Ehhhh…I think this is being a bit alarmist. There is only one medically important species of scorpion in the United States, and that’s Centruroides exilicauda ( formerly Centruroides sculpturatus ), which is only found in scattered locations in the Southwest. Even that one is probably not deadly to most adults ( children and the elderly being a different matter of course ).
I’ve heard two accounts from people that have been stung by one. One described it as like hitting your hand as hard as you can with a hammer. The other thought it was akin to putting your hand on an oven burner, turning it up to high, and leaving it there. So it sucks . But it generally isn’t going to kill you.
Now allergic reactions are something else. That’s certainly a possibility, as with any venom. If you have known problems in this regard, I’d be as cautious as you would be with a bee-sting or anything else. Of course if you have an allergic reaction, you’re going to know it almost immediately and seek medical attention if you have any smarts anyway.
But if you just get bipped on your big toe by some local Tenessee scorpion and it just reacts like a garden variety bee-sting, I wouldn’t panic. Just IMHO, of course .
p.s. - C’mon Guinastasia, camping is FUN!! You can come scorpion blacklighting with me and the roomie some time .
[[One described it as like hitting your hand as hard as you can with a hammer. The other thought it was akin to putting your hand on an oven burner, turning it up to high, and leaving it there. So it sucks]]
And Tamerlane saying, Cool! A Centruroides exilicauda! (SHIT that smarts…) Wonder if this is the rare subspecies? Better count the supraorbital scales and check the habitat map…
Back to the sleeping bags, though, in Boy Scouts we always kept our sleeping bags inside out when we weren’t using them. The main reason isn’t even snakes or scorpions, it’s sweat. Let it air out every so often, and it’ll stink a lot less at the end of the week.
Water moccasins aren’t likely to be a problem unless you’re camping (duh) beside a body of water. I will say that in my experience water moccasins (a/k/a cotton-mouths) are more aggressive than the other poisonous snakes. Well “more aggressive” may be a little strong. I should say that they are more likely to stand their ground, and less likely to retreat than the other species. Since they don’t give a warning rattle, and are generally pretty well camouflaged, this means that it is easier to stumble onto a water moccasin and wind up bitten. I have narrowly dodged this fate (literally!) a couple of times.
They ain’t that rare. I’ve seen many of them in the mountains of north Georgia. I encountered them mostly under old lumber that had been stacked outside, so I assume that in the wild they probably hang out under logs or rocks and wait for prey. Never got stung by one, so I can’t offer any personal testimony as to the potency of their venom.
. But it generally isn’t going to kill you.
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