Scary Scorpions

And speaking of spiders (see previous post), I'll never forget one day at my apartment in Georgia, I came out of the bedroom into the living room and saw all the cats gathered around something on the living room floor.  I went to investigate and couldn't believe what I saw - it was a little scorpion.  I had no idea there were scorpions in Georgia.  How it got inside I'll never know, but I totally freaked.  I had heard about how bad scorpion stings can be and had no idea whether any of the cats had been stung or not.  I quickly got something to pick it up with, got it contained, and, I confess, flushed it down the toilet!  Then I frantically called Poison Control.  As it turned out, the scorpions in Georgia aren't very lethal at all, although their sting can be painful.  I still watched the cats closely until I was sure everybody was okay.  I think it might have been one of these guys because it did have a pinkish hue, although these are supposed to be dark brown.  It was really small so I don't know if it was a baby or not.

Hentz Striped Scorpion (Centruroides hentzi) Source: floridiannature.com

You think of scorpions as desert dwellers, but scorpions can be found in places where there are no deserts that I know of - like Kentucky!  And I don't recall there being any deserts in Georgia either.  These guys live under leaf litter, bark, stones, or along dirt roads.  They can live three to five years. Some scorpions live up to 25 years or more.

There are over 1300 species of scorpions and are found on every continent except Antarctica.  Wikipedia claims that only 25 of those are venomous enough to kill a human.  How reassuring!  They are found in nearly every type of habitat except the coldest climates and they glow under a black light. They are also known to be nocturnal, but as I recall my scorpion showed up during the day.  Curious. 

Source: fireflyforest.net

One source says they love to eat cockroaches.  Everybody in New York City needs one of these.  Instead of flushing it down the toilet maybe I should have sent it to one of my friends in the City!