# I Am On The Freeway Driving To Work And Notice A Scorpion Crawling On My Dashboard... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 28, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473 "2003-07-28T17:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/1 "2003-07-28T17:52:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/2 "2003-07-28T18:00:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DMark \* > I know that scorpion bites are only deadly to infants and the very old and weak. Still, I hear those bites sting like hell. [snark]If that’s what happens with a bite, god help you if you get stung by one.[/snark] ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/3 "2003-07-29T06:14:05Z")
Don’t they usually hang out in pairs? ---
**Author:** ![flood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@flood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flood)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/4 "2003-07-29T06:47:59Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/5 "2003-07-29T07:43:36Z")
Well. I think I’ll be staying in the scorpion-less midwest for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/6 "2003-07-29T08:09:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flood \* > \*\*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. ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/7 "2003-07-29T08:12:56Z")
Whoa, I don’t know what happened, there, but the second half of my post is missing two sentences, even though it was right in preview…? 😕 Anyway, that last line was supposed to read, “I’m not sure about the eggs, though…isn’t that cockroaches? But maybe it’s both?” Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/8 "2003-07-29T08:24:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DMark \* > Still, I hear those bites sting like hell. 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. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mudshark \* > Don’t they usually hang out in pairs? 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. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SanibelMan \* > Well. I think I’ll be staying in the scorpion-less midwest for a while now. One species does get into southern Illinois ;). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/9 "2003-07-29T10:02:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/10 "2003-07-29T10:20:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > 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. Well, if they had a long, thin whip-like tail, like this: [http://wrbu.si.edu/www/stockwell/photos/m\_giganteus2.jpg](http://wrbu.si.edu/www/stockwell/photos/m_giganteus2.jpg) …it’s a Whip-Scorpion or Vinegaroon ( Uropygid ) If they looked like the above but completely lacked a tail, like this: [http://wrbu.si.edu/www/stockwell/photos/p\_marginemaculatus.jpg](http://wrbu.si.edu/www/stockwell/photos/p_marginemaculatus.jpg) …it’a a Tailless Whip-Scorpion ( Amblypygid ) If it looked more elongate, with a big, mean-looking four-part mouth, like this: [http://wrbu.si.edu/www/stockwell/photos/solpugid3.jpg](http://wrbu.si.edu/www/stockwell/photos/solpugid3.jpg) …it’s a Sun-Spider ( Solpugid ) If it really did look exactly like a tail-less scorpion, but was really tiny, like this fellow: [http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/biodiv/spiders/Pseudoscorpion.htm](http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/%7epjbryant/biodiv/spiders/Pseudoscorpion.htm) …it’s a Pseudoscorpion ( Pseudoscorpionid ) - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/11 "2003-07-29T10:50:34Z")
I’m going to have nightmares now, thank you. I think they may have been those Sun-Spiders. They’re the right color, for one thing… ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/12 "2003-07-29T11:47:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![parlo\_americano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b19c9b/32.png) [@parlo\_americano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parlo_americano)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/13 "2003-07-29T12:31:31Z")
It could be worse! You could have these scorpions in your car!! [http://worldlyric.com/html/scorpions/photo2.html](http://worldlyric.com/html/scorpions/photo2.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/14 "2003-07-29T12:43:06Z")
> [@](#): > > It could be worse! You could have these scorpions in your car!! 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! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/15 "2003-07-29T12:44:15Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![NoDucks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@NoDucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoDucks)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/16 "2003-07-29T15:17:34Z")
> [@](#): > > It could be worse! You could have these scorpions in your car!! …Whistle solos at the most inopportune times… ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/17 "2003-07-29T17:21:09Z")
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… “Why does this always happen to me?” ---
**Author:** ![Undead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@Undead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/18 "2003-07-29T17:53:01Z")
Tamerlane, King of the Scorpions!!! XD ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/19 "2003-07-29T18:08:43Z")
You people can be as fun as bleeding hemmerhoids and diarreah. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473/20 "2003-07-29T18:12:05Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-on-the-freeway-driving-to-work-and-notice-a-scorpion-crawling-on-my-dashboard/191473.md?page=2)