Scorpion in my HOUSE in moore

[Jesseda]

I live in moore oklahoma by 4th and santa fe in a neighborhood surrounded by other houses, i have lived in the house 2 years now, well sunday evening my son picked up something in the living room and showed my wife and she screamed drop it drop it.. it was a scorpion, he wasnt stung "thank goodness", but i never had a scorpion in the house, has anyone else had this problem or a solution, we have no debris around the house we dont have trees in our yard, the grass is kept well, whats going on, is the heat that drove it in the house? When theres one in the house does that mean there is lots? we cleaned up the living room area, moving couches (checking under them) and checking all around the house. Im just really parnoid about this.

[kevinpate]

Some light reading:

Of the 30 species of scorpions native to the United States, only the Arizona bark scorpion is capable of causing lethal reactions in humans. Bark scorpions widely vary in the amount of venom they inject; all envenomation generally causes severe pain and swelling at the sting site, but systemic symptoms are common in larger doses and can be severe. Bark scorpion stings cause death in less than 1% of untreated adults but fully 25% of untreated children 5 and under. Thousands are estimated to be stung in Arizona every year without seeking treatment; due to the unavailability of bark scorpion antivenom, the Arizona Poison Control currently advises against emergency room visits for bark scorpion stings unless the victim is a child, breathing difficulty is encountered, or the pain becomes intolerable. Both systemic and local symptoms typically subside within 24-48 hours.
For more, see Scorpion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See too:
Hey! A Scorpion Stung Me!

[Jesseda]

thanks kevinpate, I still cant believe a scorpion entered my house, is the common in oklahoma, i know my sister had a snake in her house about a month ago and she lives in moore as well.

[kevinpate]

I'm not recalling having a scorpion in the house before, but hey, i can hide my own easter eggs, so let's not rely on my memory.

I do know with the heat peak this past week, it doesn't really surprise me that any living creature might be seeking out new shade.

[FritterGirl]

There's a lot of paranoia about scorpions (at least the common variety around here) for a few reasons:

1. While common, they don't too often wander into homes;
2. They are just plain scary looking;
3. They've got a really bad rap from movies, documentaries showing the most "deadly" of their species from South America and other countries, where they can be quite dangerous.

And while they certainly CAN BE dangerous, the ones around here, typically, just cause a painful sting. However, if they sting a small child or someone known to have bee sting allergies, then seek immediate treatment.

Here is a really good article put out by an entimologist from OSU about scorpions.

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docush...PP-7303web.pdf

[Jesseda]

thanks frittergirl, i hope this is just a one time thing, my son is only 2 years old and like i said he was holding it when my wife saw it, thanks goodness he wasnt stung, we checked him over and over, its been almost 24 hours and nothing so where in the clear, plus he would have felt it and whinned. I was told by a relative to get a cat and the cat will take care of the scorpions? that doesnt make sense i never heard of that lol.

[bandnerd]

I've seen cats eat crickets and other insects before, I doubt they are above catching and eating a scorpion.

No reason to freak out. It doesn't happen often, but if you see another one, just squish it and call Terminix.

[FFLady]

What a creepy thread...........I hate all of those critters.....Can't blame you for being paranoid....makes you wanna wear your flip-flops in the house....AACCCKKK!!!!

Sorry I have nothing to offer....just wanted to comment that I HATE them...

[silvergrove]

The scorpion you saw was probably Centruroides vittatus or commonly known as the striped bark scorpion.

They're harmless but their stings do hurt.

[Jesseda]

yes thats the one, creepy

[Thunder]

Jesseda, there is one behind you on the chair.

[westsidesooner]

That was evil Thunder.

I havent had any problems with scorpions, but saturday morning a huge wasp got in the house. Now I wish I hadnt trained the cats to catch "buggies". Two cats chasing the wasp like it was a flying fillet and me running around with a flyswater and a can of raid. I think every creature in the room scared the others.



Good luck with your scorpion Jesseda.

[Midtowner]

[stick47]

Strange but eerily true; When I lived in Shawnee about 25 yrs ago, I checked my mailbox after work one day and there was a scorpion and a letter in it. The postage rate then was 18 cents and there were 3 6 cent stamps on the envelope. (Hmmm?)

[Jesseda]

thanx thunder, My co-worker told me she had one in her house about 6 years ago. She lives close to downtown okc, so thats more of a surprise than living in moore to have a scorpion.. I know at hillsdale free will baptist college in moore, there was talks about the people living in the campus apartments having to deal with scorpions.. But still to be safe i will wear shoes around the house, this morning i was shaking my shoes before i put them on lol. Now if I see another one anytime soon in my house I will be looking for a good exterminator..

[Thunder]

The only thing that I'm terrorified of entering my place is spiders and bugs. I have not encounter one yet in this new place, but hopefully not anytime soon. Now you bring up this scorpion talk, I really wish you did not. LOL I've never thought of scorpions and had always related them to be living out in the desert in another state. Sad to know that they exist here as well. I thought they like heat? I hope the one that came into your house was not the reason relating to heat. If so, then we all should be very afraid and double check our shoes and everything.

[andimthomas]

I live in Moore also in the Briarwood Creek addition. I don't consider my house very old. About five years? And we've seen tons of things. We occasionally find snakes in the backyard. Twice I found their skin peel. It was gross and gave me the creeps. Once there was a snake in the master bathroom! And there was a scorpion in the dining room a few years ago. It was dead. How odd... Last week there was a wasp in the house.
I don't know how these things get into the house. But they all freak me out. Lately, we've been spider infested.

[silvergrove]

To also let you all know, we have native tarantulas too. I found two Oklahoma browns in Mitch Park in Edmond a few years ago.



Their bites are not dangerous at all, more like a very mild bee sting. Just ignore them but I doubt you'll find something that large in your house.

[Thunder]

This is a terrorifying topic.

[bandnerd]

It doesn't matter how old your house is--you live in Oklahoma. There are bugs, spiders, and snakes. I'm not saying I'm happy when I find a fiddleback in my apartment, but it's part of life.

My rule is: if they invade my territory, then they die. Kind of like in Mid's picture with all the fire. If I'm in their territory, then I leave them alone!

Nice photo of the tarantula. I'm scared to death of spiders but tarantulas don't bother me at all. My mom was mowing the yard once when I was younger, and when my sister and I brought her a cold drink, a tarantula had crawled all the way up to my mom's arm without her knowing it! We started yelling and when she looked down, she just brushed it off like it was no big deal lol.

[Jesseda]

my parents live in the east hills addition by 12th and eastern area, when i lived with them almost 18 years in that house, we usually see about 6 snakes a year in the back yard, the biggest was about 3 1/2 feet long, my mom isa clean freak, but we always had spiders, i went to the hospital 2 times because of fiddle backs. my parents neighbors have the same problem.. So I was happy when i bought my first house, because in the two years we have only found 2 spiders, house spiders, and no snakes, I guess you get rid of one problem you get get another (scorpions)..

[dismayed]

A few years ago I lived off of Memorial in the NW part of town and I and several friends all had problems with scorpions. I think they are more common in the metro than most people realize.

[Lord Helmet]

I live in Edmond and have had several in my house. One I caught crawling up my ankle (yikes!)

[MsDarkstar]

I live in Moore (4th & Bryant) and haven't found any scorpions in the house (yet, knock on wood!). I work up off NW Expressway between MacArthur & Meridian and there's a field right behind us and in the 8yrs I've worked there, we get maybe 3 or 4 small scorpions in the office during the summer - usually right after they mow the field.

[OKCDrummer77]

When my wife & I were first married, we found a scorpion in our 2nd floor apartment. It looked very much like the one Silvergrove posted in this thread. I killed it, and we never saw another one. Poisonous or not, they still look very menacing. Heck, even the word "scorpion" is a little creepy.