Scorpions/grasshoppers

Any advice on how to ethically take care of scorpions? I know that if scorpions are present it is very likely their food source (grasshoppers/crickets) are around. Advice on how to use permaculture techniques to make sure grasshoppers are not attracted to this xeriscapped yard with an organic garden?

Tags: children, crickets, grasshoppers, permaculture, pests, scorpions

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Permalink Reply by Charles Bukowski on April 6, 2012 at 10:54pm

Well...............you could use a black light at night to find these creepy delights in the rocks and on the walls then you can coax them into a glass jar and take them far, far out in the desert and liberate them. That is one way.

However, after being stung twice and seeing a a mama scorpion with all her babies on her back walking on a wall above my bed I decided to take action. Run away! I went out each evening with the black light and hunted scorpions. That summer I found 74 scorpions in my xeriscaped yard. After getting rid of them (not in an ethical manner) I found fewer in my house the rest of the year.

I admire your stance on the ethical treatment of scorpions. We couldn't coexist peacefully with scorpions so we decided to take action (recognizing they were here before me and there was little I could do to convince them to move on), we bought a house in Arcadia and have had no problems.

Yes, you can try and get rid of their food source which will help reduce the number of scorpions. But how do you do that ethically? Geckos, snakes, flashing lights, cheap perfume, playing heavy metal?

Best of luck!

BTW - Here is a link to the areas of Phoenix which have a high concentration of scorpions.

Scorpion zipcodes

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Drake on April 6, 2012 at 11:33pm

Please define "ethically take care of scorpions" and what area of town do you live in.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Ray on April 7, 2012 at 1:06am

Borrow some chickens and let them have a go at your yard free range style. If they don't eat the scorpions, at least they can take a bite out of their food source. Chicken waste will also add nutrients and nitrogen back into your soil. --Permaculture.