[mw555...5]

Imagine my surpise when I finally look a little closer at that weird thing on my floor.. it's a scorpion! Holy crap! I have always heard about these things in the desert, but never seen any kind of big bug since being here, especially in my home! It was kind of near my closet, small, just on the floor. Looking at it, I thought it was dead. It looked dead. Now i realize that was kind of dumb, but well it wasn't moving and it is winter. I left my room for a couple minutes, came back, and it's GONE!! Did it come in here to escape the cold? I live in a populated apartment complex on the 2nd floor. What did I do to attract this thing into my house? We do not have much stuff in here, there is some stuff in my closet I've thrown in a few months ago, I wouldn't call it too messy. When I looked up scorpions up on the internet, it mentioned some dangerous scorpions in southern az, nm and texas, what about nevada? This happen to anyone else?

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by mw555...5

Imagine my surpise when I finally look a little closer at that weird thing on my floor.. it's a scorpion! Holy crap! I have always heard about these things in the desert, but never seen any kind of big bug since being here, especially in my home! It was kind of near my closet, small, just on the floor. Looking at it, I thought it was dead. It looked dead. Now i realize that was kind of dumb, but well it wasn't moving and it is winter. I left my room for a couple minutes, came back, and it's GONE!! Did it come in here to escape the cold? I live in a populated apartment complex on the 2nd floor. What did I do to attract this thing into my house? We do not have much stuff in here, there is some stuff in my closet I've thrown in a few months ago, I wouldn't call it too messy. When I looked up scorpions up on the internet, it mentioned some dangerous scorpions in southern az, nm and texas, what about nevada? This happen to anyone else?

Next time whack the little mother. They you know where he is.

Small tan scorpions in Las Vegas are the wrong kind. Kill them.

Get a black light and search the joint. Find any kill them.

Calk. Any crack you can find...calk it. If there are no holes they can't get in.

Check vents. Anyplace anything comes through the wall check it out and fill the holes. If it can't be sealed cover it with screen.

Second floor in an apartment is a very unusual place for a scorpion to appear. May be a fluke. See what happens over a few months.

[mw555...5]

Ok, now I feel even more creeped out.. What do you mean by the "wrong kind". PLEASE elaborate, but be gentle, I'm the one living and sleeping here (did I mention the thing is in my bedroom!). I've never seen any bugs in here. I can't remember any actually, although we used to have a black spider outside the door, the wind blew his home away, and he's been gone ever since. Our place is pretty barren.. I think if we had bugs, we would know by now. I agree it's very strange, it was just sitting on my carpet, of all places, gone a few minutes later.. I'm still shocked to tell the truth! We live in a newer place.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by mw555...5

Ok, now I feel even more creeped out.. What do you mean by the "wrong kind". PLEASE elaborate, but be gentle, I'm the one living and sleeping here (did I mention the thing is in my bedroom!). I've never seen any bugs in here. I can't remember any actually, although we used to have a black spider outside the door, the wind blew his home away, and he's been gone ever since. Our place is pretty barren.. I think if we had bugs, we would know by now. I agree it's very strange, it was just sitting on my carpet, of all places, gone a few minutes later.. I'm still shocked to tell the truth! We live in a newer place.

Comeon...into every life a little challenge must fall.

The small tan scorpions found in Las Vegas are almost always bark scorpions which have a painful sting. You will not die or really get hurt...but you will remember the encounter.

I don't think I have ever heard of them on the second floor of anywhere. They are a nocturnal creature that eats bugs and comes inside mostly to hunt. They rarely end up inside and even rarer on a second floor. Note that things get carried inside in packaging and gifts and what have you. Most likely someone delivered this guy to you. He did not get in on his own.

But check it out in the dark a couple of nights. If there are scorpions you will see more than one. Check around outside too. Help you tell if they are in the area. If they are - kill a dozen, bag them, and deliver to the management of the complex. Let them worry about it.

[AA702]

Quoted from a LVRJ article:

Scorpions are another variety of Mojave Desert neighbor.

The giant desert scorpion is fairly common in the surrounding desert, Heindl says. "Its sting is painful, but unless you're allergic to it, it's no worse than a bee sting."

Desert scorpions are almost entirely nocturnal, Heindl says. "They're going to be out hunting at night, but you'll find them under debris if you flip it over during the day."

Another type of scorpion found around town, the bark scorpion, isn't a Southern Nevada native. It was accidentally imported into Southern Nevada from Arizona and California in the bark of mesquite trees and the fronds of palm trees.

The bark scorpion packs a "highly neurotoxic venom that is potentially dangerous. It's particularly dangerous for young kids," Heindl says, although "fatalities are rare events."

Bark scorpions easily can be found on the sides of houses, in garages or, sometimes, hiding inside houses on walls or behind hanging pictures.

"If you get scorpions, particularly multiples of scorpions, within the urban corridor, chances are it's the bark scorpion and you need to be wary," Heindl
says.

http://www.dflt.org/awareness/scorpions.htm (broken link)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centruroides_exilicauda

[garth]

Is this what you saw?



It's a striped bark scorpion.

Maybe this is the one you saw:



It's the Arizona Bark Scorpion.

. . . or maybe you saw this one. It plays dead when disturbed and then becomes active after a few minutes:



From what I read, it likes to hang out in moist potting soil. Did you plant anything in pots recently?

Finally, was your scorpion hairy?



It's the Arizona Hairy Scorpion.

[olecapt]

I have seen a few dozen. In the urban Las Vegas area they are all bark scorpions. Change a little in color but Garth's pictures are right on.

[PinkString]

Olecapt, quit whacking innocent bugs. How'd you like it if every bug that saw you, whacked you? You wouldn't like it.
Just because a critter comes into your house, it doesn't mean you have to kill it. And just because you see it in one spot doesn't mean it will come back and kill you and drag you off to it's nest.
They don't lie in wait for people, they usually move along to wherever it is they were going. Leave them alone and they leave you alone.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I always heard that they tend to travel in pairs so if you have one you might have two.

[mw555...5]

Thanks for the replies. I am not too fond of big bugs, or freaky ones for that matter. Just wasn't too savy on the types of scorpions, and their rare, but "potential" danger. I just remember watching specials on tv about freak accidents;One where a person put their shoe one and was stung by a scorpion, don't know why but that story sticks out in my mind. They were hospitalized, blah, blah. Must have been allergic..right? It's funny you should mention potting plants because we did pot 4 large plants a few weeks ago. But the scropion did not look anything like the one you showed... It was quite small, almost didn't look real. Olecept.. I got a little concerned by the tone of your post, you made it sound like they travel in packs, which I guess they do. The mind wondered just a bit. I guess I shouldn't worry so much.. But those things freak me out! I will try to relax. I don't think I will see anymore (cross my fingers!).