arizona in the last 70 years have succumbed to scorpion venom in Arizona, and you are very unlikely to be the third one. The venom doesn’t stay in the body for long either, so if you didn’t die immediately, there is little chance it will come to haunt you later in life.
Bark scorpions can be hard to do away with
Unless you go around turning stones and hitting each of the creepy-crawlies in the head, killing scorpions the same conventional way you would other home pests can be futile. Scorpions have barely changed since the era of dinosaurs and are highly adaptive to changing conditions. Special insecticides must be used if you are to breach the heavy exoskeleton covering their bodies. Pest control experts, however, recommend targeting their food source, which are easier to kill.
Staff Writer; Larry Shaw
