Teh One Who Knocks
08-15-2016, 12:19 PM
By Derek Staahl - 3TV News Now
http://i.imgur.com/LNWzuTil.jpg
AHWATUKEE, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) -
Pest control companies say scorpions are turning up in big numbers across the Valley this summer, but people in some Ahwatukee neighborhoods say the problem seems to be compounded by the Loop 202 expansion.
Calls for scorpion removals are up throughout the Valley because of weather conditions including a wetter-than-average monsoon, said Eric Papadeas of Pest‘R Us Exterminating. But Ahwatukee, in particular, seems to have been hit hard by the eight-legged arachnids, he said.
Larry Lee, who lives near Pecos Road and 24th Street, found a scorpion in his shoe two weeks ago.
"I was stung four times by that scorpion, and it was horrible," he said. "For me, I didn't have respiratory failure, but I did lose my vision for several hours."
Lee has lived in Ahwatukee for more than a decade and said he has never seen a scorpion problem like this.
"We've had maybe three scorpions in our home in the last 13 years. In the last six months, we've had eight in the house," he said. “I've had to increase our spraying to twice a month, and I'm killing three to six every night in my yard.”
Lee believes efforts to clear homes and brush from the freeway’s eventual path changed the topography and essentially attracted scorpions to his neighborhood.
"All the foliage over there is gone; it's just dirt," he said. "There's no food for the crickets to eat, so that means they're all going to move over here and [the crickets are] food for scorpions," he said.
ADOT spokesperson Dustin Krugel said demolition work ended late last year. Right now, he said crews are drilling holes to take soil samples in preparation for larger-scale construction efforts. He said the current drilling is unlikely to disturb scorpion populations.
But once actual construction begins, Papadeas said the scorpion problem could spread.
"When they start excavating and turning over the dirt, they'll be coming around the houses," he said.
http://i.imgur.com/LNWzuTil.jpg
AHWATUKEE, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) -
Pest control companies say scorpions are turning up in big numbers across the Valley this summer, but people in some Ahwatukee neighborhoods say the problem seems to be compounded by the Loop 202 expansion.
Calls for scorpion removals are up throughout the Valley because of weather conditions including a wetter-than-average monsoon, said Eric Papadeas of Pest‘R Us Exterminating. But Ahwatukee, in particular, seems to have been hit hard by the eight-legged arachnids, he said.
Larry Lee, who lives near Pecos Road and 24th Street, found a scorpion in his shoe two weeks ago.
"I was stung four times by that scorpion, and it was horrible," he said. "For me, I didn't have respiratory failure, but I did lose my vision for several hours."
Lee has lived in Ahwatukee for more than a decade and said he has never seen a scorpion problem like this.
"We've had maybe three scorpions in our home in the last 13 years. In the last six months, we've had eight in the house," he said. “I've had to increase our spraying to twice a month, and I'm killing three to six every night in my yard.”
Lee believes efforts to clear homes and brush from the freeway’s eventual path changed the topography and essentially attracted scorpions to his neighborhood.
"All the foliage over there is gone; it's just dirt," he said. "There's no food for the crickets to eat, so that means they're all going to move over here and [the crickets are] food for scorpions," he said.
ADOT spokesperson Dustin Krugel said demolition work ended late last year. Right now, he said crews are drilling holes to take soil samples in preparation for larger-scale construction efforts. He said the current drilling is unlikely to disturb scorpion populations.
But once actual construction begins, Papadeas said the scorpion problem could spread.
"When they start excavating and turning over the dirt, they'll be coming around the houses," he said.