Scorpion Control in El Paso

Ask anybody on the Westside about scorpions and you'll get a story. One in the bathtub. One in a work boot. One on the ceiling right over the bed, which is a fun way to start a Tuesday. If you live near the mountain, scorpions are probably the reason you're on this page.

The one you're finding is almost always the striped bark scorpion. It's the most common scorpion in Texas: tan, two to three inches long, with two dark stripes down its back. It doesn't dig. It spends the day under rocks, boards and junk, then climbs at night. Block walls, stucco and tree trunks are all easy ladders, and a gap under a door is an open invitation.

Why rock yards and block walls are scorpion hotels

Rock landscaping looks good and saves water. It also gives scorpions thousands of cool places to wait out the afternoon. Add a block wall with weep holes, a stack of firewood against the fence and a porch light pulling in crickets all night, and you've built them a pretty nice setup.

Homes that back onto the mountain or open desert get the most. That means the Westside foothills around Coronado, where arroyos and rock walls run right behind the yards, and the Northeast near Transmountain Rd.. New construction counts too. When a lot gets graded on the Horizon City mesa or out past Loop 375, the scorpions living there move to the closest finished house.

How you can tell it's a scorpion problem and not a one-off

Everybody in El Paso sees one now and then. It's a problem when the sightings keep coming.

• Scorpions in sinks, tubs or showers more than once a month
• Live ones on walls or ceilings at night
• Finding them in shoes, laundry piles or bedding
• Several under pots and rocks when you move them in the yard
• Lots of crickets around the house, since that's what they eat
• A clear jump in sightings after every monsoon storm

What the tech does about them

Scorpions are harder to knock down than most bugs. They can go a long time without eating and they hide deep in cracks a spray won't reach, so a good plan is mostly sealing plus targeted treatment. Expect the tech to walk the outside first: garage door seal, door sweeps, weep holes, stucco cracks, and anywhere pipes and A/C lines enter. Inside, they check bathrooms, closets, the garage and the attic hatch.

Some companies do night inspections with a UV light, since scorpions glow under blacklight. It's a little creepy and very useful, because it shows you where they're hiding and how many there are. Treatment usually covers the perimeter, block walls and rock beds. Homes on the desert edge often need follow-up visits through the warm months, because new scorpions keep wandering in. What you pay depends on the lot, how much rock and wall there is and how much sealing gets done, and the company gives you that number.

Cutting their food helps. A general pest plan that knocks down crickets takes away their main meal, and roach treatment for drain roaches takes away another. Stick piles along the fence are often pack rat nests, which shelter scorpions too, so mention them. Pack rat removal can go on the same plan.

Small kids, pets and the bedroom floor

Toddlers and dogs are the ones most likely to touch a scorpion. In summer, keep toys and pet beds off the floor, pull beds a few inches from the wall and keep the comforter from touching the carpet. Shake out shoes and towels. Check the tub before little ones get in. Keep the dog bowl away from the rock bed at night. Our scorpion guide has the full sealing and yard checklist.

Related: General Pest Control, Cockroach Control, Rodent Control

Serving West El Paso, Upper Valley, Northeast El Paso, East El Paso, Lower Valley, Horizon City, Socorro, San Elizario, Canutillo, Sunland Park, NM.