Yep, just merrily driving and see about a one inch scorpion crawling along the dashboard.
I know that scorpion bites are only deadly to infants and the very old and weak. Still, I hear those bites sting like hell.
But I am on the freeway, and sorta late for work, so I keep driving and by the time I get into the parking garage, the scorpion has fallen to the floor on the passanger side.
I took a quick look and couldn’t find it.
At any rate, if later this afternoon you see a screaming madman suddenly speed up on the I15 going south, it might be me noticing a creepy feeling going up my pants leg.
That’s what my mom told me too. Wherever there’s one, there’s always another one. Also, you can’t step on them (lest you get the eggs they carry on their backs and track them all over your house).
Yep, that’s what I’ve heard too. An aunt of mine found one in her house on her first day in Texas. When she told her new coworkers about it the following Monday, they told her that there was another one, because they’re always with a mate. Sure enough, there was a second one. The I suppose it could be both.
Depends where you are. There is only a single moderately nasty species in the U.S., Centruroides exilicauda ( in the southwest - Arizona, Nevada, southern Utah, southwestern New Mexico and southeastern California ) and that one does hurt like a sonuvabitch. It’s been described to me as being equivalent to hitting your hand as hard as you can with a hammer.
But that’s it. None of the others are on average any worse than a bee-sting and some rather less than that ( I’ve been stung by local Uroctonus mordax and barely felt it ), though it’s true individual reaction will vary. An allergic reaction is always possible, just like with a bee-sting.
Nope. Old wives’ tale. Scorpions don’t mate for life or any such thing. What is true is that they aren’t terribly uncommon, so if you find one and start looking, it usually isn’t terribly difficult to find another.
What are those things that look like scorpions but have no tail? I used to see them when I lived in Arizona and they creeped me out like you wouldn’t believe.
When I lived in AZ. That was the one thing I could not tolerate, the scorps. On our first day in our new home in Ahwatukee (southwest Phoenix Borough) we bought a home right on a newly opened preserve. Canyon Heights. Right on South Mountain. The home had never been lived in, it was one of those built to sell deals. Anyway, my wife and I were having a nice picnic on the living room floor waiting for the moving guys when she saw a spider on her leg. She swiped it off onto the new rug…
we are from connecticut. we know not of the creepy crawlies of the desert south west -
She said. Wow that spider has a tail. So I got a closer look and it started backing up to me. the the tail suddenly went from being dragged behind the body to full on arch.
Oh it’s a scorpion dear! I said. I turned and looked around and she was up and on the bar…
Nuff said. The Orkin man was there and the place was thoroughly checked every two weeks. Turns out we had quite an infestation. They were living in our fireplace… And seeing how I wasn’t cat Broken at the time we had no midnight stalkers to go kill the little buggers.
BTW, stepping on them is the easiest way to kill them. I’ve never heard of tracking eggs through your house.
Yeah, that kind of infestation could be a lot of trouble. Lots of sweat stains on the upholstery, empties everywhere, and all the bites are in embarrassing places!
The photographs are making me sick. Fucking sick. I wish I could learn to like bugs. I’ve tried, believe me I 've tried. What does it cost to de-bug your house every two weeks?
My favorite episode of “Blind Date” involved a scorpion. They set this “goofy” (he wore a fluffy skiiing hat with a sportjacket) guy up with this girl, they get to the restaurant and everything’s going alright and then he says “I have a present for you” and pulls out a big box.
And opens it up to reveal this GIANT SCORPION. The thing is huge. The girl starts freaking out, while the guy plays with the GIANT SCORPION, talking about how cool they are, and he puts it on his head! The girl finally starts crying, yells at him, and storms out. Dude’s reaction? A genuinely baffled…
In my three year old house, I have found three scorpions, one each year:
Year one - cleaning the basement, I find a wee one dead, caught in some webs.
Year two - in our kitchen, in the light fixture on the ceiling, one of those halongen rectangular screen thingys I see the outline of a scorpion, not moving. Further examination shows that it too is dead (and I swear there are no bugs in our kitchen, we keep it really clean).
Year three - specifically last Thursday. I’m on the pc when I hear the wife SCREAM from the bedroom. I run up and it seems that a scorpion about an inch long was CRAWLING ON HER LEG… IN BED! We strip down the sheets and look all around the room, but we see no other.
