Snakes and scorpions emerge early after heat streak

State of play: Snakes and scorpions enter a hibernation-like state during cold temperatures, but with winter-weather seasons getting shorter, so are their slumbers.

• The Arizona Game and Fish Department last week warned of an increased risk of rattlesnake encounters after the Valley surpassed 90 degrees.
• Last week's heat streak woke up the scorpions, too, Burns Pest Elimination spokesperson Mike Boyle told Axios. All they need is two or three days of nighttime temperatures above 40 degrees to set off their alarms.

The intrigue: Scorpions are often the most active — and easiest for us to spot — right after they emerge from dormancy because they're hungry, Boyle said.

• They feed on beetles, crickets and other small bugs, which like to take refuge in our temperature-controlled homes.
• Scorpions can fit through window or door cracks as thin as a credit card to get to their prey indoors, he said.

We're more likely to see rattlesnakes right after they wake up, too, because temperatures are still mild enough for them to roam during daytime hours.

• Once temperatures climb into 100-degree territory, the snakes swap their routine and move around at night instead, according to the Game and Fish Department.

Reality check: Though scorpions and snakes are nightmare fodder for many, they don't seek out humans.

• "Rattlesnakes are not aggressive — most occurrences of rattlesnake bites occur when someone is trying to corner or capture a snake," Audrey Owens, amphibians and reptiles program manager at the Game and Fish Department, said in a press release last week.
• Boyle said that scorpions are terrified of humans and that most stings occur accidentally when someone steps on them.