Brazil invaded by scorpions

[Balog]

http://www.yahoo.com/s/636769

Link leads to an AP video. No sound on this machine, but it certainly looks cool.

[AmbulanceDriver]

Ok.  I don't know about the rest of you, but those little SOB's give me a serious case of the willies.....

[Silver Bullet]

No like-um.

The last time I found one in my house I spent the next four months checking the bedsheets every night before going to bed.   

In Arizona, I'm told that the only species that can climb walls and ceilings is also the only dangerous species.   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_bark_scorpion

We'll be glad to ship ours to Brazil if they get to liking them.  I'll bet they make a great stew, seasoned with a little stinging nettle.   

[charby]

giant badgers, giant squids and now scorpions? 

Must be a couple slow weeks for the news.

I'm waiting for a water skiing squirrel next.

[bedlamite]

giant badgers, giant squids and now scorpions? 

Must be a couple slow weeks for the news.

I'm waiting for a water skiing squirrel next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncg5iHVVKwM

[Brad Johnson]

Scorpions are a fact of life around these parts.  Growing up it was common to find them in all kinds of places.  Try sitting on one sometime.

Brad

[crt360]

When I was a kid we used to have family reunions at a little old schoolhouse out in the country.  There was a place where hundreds of scorpions gathered near the building.  We always looked forward to messing with them.  I have no idea how we avoided being stung.  I don't think much of seeing them outside, but I get a bit uneasy when I find one crawling around in the bedroom.

[El Tejon]

All those years in Texas and I never saw one.

Climate is too tough for them up here.  I would have loved to grow up playing with them. 

Can you make them fight?  Put them in a glass or something?

[Boomhauer]

Well, my father went to put on his pants one time. Unfortunatly, there were two scorpions resting in the crotch area.

I have been stung by them twice. The small ones, now. The first time was on my finger while I was asleep, and hurt like hell.

Ok.  I don't know about the rest of you, but those little SOB's give me a serious case of the willies.....

You also need to go find the Youtube video of the giant centipedes that eat mice...

[RocketMan]

I woke up one morning in the Australian bush (Kangaroo II operation in late '76).  On moving the pile of PRC-77 radios I had slept up against that night, I found a bunch of small scorpions had crawled underneath.  Black shiny ones, fuzzy looking ones, little brown guys, all kinds.
I had a brief thought about what it would have been like had one skittered down my collar while I slept.  But then I considered the two snakebites that had occurred among the company the previous day, and the scorpions were a bit of an anticlimax.
You should have seen the CH-46 come in for the snakebite medivacs, though.  Talk about some amazing flying...

[crt360]

All those years in Texas and I never saw one.

Climate is too tough for them up here.  I would have loved to grow up playing with them. 

Can you make them fight?  Put them in a glass or something?

On a hot summer day, find something like a sheet of plywood or tin that's been laying flat on the dirt for a long time.  Flip it over.  See scorpions.  At least that works pretty well down here.  Stand back and use a stick first, in case there's a rattler or copperhead under there.

As I recall, we did get them to fight.  We also set up encounters with scorpions and other insects.

Well, my father went to put on his pants one time. Unfortunatly, there were two scorpions resting in the crotch area.

I'm assuming they stung him?  Good god, man, that is horrible!  And another reason why I picked people over animals - people don't hide in your pants and inflict incredible pain on your special parts.

You also need to go find the Youtube video of the giant centipedes that eat mice...

I've encountered some awesomely scary centipedes around here that were easily 8"+ in length.

[MechAg94]

I grew up about an hour West of Houston running around the woods.  We didn't see many scorpions, but they were there.  You could find an old log or stump and find them under the bark.  Too many fire ants, spiders, and snakes to compete with I guess.  Snakes were the biggest danger.  I remember at least a handful of times walking up on a copperhead curled up in the cow trail.  Between fire ants, cow manure, and snakes you pretty much got used to watching where you put your feet.  We also tended to shuffle around rather than stand in one place with feet planted when standing around talking.  It is interesting when you think about some of the habits you picked up in childhood like that.


I went to scout camp out near San Antonio.  We slept on cots that were on top of wooden pallets.  When we left, we had to fold up the cots and stack up the pallets.  There were several big scorpions under every pallet. 

[Sindawe]

Try sitting on one sometime.

You think thats bad?  Try seeing it from the scorpions viewpoint of being sat apon by a big clumsy human! LOL

You want cool video, check out the dance moves this jumping spider does to impress a lady friend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D92AUXhYZ0M

[Balog]

I was probably 5 or 6 when I stepped on one in my parents bedroom and it stung my foot. Ouchie for such a small person.

[LadySmith]

You want cool video, check out the dance moves this jumping spider does to impress a lady friend.

That little spider has got game. 
First time I found scorpions, I caught four & put them all in a coffee can. When I checked on them later on that day, three were gone and the remaining one was a bit bigger. I let it go.

[Stand_watie]

You want cool video, check out the dance moves this jumping spider does to impress a lady friend.

That little spider has got game. 
First time I found scorpions, I caught four & put them all in a coffee can. When I checked on them later on that day, three were gone and the remaining one was a bit bigger. I let it go.

I find them in my (concrete lined) mailbox on occasion. Found one at work recently. They like to hide in cool places it seems. I've been told that our Texas variety have about as harmful a sting as a particularly bad wasp. Since they're a lot less ambulatory than wasps, a lot less common, and don't have a whole hive to come back their play, I feel a lot better about them than the agressive varieties of wasps (we have one we call "dirt daubers" that seem utterly harmless, and even our red wasps don't seem to bother you unless you screech and flail about a lot).

My old timer neighbors tell me that we've a lot fewer scorpions now, due to them being wiped out by the fire ants. I'll gladly trade back.

[Sindawe]

and even our red wasps don't seem to bother you unless you screech and flail about a lot

I think thats true with most wasps we find here in the U.S., or unless you are perceived as being a threat to the nest.  I encounter wasps most days for the summer and I've not been stung since I accidentally squashed one in High School.  The occasional errant one I capture in the house are understandably irate about being confined in jar, but fly off as soon as they are released outside.

Speaking of wasps and such, ever seen this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMS3KDNysM

[Stand_watie]

and even our red wasps don't seem to bother you unless you screech and flail about a lot

I think thats true with most wasps we find here in the U.S., or unless you are perceived as being a threat to the nest.  I encounter wasps most days for the summer and I've not been stung since I accidentally squashed one in High School.  The occasional errant one I capture in the house are understandably irate about being confined in jar, but fly off as soon as they are released outside.

Speaking of wasps and such, ever seen this video?

I haven't, but I'll have to catch it at work as I have dial up here at home

Thinking about it a bit more, Yellow jackets are the only wasp ("ish" not sure of they're technically a "wasp" or not) that I can think of that seem to me to be particularly agressive, that I've encountered. Bumblebees are stone cold killers after you whack at them with a broom a couple of times (Hey, I was 7), but I've never had one bother me unprovoked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMS3KDNysM

[Scout26]

Illinois, Lotsa snow during the nice cold winter.  So, no poisionous snakes, scorpions, killer bees (we do have yellow jackets and wasps, but if you leave them alone, they leave you alone.), or giant spiders.

While our gun laws may suck, at least Mother Nature isn't sending hordes of nasty creatures to kill/maim you.