Scorpions in Walmer gardens and homes

If you've found a scorpion at your Walmer home, take a careful look at it before anything else, ideally from a safe distance or in a photo. In South Africa, the general rule is that scorpions with thick tails and small, thin pincers have the stronger venom, while those with big, heavy pincers and slender tails rely on their claws and are much less of a concern. That one check tells you how urgently you need to act. Either way, we can make the house and the areas around it much less inviting to them.

Scorpions in an established suburb

Scorpions are more of an everyday issue on smallholdings and bushy plots, such as those on the western edge of the city towards Theescombe and its smallholdings. A leafy suburb like Walmer sees them less often, but they're certainly here. The large gardens that make Walmer pleasant also give scorpions what they look for:

• Rockeries and stone retaining walls, with plenty of cool gaps to shelter in during the day
• Wood piles for the fireplace or braai, often stacked against a wall
• Old bricks, paving slabs and building rubble left in a corner after renovations
• Garden sheds, wendy houses and garages with boxes on the floor
• Loose soil in beds where burrowing species dig in

They come out at night to hunt insects, spiders and other small creatures, so a garden full of prey keeps them fed.

When they come indoors

Scorpions usually end up inside by accident while hunting, through gaps under doors, open sliding doors on summer evenings, or gaps where pipes enter the house. Once in, they look for somewhere dark: shoes left by the door, piles of laundry on the floor, under beds, behind boxes in the garage. Heavy rain can also flood burrows and push them to look for higher ground.

How we deal with scorpions

1. We inspect the property for likely shelter: rockeries, walls, wood piles, rubble, sheds and garages.
2. We look at entry points into the house, especially doors that don't seal at the bottom and gaps around pipes.
3. We apply a residual barrier treatment around the house perimeter, doorways and in garages and outbuildings. It's odourless and doesn't stain.
4. We treat the insect and spider population where it's high, because less food means fewer scorpions.
5. We tell you what to move or change, from wood piles to the gap under the kitchen door.

Scorpions are tough and not as easily affected by sprays as insects are, which is why removing their hiding places matters so much. You don't need to leave the house during treatment. Keep children and pets off treated areas until they've dried.

The Walmer tip: move the wood pile

If you keep braai or fireplace wood, stack it off the ground on a rack, well away from the house walls and the back door. In a lot of Walmer gardens it sits right against the house next to the kitchen, which gives scorpions, spiders and rodents a sheltered base next to an entry point. Wear gloves when you carry wood in.

What people often get wrong

Assuming every scorpion is deadly and panicking, or assuming none are and picking one up. Most of the scorpions found around Port Elizabeth homes cause a painful sting at worst, but the thick-tailed types can cause a more serious reaction, particularly in small children, older people and anyone with health problems. If someone is stung by a thick-tailed scorpion and feels unwell, get medical help.

Simple habits that help

• Shake out shoes, boots and gloves that have been left outside or in the garage
• Keep laundry and towels off the floor
• Use a torch when walking barefoot in the garden at night
• Fit draught strips under exterior doors
• Keep children's outdoor toys off the ground or in a closed box

What does it cost?

The price depends on the size of the property, how much shelter there is in the garden and whether outbuildings need treating. A barrier around a house with a tidy garden is a small job. A large property with rockeries, sheds and a lot of stored material takes more. If you've found one scorpion in a year, a tidy-up and a door seal may be all you need. We quote after we've looked.

Scorpions and spiders often go together, so see spider treatments in Walmer as well. For the whole metro, there's our scorpion control service in Port Elizabeth, and we also deal with scorpions in Summerstrand. Our Walmer pest control page covers the rest. Call 087 012 5550, or WhatsApp us a photo of the scorpion.