GILBERT, Ariz. -- They're creepy, they're crawly, and according to exterminators, scorpions are here to stay.
“That's so gross, that's so gross,” Barbara Miller said “So bizarre … This is horrible.”
Scorpions are invading the valley in record numbers and no one knows better than the Miller family just how bad it has become.
“This is half of what we found that first night … Seventy-two of them the first night,” Miller said.
They first noticed a few around the house until a neighbor told them to check the back wall, and that's where they found dozens and dozens of them.
At first they would kill them by stepping on them, but then it got to be too much.
“Just knowing they're carrying around even more of -- more scorpions -- we always think that's a good kill, that's a good kill,” Miller said.
“Where are they coming from and how do I get rid of them?“ she said.
“That's a lot,” exterminator Steve Martin said.
Martin said the Millers aren't alone. His calls have increased this year for scorpion problems.
“We're getting an overall average, I’d say, (of) five to 10 (calls) a week,” Martin said.
And the driest monsoon in 30 years means less crickets, which means less food for the scorpions.
“The cricket is the main food source for scorpions. They like soft-bodied insects -- (it’s) kind of like steak is to us,” Martin said.
And it doesn't take much for the scorpions to get in. If you have a hole that’s big enough for a paperclip to slip through, that’s all it takes, and it takes a professional to get them out.
“Power spraying, dusting, going back around with a wettable powder seems to work well,” Martin said.
At Barbara Miller's house, the whole family has already been stung.
“You know right away that you've been stung and slowly the pain just creeps through,” Miller said.
Now she's hoping a frequent visit from her exterminator will get rid of them for good.
“I'm not gonna move out of this house because of this, I mean, we'll just keep getting sprayed,” she said.
It’s not over unless the area gets three straight days of freezing temperatures to kill off the scorpions. Otherwise, the area is stuck with them for the rest of the year.
Another reason for the invasion: some of the captured scorpions are pregnant. Eggs were seen clumped together like a huge black glob on the back of one of the scorpions.
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