# Must be Spring - Killed my first scorpion **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2007, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568 "2007-03-12T06:15:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568/21 "2007-03-13T19:38:35Z")
For the love of god…why do such hideous creatures even exist if not to torment us? I love the area I live in and all but if I had venomous insects with inch long stingers walking around, dropping onto me from above, or otherwise within 100 yards of me I’d have to move. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568/22 "2007-03-13T20:11:21Z")
I’ve heard only the small scorpions are really dangerous. So in case I’m ever out there, how small is “small?” ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568/23 "2007-03-13T20:56:26Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] One of the many things I don’t miss about living in Texas. Scorpions, tarantulas, ticks, mosquitoes, and perhaps the most hated bug for its size – chiggers. [/QUOTE] You left out the fire ants–whose stings form _pustules_ on their victims. (What a lovely word!) And the “asps.” Asp is one common name for a particular caterpillar with white “fur.” The fur hides poisonous spines that sting like hell. Then, there are the snakes… ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568/24 "2007-03-13T21:50:39Z")
[QUOTE=MsRobyn] Of course, my dad’s preferred method is a portable blowtorch, which does a good job of reducing scorpions to a smoking char. [/QUOTE] I think your dad is my hero. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568/25 "2007-03-13T22:56:09Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Why did you have to quote that portion of his post? I could have ignored it in the body of the paragraph. I never even noticed it the first time around. _whimpers_ [/QUOTE] Call me when you can’t sleep. We can take turns calling **stanger** and waking him up. ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568/26 "2007-03-14T03:27:04Z")
Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak anybody out, especially you **Anaamika** and **Turek**. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **The Scrivener** > Out of curiosity, why would they come into the house just as things are beginning to warm up outside? Isn’t most of their food (presumably other insects, not your blood) outside? To the OP, isn’t there a UV-light patrol you can do at night around your house to spot them by their bioluminescence? They seem to come in when it is either very dry or very wet outside, looking for water or running from it. Right now we are having a lot of rain and my house is surrounded on three sides with water, so I suppose they are coming in because my house is an island. The UV light patrol would work, but only if you stayed out all night. That’s when the skunks, racoons, foxes and other critters come ot, so I prefer to leave them to their business. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **MsRobyn** > My parents live in San Antonio, and to the best of my knowledge, have never had a scorpion in the house. For that, I am damn grateful. Their house is also fairly new, so the foundation is still in pretty good shape. The weird thing is, my house sits in the middle of 4 1/2 acres and it is all trimmed around the house. About 200 feet behind the house, I have a workshop that sits where the trees and brush have not been trimmed and is still “wild”. I have not seen but one scorpion in almost 30 years in my workshop (and a dead one at that), but the house is a magnet for them. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Baldwin** > One of the many things I don’t miss about living in Texas. Scorpions, tarantulas, ticks, mosquitoes, and perhaps the most hated bug for its size – chiggers. In forty years out here, I have never seen a tarantula, but I know they are around. Ticks used to be bad, but the fire ants drove them out years ago. Same with the snakes. The fire ants are not near as numerous as they used to be. The mosquitoes can be big and nasty during the warmer months, but the ones we have down here are real wimpy and die out the first decent cold spell we get. Unfortunately, chiggers are still pretty bad. You don’t walk off the beaten path around here unless you have sprayed your socks, shoes and pantlegs with _OFF!_ > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Bridget Burke** > And the “asps.” Asp is one common name for a particular caterpillar with white “fur.” The fur hides poisonous spines that sting like hell. > > Then, there are the snakes… I have only seen a half dozen asps out here, but I stay well away from them. I had an “experience” with one when I was five years old that makes me fear them fifty years later. I’d rather juggle a scorpion. Have seen a couple of coral snakes, never a rattler. Losts of harmless snakes, but only if you go looking for them. I don’t. If I start getting regular phone calls late at night, even without Caller ID, I will know who is still awake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-spring-killed-my-first-scorpion/395568.md?page=1)