7/12/13

Paranoid Basket Case!


        

Hey everyone!  How do you react when something menacing invades your "safe zone" space?  More power to you if you can remain calm and take the necessary action but not get all weird-crazy.  That's typically not me!  What am I talking about, you may be asking yourself?  Well, it has to do with one of these........

Arizona bark scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida.  Well, that pretty much just means "creepy" in my dictionary!

We have lived in the AZ desert for 28 years now without ever having one of these inside our home.....until two nights ago!  One of these "#^%$" invaded the safe, sanctity of my master bathroom!  After summoning the "brawn" of our home (The Man) to smash and flush this little creeper, I had a very tough time going to sleep.  I shook all the bedding, repeatedly, kept shining a flashlight all over the ceilings and walls, and was most happy when the first inkling of dawn showed so that I could get up and out of what I was sure was a "scorpion infested" space!

The first thing I did was call our pest control service, Magic Pest.  We have them spray the house periodically for crickets, cockroaches, & spiders -- just those typical annoying creepy crawlies.


Termite Exterminators Phoenix AZ

I was really expecting wanting them to drop all other appointments and come out immediately, but Saturday is the soonest.  Well, that means two more nights in this "scorpion-infested" home.  Okay, is one scorpion an "infestation?"  Well, if you are a paranoid basket-case like me, then, YES IT IS!

I spent the entire day, yesterday, walking around looking at the floor and then scanning all the walls and ceilings of every room in our home.  I knew we already had one of these ........

14 LED UV Blacklight Flashlight
A black light flashlight makes scorpions glow in the dark, so I asked The Man if "we" could search outside and inside our home after dark and he agreed -- he was kind of freaked out, too, just a little bit!


close 

As if scorpions weren't frightening enough, when illuminated by ultraviolet rays from a black light, the armored arachnids glow an unnatural neon blue. UV light that hits these creepy crawlies gets converted by proteins in their exoskeletons into light of a blue hue, which is visible to the human eye.  I am so rethinking whether this "turquoise" color is still such a favorite of mine.....lol!


Well, about 9 o'clock last night, The Man, armed with the black light and me, armed with my camera, went in search of what we I was certain would be those little "creeps" crawling all over the sides and base of our home (they can get through an opening the depth of a credit card -- oh, yay!)  I'm sure it would have been comical to any neighbor who might possibly have seen us.  I could not have been following closer on The Man's heels unless he was actually carrying me on his back!  We searched the entire perimeter of the house, then the perimeter of the yard along all the block walls, then to the front, then inside the garages, and the entire interior of the house -- closets, under furniture, and inside lamps.  Do you know what we found?

NOTHING!  NADA!  ZIPPO!

Well, I did sleep a tad bit better last night.  Will we still be getting Magic Pest and their scorpion treatment on Saturday?  YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!

17 comments:

  1. I had one in this house. Called a neighbor as hubby was at work....he killed it, and he was creeped out too....I won't do the black light cuz I would NEVER sleep then....but you do know they don't care if you spray....that won't get them...I think they have to use some kind of powder.

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  2. I need one of those black lights because I keeping finding dead scorpions around here. Yes, I said scorpion(s)! I have found them several places! In SC they are supposed to be harmless and live in areas like mine that have red clay instead of sand. Harmless or not I hate it when I see them and freak just a bit myself. I don't want the around dead or alive!

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  3. Yikes! We had several in our house when we first moved in many years ago. It was odd because they were in the upstairs bathroom which is in the center of the house. We haven't seen any in years until last month and one was in the furnace room. I can see how it got in there, but in a interior second floor bath?..in the bath tub? Glad the pest control didn't find any more at your house..

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  4. Oh, dear Lord. Just the small pic of it on my Blogger dashboard made my skin crawl! I'm glad the problem seems to be solved...

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  5. I know of people who go outside nightly with their black lights to go on scorpion hunts around their house to kill the pesky things. They are definitely no fun!! Oh, the joys of living in the desert. Hopefully you just had that one visitor.

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  6. Oh my word!! You sound just as scared of scorpions as I am of frogs! LOL! I would have been freaking out too. Glad the "brawn" was there to protect you. :) I had no idea about the black light thing. So weird/interesting! Glad you didn't find any more. I would have been acting just like you with the flashlight on all the walls, etc. I don't think I would be able to sleep either. One of the creepiest things we have here in Texas are these huge cockroaches that FLY!! Yuck! Now I have goose bumps. LOL!

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  7. Yea, I hear ya......they are sort of scary creatures. When I was in high school,
    a longgggggg time ago. My step sister and I saw one upstairs near our bathroom and bedroom and we threw a book on it to smash it, and the book laid there for a long time before either one of us could get the courage to pick it up. I mean like weeks, but think we talked my Dad into picking it up finally............lol
    If my parents bedroom was upstairs I am sure it would have happened sooner, but it was just us girls.....

    That is cool that you could check with that black light like that, I am sure you
    probably did sleep a bit better, but calling the pest control guys was not a bad
    idea for sure. Hope once he comes you will feel mucho better!

    Crazy how something that small can be so unnerving!

    Blessings for Peaceful Nights sleeping this weekend,
    Nellie

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  8. Hate those critters. I've only seen two in the 17 years I've lived in this house. One was when I first moved in and another was last winter. They say that they nest in those palm trees that people have in their yards. I don't have any. I usually have a can of hair spray around and use that cuz they like to play dead when actually they are not. Saturday will be here tomorrow. Did you get rain?

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  9. Oh so scarey. I'd be just like you...totally freaking out!

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  10. I hate those things! I remember seeing them when we lived out there, but not inside! Yikes!

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  11. Our friends in AZ have had them before, so for 28 years you must of been lucky. Sleep well, cuz I'm wondering if I'm gonna be able too now and we don't even have scorpions here in Minnesota!

    Bliss

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  12. That would have scared me to death!!!!! Glad you didn't find any more...
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  13. Yikes! That would scare me to pieces! My son lived in Tempe for a number of years and he would tell me about seeing these creatures inside the house. I hated hearing that! But the reality is that every place we lived there were creatures that weren't welcomed... or is it the reverse? Hmmmm... Anyway, in Minneapolis, they always said their state bird was the mosquito. In Geneva, SA, there were big spiders in the house that could carry away your youngest child. Take about freaking me out!!! I hope your problem gets sorted out so that you can breathe easier!!

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  14. Too funny Carol but I so know what you mean! I get like that no matter what bug gets inside our home. We had wasps once coming in from the bathroom vent. Hubby ran to WallyWorld at 12:30 at night for wasp spray. Then oh my what I go thru when we get ants in the house. Hope ur critters stay away!

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  15. Oh creepy! I live in Florida and had one in my house years ago and have never had one since!!! I hate to say this, but, did you check the attic...Don't you hate me LOL I just remember the bug man saying he was spraying there after I had the scorpion?

    Carol

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  16. Carol, you are so lucky you only found one! This year is not so bad here, but last Summer, we were finding five or six a day!!! You want to talk about being paranoid! I spent my days walking around the house looking everywhere and cleaning every corner, but they kept coming, even after we had the house fumigated twice a month. Do you know they like to crawl up the drains? Keep your drains close, is probably how that one got in. They scare me to death! And although we get the exterminator to come out every month, we started using Raid bug barrier all around the outside of the house and it seems to help a lot. This is the product: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3909459&KPID=6925715&cagpspn=pla&CAWELAID=491977620
    HOPE THIS HELPS!

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  17. Yeh that would terify me & I'd be doing the same thing. Except I'm sure Dean wouldn't have taken me as seriously as The Man took you! HA!

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I truly love to hear from you and try to respond to each and everyone. If you have "no reply blogger," I will respond in my comments section and then visit your blog as soon as I can.

Make this a great day!
Carol

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