Scorpions · Austin, Texas
Scorpion control in Austin
Scorpion Control in Austin at a glance
| Scorpion in Austin homes | Striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus), tan-yellow with two dark stripes |
|---|---|
| When they're active | Active Feb–Nov; peak Apr–Sep. They hunt at night. |
| Where they hide | Limestone and rock yards, woodpiles, attics, and wall voids |
| What we do | Inside and outside treatment, attic dust, and a yard granule to cut down the insects they eat. We treat weep holes, the roofline, and rock borders, where they hide. |
| Covered between visits? | Yes, on the quarterly plan |
| Price | From $90 a visit on the quarterly plan; first visit from $140. Plus tax. |
| Contract | None. Cancel any time. |
| ZIP codes | 78702, 78704, 78723, 78727, 78746, 78748, 78758, 78759 and more |
Scorpions show up all over Austin, but the rocky west side, from Northwest Hills and Steiner Ranch down to Oak Hill and Circle C, keeps our technicians busiest. They ride in on firewood and come up through weep holes and gaps around pipes.
Signs to look for
- Scorpions in bathtubs, sinks, and bedding
- Scorpions dropping from the ceiling or coming from light fixtures
- They glow under a UV flashlight at night
What you can do between visits
- Move woodpiles and landscape rock away from the house
- Seal weep holes with mesh and fill gaps around pipes
- Pull beds away from walls
- Shake out shoes and towels
Why the west side sees the most scorpions
Most of the scorpion calls we get come from west of MoPac. That side of town sits on limestone, and striped bark scorpions live in the cracks in that rock, under loose stones and in the cedar and oak along the greenbelts. If your house backs up to a greenbelt or a creek, or you have rock walls and stone borders in the yard, you’re living right next to them.
Homes east of I-35, on the blackland clay, see fewer. They still turn up there, usually riding in on firewood or coming out of a woodpile or a stack of landscape stone.
Summer is when people notice. In July and August the heat drives them toward water and cooler air, and that means bathtubs, sinks, closets and the garage. They also climb, so the attic is a common hiding spot, which is how one ends up dropping from a light fixture.
What a scorpion visit includes
First visit (from $140)
Inside: baseboards and entry points. Outside: the foundation, weep holes, eaves and rock borders. The garage. Then attic dust, which is where scorpions hide when it’s hot, and a granule across the yard to cut down the crickets and other insects they eat.
Every quarter after (from $90)
Inside, outside and the garage again. We hope to get a full quarter out of each treatment. Weather has the biggest effect. Keep the barrier down in winter too, since scorpions are active from February into November.
No prep, as long as the tech can reach about 80% of your baseboards. You may see more scorpions for up to three weeks after a treatment as they cross treated areas. That’s normal.
Covered between quarterly visits
Scorpions are on our warranty list. If they show up between visits, call or text and we come back and re-treat at no charge. A few rules apply: the warranty needs a full inside and outside treatment (exterior-only isn’t covered), skipping a visit pauses it, and re-treatments are no sooner than three weeks after the last service. The full list is on our warranty page.
Sealing up: what you can do
Treatment does most of the work, but sealing gaps keeps scorpions out of the living space. A scorpion can get through a gap about as thick as a credit card. Start with these:
- Door sweeps on every exterior door, including the door from the garage into the house.
- Weatherstripping around doors and windows. If you can see daylight around a closed door, they can get in.
- Weep holes in brick. Use mesh inserts made for weep holes. Don’t caulk them shut, because the wall needs to drain.
- Gaps around pipes and the AC line where they go through the wall.
- Beds pulled a few inches off the wall, with bed skirts off the floor.
Check with a blacklight at night
Scorpions glow blue-green under a UV flashlight. Wait until about an hour after dark, then walk the outside of the house: the foundation, rock borders, fence lines, the woodpile and the garage. Inside, check bathrooms and closets. If you find a lot outside and only the odd one inside, the treatment is doing its job. Tell the tech where you found them, so he knows where to put extra attention.
Scorpions in nearby towns
The Hill Country towns around Austin get plenty of scorpions too. See Cedar Park, Lakeway, Georgetown, Leander and Dripping Springs. Not sure what you found? Our striped bark scorpion guide covers how to identify them and what a sting is like.
Neighborhoods
Austin neighborhoods we treat every week
Route days are grouped by area, so there's usually a technician near you.