Scorpions . . .

[Kevin]

Not the band. The spider-ish thingy with that dreadful stinger. Over the past 12 years I think I've seen 1 scorpion in the house, but this summer I've killed at least 5 or 6 I have lost count. One of them ended up in my empty glass on my bedside table where I keep water to drink in the night when I wake up. I do it in the dark. Can you imagine if I had forgot the glass was empty and taken a big swig!

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think scorpions can climb up slick glass, so the ONLY way that thing could have gotten in there was to drop or fall from the ceiling! Nothing was near enough the glass for it to have crawled up and over. The glass sits beside my Glock 20 but it's a very tall glass and he couldn't make the jump from the Glock to inside the glass. It was a bit unnerving to see that damned thing in my water glass! I've since replaced the glass with a closed container.

I've been bitten and stung by many things but never by a scorpion, even though I've encountered many close calls working under cars trucks and houses. I hear it's worse than a hornet but never got stung by a hornet either. Lots of bees and wasps.

Is anyone else noticing a huge increase in scorpions this year?

 

[Tony]

I haven't noticed any more here but you better be dam careful! Shake your boots out before you put them on in the morning! Tony

 

[woodman6415]

I've killed two in house in last year ... not many compared to the avg 12 to 15 killed every year back in San Angelo ... were always bad there

 

[woodman6415]

BTW ... I have been stung more than once ... it hurts about 20 times worse than a wasp sting ...

 

[gman2431]

Another reason I will never live in the South...

You sure Mrs. Kevin wasn't setting ya up? If the chainsaw can't do it maybe the scorpion will?!?!

 

[ripjack13]

I haven't seen any around here....

 

[NeilYeag]

Ah yep, more than a few around here. Along with other nasty crawlers. The worst are these giant centipede things, maybe 6 - 8" long. Since most people in the villages sleep on the floors these things crawl in the night and bite. Really nasty bites for a kid, surely a trip to the hospital.

 

[CWS]

Another reason I will never live in the South...

You sure Mrs. Kevin wasn't setting ya up? If the chainsaw can't do it maybe the scorpion will?!?!

For God's sake @Kevin don't try to kill them with a chainsaw in the dark. Just say'in

 

[Kevin]

For God's sake @Kevin don't try to kill them with a chainsaw in the dark. Just say'in

Thanks for the reminder Curt - I had just brought the saw in the house but I'll heed your warning . . . .

 

[Kevin]

Ah yep, more than a few around here. Along with other nasty crawlers. The worst are these giant centipede things, maybe 6 - 8" long. Since most people in the villages sleep on the floors these things crawl in the night and bite. Really nasty bites for a kid, surely a trip to the hospital.

Those centipedes sound nasty. All the equatorial countries are full of nasty things just looking to unload their venom into you. I imagine you have beds in your home. Do you get snakes inside very often?

 

[vegas urban lumber]

i suggest you freeze dry those scorpions take to casting them in something wood you can turn. how about in one of those peckermills

 

[Kevin]

i suggest you freeze dry those scorpions take to casting them in something wood you can turn. how about in one of those peckermills

I've never been into that type of thing - insects cast in resin just looks "cheap" to me for a lack of a better word. Kind of touristy if you will.

 

[Mike1950]

I think maybe you need something bigger caliber for those slimey crawly stingy things but maybe the glock probably would be adequate... Scorpions--- add these to list of things that prevent me from moving south.....

 

[woodman6415]

Did somebody say centipedes ???
Was doing some yard work last week ... picked up a large rock and this ran out .... damn near gave me a heart attack .... I have killed three this year .... one in the house upstairs bedroom in the guest bed ...




7 inches long .. and just damn mean looking ...

 

[Kevin]

Did somebody say centipedes ???
Was doing some yard work last week ... picked up a large rock and this ran out .... damn near gave me a heart attack .... I have killed three this year .... one in the house upstairs bedroom in the guest bed ...


View attachment 114810

7 inches long .. and just damn mean looking ...

Yikes. I don't know much about centipedes and millipedes so I looked that one up. It's called a Giant Redheaded Centipede. According to the website Texas High Plains Insects it packs a terrible sting.

THE BITE:

The centipede has a very painful bite. And, as previously mentioned, the giant redheaded centipede has venomous claws with which it latches onto prey. The bite is not fatal, but causes extreme pain, irritation, and swelling. The centipede has been known to eat insects, mice, small snakes and small mammals. The legs of the centipede have sharp tips. As the centipede walks along something like human skin, it leaves little cuts that can become severely irritated and swell, along with if the creature becomes alarmed it can excrete poison into the fresh cut with its feet. To be safe, do not handle the giant redheaded centipede. (emphasis in original)

I also read that the bite *can* be fatal contrary to what that article said. Here's a firsthand account of the sting from the site bugguide.net:

first hand account of being bitten
I had an experience with one of these giant black centipedes with the red head and yellow legs. It was in the early 80's and was standing talking to a couple of friends on top of a mountain in SE Oklahoma when I felt something crawling near my knee under my blue jeans. I stupidly swatted it under my jeans and then felt whatever it was now crawling fast past my knee onto my thigh, stinging as it went. I dropped my pants quickly to discover this thing latched onto my thigh with his head held fast and his body wriggling like crazy. I swatted it away and my leg was in severe burning pain. By the time I made it home my entire leg was swollen and red with about 7 individual bite or sting marks lined up from my knee to my thigh. I called the emergency room to see if I should come see them, and they told me as long as I was breathing ok I should be fine. I didn't know at the time about using baking soda paste but by the next day the swelling was down and recovering. I was 27 at the time and I've been stung by wasps, a swarm of yellow jackets, a bumble bee, and a scorpion, red ants, fire ants, and this was by far the most painful of any of those (maybe because of the number of bites by a large insect). The scorpion was probably the next worst, only a single sting in the palm of my hand.
… Roym57, 12 October, 2012 - 2:11pm

 

[Mike1950]

add redheaded centipedes to my list above-- Yikes crawled up his leg- what if he got further up......

 

[NeilYeag]

Those centipedes sound nasty. All the equatorial countries are full of nasty things just looking to unload their venom into you. I imagine you have beds in your home. Do you get snakes inside very often?

We have had a few small snakes in the front section of the house in the village. Call some of the neighbor guys to track the damn things down and dispatch them. Then they take it home and cook it up!

 

[vegas urban lumber]

We have had a few small snakes in the front section of the house in the village. Call some of the neighbor guys to track the damn things down and dispatch them. Then they take it home and cook it up!

there's a creative solution for every problem

 

[Tony]

Did somebody say centipedes ???
Was doing some yard work last week ... picked up a large rock and this ran out .... damn near gave me a heart attack .... I have killed three this year .... one in the house upstairs bedroom in the guest bed ...


View attachment 114810

7 inches long .. and just damn mean looking ...

Up until he moved back to Denton a couple weeks ago my son worked in a restaurant here as a dishwasher. The restaurant is up in the Hill Country in a newly developed area. Came in one morning, moved a stack of dishes at his work station and found one of those. Said he jumped 3 feet in the air and screamed like a girl! Tony

 

[Sprung]

@Tony - this is part of why I prefer living in the frozen tundra, as you view it!!!!