If you live anywhere from Bulverde to Canyon Lake to the western edge of New Braunfels, you've probably found a striped bark scorpion in a shoe, a laundry pile, or scuttling across the bathroom floor at midnight. They're the most common scorpion in Central Texas and the only one most homeowners ever encounter.
Why the Hill Country is scorpion country
Striped bark scorpions love limestone — the same rocky, fractured limestone that defines the Hill Country. They hide in rock walls, cedar stacks, attic insulation, weep holes, and the gap between roof decking and fascia. Drought drives them indoors looking for moisture; heavy rain drives them indoors looking for shelter. There's no good time of year to be casual about scorpions.
Where they get in
Scorpions are flat. If a credit card fits, a scorpion fits. We routinely find entry points at garage door corners, weep holes without screens, A/C line penetrations, unsealed plumbing chases, and gaps under exterior doors. Attic entry through roof returns is extremely common on Hill Country builds with deep eaves.
What works (and what doesn't)
Scorpions shrug off most over-the-counter sprays. Effective control is layered: a residual exterior treatment of foundation and weep holes, a granular barrier across landscape beds and rock features, a targeted attic treatment, and physical exclusion of weep holes and door sweeps. We also UV-scan the exterior at night during initial visits — scorpions glow under blacklight, which lets us find harborage that daytime inspection misses.
Recurring service is the difference
One treatment knocks the population down. Quarterly service keeps it down. Scorpion pressure rebuilds fast from surrounding lots, especially on properties bordering greenbelts or undeveloped land — which describes most of New Braunfels, Bulverde, and Spring Branch.
If you've found one scorpion inside, there are more. Get on a quarterly scorpion program before late spring — populations explode May through September, and prevention is far easier than reaction.