Question of the Day - 19 April 2017

The wife of this writer was bit by a scorpion in Mexico when she was in her 20s. She was on a bus and remembers getting stung repeatedly, everyone shrieking, “Alacrán! Alacrán!” and an angel sitting down beside her and enveloping her in peace and love. The next morning, she woke up in a strange hotel room ravenously thirsty.

Her traveling companion remembers it differently. First, everyone on the bus tried to get as far away from her as possible. Then the bus, in the Mexican highlands, took a couple hours to reach a town where a curandero administered an antidote. Unconscious, she was carried by local men to a posada, where she slept and sweated and writhed for three days, then woke up and took another couple days to get her strength back.

So scorpions aren’t to be taken lightly and yes, they’re quite common in many neighborhoods in Las Vegas.

Of 1,700 species worldwide, around 23 species of scorpions inhabit Las Vegas Valley. The desert hairy scorpion is native to the area; sometimes known as the giant desert hairy scorpion, this bad boy is the largest in North America and can grow to be six inches long. Its venom is weak and the sting is about as painful as that of a bee, but allergic reactions can be fatal.

It’s the Arizona bark scorpion that’s the main problem hereabouts and it’s getting worse. Their stings are very painful, often compared to a wasp or hornet sting, but scorpions also release neurotoxins that affect the nervous system.

Milder symptoms include swelling, numbness, nausea, and shortness of breath. More serious symptoms, which call for a trip to the hospital, include muscle twitching, unusual head, neck, and eye movements, drooling, sweating, vomiting, and an accelerated heart rate. It’s typical for symptoms to last from 24 to 72 hours.

Serious stings can be deadly if not treated, particularly to pets, children, elderly, and the infirm.  However, as far as we know, there hasn't been a reported death in Las Vegas from a bark scorpion sting since the 1960s.  

Each year, it seems, the scorpions move into new areas and as you can probably imagine, locals have all kinds of conflicting theories about their spread. Some insist that the bark scorpion is an imported species, brought along with Arizona palm trees that have been planted all over the valley. It’s true that a single palm can host hundreds of bark scorpions, which are quite social and live in colonies. Critics tend to blame the lack of agricultural inspections in Nevada for the migration of the bark scorpion. They believe nurseries are primarily responsible for introducing them to newer neighborhoods.

However, some experts counter that there’s evidence of native bark species. Also, they’re small enough — one to three inches long — that they can stow away in moving boxes, to be introduced into non-infested neighborhoods by people moving in.

Some claim that higher altitudes are likelier to host scorpions, while others say that the lowlands, especially those located near the open desert, are most susceptible.

Experts generally agree that the mild winter of 2015-2016 helped the scorpion proliferation; it never got cold enough for them to die off and allowed many younger scorpions and their food sources (mostly crickets and cockroaches) to survive.

But there’s no doubt, unfortunately, that in some areas, the problem has become so bad that hunting for scorpions is a nightly pastime. 

Bark scorpions, like most others, glow when exposed to a black light. This is particularly useful in scorpion detection, since bark scorpions are active during the night and can be easily spotted under ultra-violet. Pest control companies do black-light searches and spray pesticides. Diatomaceous earth can also be used to cause fast dehydration and eventual death.

For every one scorpion that’s seen, probably six or seven are hiding in the house, because they tend to travel and hang out in packs.

Prevention, of course, is better than cure and the best way to prevent scropions from entering a home is to block all the gaps. The rule of thumb is if a credit card fits, so do any unwanted small arachnids.

People should also be cautious with any clutter that they may have, as it makes a good hiding place. The inside of shoes and attics are also promising hiding spots.

So where does this leave you?

One report we saw indicated that 90% of Summerlin has never seen a scorpion, though that leaves 10% that has. An idea might be to address this issue with realtors, if you plan to buy a house, and try to talk to people who live in the neighborhoods you’re considering moving into. Forewarned is forearmed.

That said, these creatures have survived millions of years and lived through all kinds of conditions, from ice ages to extinctions. According to one pest-control expert, “No pesticide we use will ever make them go completely away.”

Ultimately, of course, you’ll have to weigh the pros and cons of moving to a place where scorpions might and can be a problem.