Scorpions are scary and can be found anywhere in the South, especially in rural areas. If you haven't seen one yet, I'm guessing you want to keep it that way! I live in Central Texas in a very rural area, and unfortunately, I had to learn how to keep scorpions out of my house the hard way.
BUT, after trying multiple methods to varying degrees of success, eventually, I became extremely successful at eliminating the scorpions in my house and keeping them at bay ever since.
So, whether you are dealing with the Arizona Bark Scorpion or some other species, this article is for anyone who wants to learn how to keep scorpions out of your personal space.
End of 2023 Update: Despite living in Scorpion Land in Central Texas, where we've had record 100+ degree days, and you can lift up a rock and are almost guaranteed to find a scorpion, we've only had two scorpions show up in the house this entire year.
What are scorpions?
Before we get started on how to keep scorpions out of your house, it's important to understand what scorpions are and what they are not. Here are a few interesting facts about scorpions that you might not have known:
Scorpions are not good swimmers at all; however, they can survive in water for up to 48 hours.
Scorpions are arachnids (e.g. a spider is an arachnid), not insects.
Scorpions are nocturnal.
All scorpion species fluoresce under ultraviolet light.
Scorpions are venomous.
They can sting you with a venom-laden barb, and a scorpion sting hurts - a lot.
While rare, some people may have extremely adverse reactions to scorpion stings, which can be deadly.
There are multiple species of scorpions: bark scorpion, striped bark scorpion, etc.
The average, everyday insecticide from your local store will not kill scorpions.
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Where do scorpions hang out?
Keeping scorpions out of your house is only possible once you understand the places they like to call home. Once you know where they like to spend time, then you'll have a firm understanding of how to keep scorpions out of your house and force them to move on somewhere else - or perish in defiance.
Scorpions tend to love covered spaces as their hiding spots such as wood piles, rocks, boards, logs, and even just a pile of clutter that they can hide underneath and inside of. The average yard has plenty of places for scorpions to hide if you're not paying attention.
Scorpions typically prefer a dark place. Other places scorpions enjoy spending time are in cracks and crevices of your house, weep holes along the foundation of your home, attics, and any place where bugs may be present inside or outside the house since that is their main food source.
If you take away a scorpion's preferred shelter, you're already well on your way to winning the battle.
They thrive in hot environments and typically won't be active if the temperature is consistently below 70 degrees during the day. Once the daytime temperatures reach 75+ degrees during the day, scorpions come out of their hiding place to play all night long. So, if you're preparing for freezing weather anytime soon, then you probably won't have to worry about seeing scorpions for a while.
What do scorpions eat?
If you want to know how to keep scorpions out of your house, then it's important to learn about their diet and what they like to eat.
Scorpions enjoy snacking on all kinds of stuff. Scorpions eat anything and everything from beetles to spiders flies, termites, ants, and even snakes, rodents, and other scorpions. Yikes!
How do I find scorpions in my house?
Finding scorpions in your house or on your property may be a lot easier than you may think. Because all scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light, you can light them up with a standard black light flashlight.
Simply turn off all the lights in your house at night and walk around with your black light flashlight and shine it along the walls, in cracks, crevices, underneath couches, behind dressers, etc., and if you have scorpions inside your house already, you'll probably find one pretty quickly.
You can do the same thing outside at night. Just wait until it's dark and take your flashlight outside, and you'll discover scorpions around the house, in piles of wood, under crawl spaces, etc., pretty quickly if they're present around your house.
How to keep scorpions out of your house
Now that you have learned what scorpions are, where scorpions tend to spend their time hanging out, as well as what a scorpion eats, you have a solid foundation for understanding how to keep scorpions out of your house:
Seal all gaps and openings in your home.
Know how to eliminate potential scorpion hangout spots.
Know what kind of treatments kill arachnids.
Know where to apply the treatments based on scorpion-preferred environments.
Know that you must eliminate their food source to discourage scorpions from showing up in the first place.
Seal all gaps and openings in your home
If you can feel air coming through the edge of a window or door, or if you can see the light coming through any gaps around your windows and doors - then that's pretty much a guarantee that the opening is wide enough for a scorpion to fit through.
Scorpions can fit through incredibly tight spaces, and any gap that's allowing air or light in is likely big enough for a scorpion, too.
So, the name of the game to keeping scorpions out of your house is to take away access by sealing off those openings.
I personally just installed this door sweep on the inside of my front door.
It works great in combination with this silicone seal strip on the exterior of the door.
All around your doors, you'll also notice there's a weather strip that should be flush against the door. If the weather strip is no longer flush against the door, or it's very worn and coming apart, then it's time to replace it.
You'll find similar weather-stripping available for any windows that need to be sealed as well.
Once you've taken away as many of the easy access points for scorpions to get into your home, the next step is to eliminate their preferred environments.
Take away the scorpion-preferred environment
To keep scorpions out of your house, the first thing you'll want to do is survey your property and identify all the places around your home that may be inviting to any scorpions lurking nearby.
You'll want to:
Get rid of any piles of debris, leaves, brush, etc.
Keep your property free of trash, wood piles, etc.
Keep the lawn well-mowed and free of tall brush and over-growth.
Modify any immediate areas around your house that have standing water to drain properly.
Seal off any cracks and crevices around the foundation and other entry points into the house.
You will never be able to eliminate every single area that a scorpion may decide to take up residence in.
However, by taking the steps above, you will certainly reduce the number of opportunities for scorpions to make your property their home.
The further their preferred environments are kept away from your home, the easier it is to keep scorpions out of your house and outside - where scorpions belong.
Eliminate the scorpion's food supply
Just like about any other insect or animal, scorpions will gravitate towards areas where they have easy access to a readily available supply of food. In this case, bugs.
Here is how you keep scorpions out of your house: kill all the other bugs within close proximity to your house that scorpions like to make a meal out of.
The best way to do that is to create a 10-20-foot perimeter around your house using a pest control granule that you apply and then water into the ground around your home. It is powerful, and it is effective at controlling the presence of bugs within a certain distance of your house.
By eliminating the presence of bugs within a 10-20-foot radius around your house, you can effectively deter and discourage scorpions from glancing your way with a longing look of hunger.
If you use certain granules (and apply enough of it) it can even kill scorpions that feel bold enough to attempt to cross the nuclear bug divide.
Don't get me wrong, bugs are important, and we do not want just to obliterate all bugs because then Earth would be doomed.
However, we do need to keep the bugs out of our house and away from a certain distance so that the predators (e.g., scorpions) of said bugs do not also come within close proximity to the house.
By proxy, by eliminating scorpions' source of food, you eliminate the presence of scorpions from your house as well.
In other words, don't let scorpions eat at your house, and they'll stop coming by to pay a visit.
Create a scorpion barrier inside and outside your house
If your efforts to keep scorpions away from your house are not successful in keeping every single scorpion away, then you'll at least want to make sure that the ones that insist on paying you a visit, pay for it dearly.
That's where a "layered" interior and exterior scorpion control barrier treatment comes into play.
In addition to creating the 10-20-foot barrier that we discussed in the section above using pest control granules, there are also poisons that will specifically kill larger pests, such as scorpions, with remarkable efficiency.
I realize that this is contrary to what some pest control companies tell you because they want to send a representative out to your house and sell you a long-term package for pest control. But I don't have any long-term contracts to sell you.
Pesticides can and do work on scorpions when used properly.
While scorpion poisons are typically available in most states without needing a license to purchase them, they are much stronger poisons than your average bottle of pest control spray (specifically designed for scorpion control), so you'll want to use extreme caution when using them and follow the instructions very carefully.
That being said, this layered approach to pest control will certainly keep all critters out of your house, including scorpions. Here's my tried and proven method on how to keep scorpions out of your house:
Apply a pest control granule in a 10-to-20-foot radius around your house.
Apply a crack, crevice, and foundation treatment using a scorpion-grade poison spray (preferably wettable powder ones).
Apply an interior-safe pest control spray (adequate for killing scorpions) to baseboards, cracks, and crevices inside the house.
Side note: To use the wettable powder sprays for scorpions, you'll also need to have a garden sprayer to mix and apply the product.
Other effective methods to keep scorpions out of your house
While the most effective method at keeping scorpions away from (and outside of) your house is definitely the layered pest control method discussed in the previous section, there are other methods that some people also use either independently or in combination with other pest control treatments as well.
Some of those DIY scorpion pest control methods include things like scorpion glue traps, traditional scorpion traps, lavender oil (essential oil), diatomaceous earth (cuts the scorpion's exoskeleton and dehydrates it), boric acid, and other scorpion control tactics.
If you have a serious scorpion problem or a known scorpion infestation in your house or on your property, then I would definitely be pulling out all of the big guns.
The scorpion is an extremely resilient creature and can be difficult to get rid of.
If the problem has been out of control for some time, and you have a lot of scorpion activity on your property, then I would consider hiring a professional scorpion exterminator as well.
At least until you have it under control and can manage it going forward.