If you live around Kingsland, Marble Falls, or anywhere along the Highland Lakes, you have probably met a scorpion in a place you would rather not. They turn up in the bathroom at 2 a.m., under a glass left by the sink, or in a shoe you grabbed without looking. The good news is that the striped bark scorpion, the one common in this part of the Texas Hill Country, is far more nuisance than danger for most people. Keeping it out of your house comes down to a few things you can control.
Quick answer
Seal the gaps scorpions use to get inside (door sweeps, weep screens, foundation cracks, plumbing penetrations), pull mulch, wood, and rock piles away from the foundation, and knock down the insects they hunt. Bark scorpions climb and hide in tight cracks, so exclusion plus a regular exterior treatment is what actually keeps them out.
Dealing with this right now?
Tired of finding scorpions in the house? ACI Pest & Lawn's bi-monthly program is built to target scorpions around the Highland Lakes. Request service and we'll set up the barrier and inspections that keep them out.
See how we handle it on our scorpions page.
Know What You Are Dealing With
The scorpion you find indoors here is almost always the striped bark scorpion. It is light tan with two darker stripes down the back, runs maybe two to three inches with the tail, and it climbs. That last part matters. Unlike a lot of scorpions, this one will scale a wall, slip behind a baseboard, or wait flattened against the underside of something. A flat body lets it squeeze into a crack you would swear was too thin.
Its sting hurts like a bad wasp sting and the pain usually fades within a few hours. Reactions vary, and a small number of people are genuinely allergic, so an unusual reaction (trouble breathing, severe swelling, symptoms beyond the sting site) is worth a call to a doctor. For a healthy adult, though, the bigger problem is just not wanting these things in the house.
Why They Come Indoors
Scorpions are not trying to get into your home. They are following two things: food and moisture. They hunt crickets, roaches, spiders, and other soft-bodied insects, so a house with a steady bug problem is a house with a scorpion buffet. They also dry out easily, and our long stretches of Hill Country heat push them toward cooler, damper spots. A bathroom, a laundry room, the slab under your house.
They are nocturnal and they hide tight during the day. That is why you find them in the morning under things or stepping into the shower. Take away the bugs and the damp hiding spots, block the cracks, and you remove the reasons they show up inside in the first place.
Seal the Entry Points
Exclusion is the single most effective thing you can do, because a scorpion that cannot get in cannot sting you in your own hallway. Walk your home with a flashlight and a tube of caulk. You are looking for the gaps a flat-bodied bug can slide through, which is smaller than you think.
- Install or replace door sweeps on every exterior door, including the garage-to-house door. A sliver of light under a door is a scorpion-sized opening.
- Caulk cracks in the foundation, around windows, and where pipes, cables, and the AC line set enter the wall.
- Check the weep holes in brick veneer. Stainless steel weep covers let water drain but keep scorpions and other pests out.
- Repair torn window and door screens, and make sure attic and crawlspace vents are screened.
- Look at the threshold of the garage door and the corners where the seal often fails.
Clear the Yard Around the House
Scorpions live outside and work their way in from the perimeter, so what is touching your foundation matters. Around a lot of Highland Lakes properties there is rock, native landscaping, and firewood, which is exactly the kind of cover scorpions love.
Pull mulch, leaf litter, and rock piles back from the foundation and keep a clean strip a foot or so wide right against the house. Stack firewood off the ground and away from the wall, and bring in only what you plan to burn. Trim shrubs and tree limbs so they do not touch the roof or siding, since branches give climbers a bridge. Knock down standing water and fix dripping spigots, because the moisture draws both scorpions and the insects they eat.
Cut Off Their Food Supply
This is the step people skip, and it is the one that makes the rest stick. A scorpion problem usually rides on top of a general insect problem. Crickets gather around exterior lights at night, roaches breed in the garage, spiders set up in the corners, and the scorpions follow all of it.
Switch exterior bulbs to yellow or LED fixtures that pull fewer insects, and aim lights away from doors when you can. Keep the garage and storage areas from becoming bug habitat. When you stay on top of the broader pest pressure on a property, you quietly starve the scorpions out, and that is a big part of why a regular pest program works on them when a one-off spray does not.
What a Professional Treatment Adds
Scorpions are tough to control with store-bought sprays because they tuck so far into cracks and they hunt at night when you are not looking. A treatment that actually moves the needle targets the perimeter, the harborage points, and the insect food supply on a schedule, not just once.
At ACI Pest & Lawn, scorpions are the reason our bi-monthly program exists. Every-other-month service keeps a barrier in place and keeps the cricket and roach populations down so scorpions have less reason to be near your home. Our technicians inspect the spots scorpions favor, treat the cracks and entry points, and adjust as the seasons change. Pair that with the sealing and yard work above and the late-night bathroom encounters get rare.