You live in the desert – and so do scorpions. It is estimated that the Arizona desert is home to three scorpions for every 10 square feet. Fewer live in busy neighborhoods.

If you have any kind of insects in and around your home, you’ve got scorpions.

You can drag them into your house when you pick up a blanket, a box or your shoes that have been left on the ground outside. Look for them when you pick up those items.

Scorpions have poor eyesight, so they hide during the day and come out at night. They like to hide under rocks, your patio and your foundation.

1. Keep them away by keeping trash, boards, bricks and stones far away from your house.

2. Mow your grass closely, and keep bushes and trees near the house pruned so they don’t touch the walls.

3. Trim tree branches that hang over your roof. Scorpions can drop from the branches onto your roof, where they’ll find cracks and crevices that lead to your attic.

4. Keep your firewood outdoors until you’re ready to burn it.

5. Keep window screens secure and free of holes

6. Don’t let your kids keep scorpions as pets. They can be poisonous.

7. If you want to use a pesticide to kill them, buy a product that specifically says it kills scorpions. Some formulations are better for these pests than others.

8. Even better: Call a pest-control professional, who can bring a higher-strength product to your home than anything you can buy at a home or garden store.

For additional information on how to control scorpions visit “Is it Possible to Get these Scorpions out of my House?” from Blue Sky Pest Control.