VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 21:10:09 03/26/03 Wed
Author: jp
Subject: Re: Tales from the scorpion side
In reply to: miner 's message, "Tales from the scorpion side" on 16:20:30 03/26/03 Wed

>In follow-up to your "Arachnophobia" JP:
>
>i find it highly amusing and something i can really
>relate to when people have scorpion tales. when i
>lived in southern AZ i came upon one in my kitchen
>sink. normally, they are speed of light fast. i think
>maybe he/she was semi-retarded by having to come
>across some water as i believe it came up into my
>place through the plumbing. i smashed it before it
>could react and thought nothing more of it. didn't
>know that they usually travel in pairs. if you have
>one in your home, you most likely have another
>lingering somewhere. about 1-2 weeks later i get up in
>the morning and decide to do some dishes before going
>to work. the plastic tub or whatever you call 'em in
>the sink is full of dishes, and later to learn, a
>hidden scorpion. i fill it with soap and water and
>wash the dishes. when i think i'm done, i reach into
>the tub and grope around to make sure i got
>everything, no remaining silverware to wash. i have
>this shooting pain go through my finger and up through
>my arm. broken glass? a knife? it then dawns on me
>what it might be. i dump out the water and sure
>enough. kill it. being a yankee and completely
>ignorant of the situation i panic (come to learn later
>that most scorpions in the U.S., unless they're being
>brought in from mexico in produce, cannot make an
>adult sick unless you're allergic-i don't know about
>the species prevalant in certain parts of texas-but in
>southern AZ the most prevalant is the bark
>scorpion-small and light brown/dark yellow-quite
>benign except the pain they inflict)anyway, i freak
>and call the ER at the hospital i work at which is one
>town and 1/2 hour away. for some dumb reason they tell
>me not to take a chance or waste time and to go to the
>ER in the town i live. i BOLT over there and ask to be
>seen immediately!. some hippy pony tailed goateed male
>nurse with a badge declaring his nickname, something
>like "junior" casually meanders in and asks "what's
>up?" i tell him. he asks what the scorpion looked
>like. he tells me that if my only symptoms are local
>pain in the area where i was stung, then i'm probably
>not allergic and there is no problem. just ice it and
>take aspirin. i go to work feeling stupid and hurting,
>especially anytime i have to type. but i also learned
>a valuable lesson. so dearest fellow americans, don't
>worry about the scorpions in america, unless of course
>you know you are allergic, or if you have swelling,
>asphyxiation and shortness of breath. or if it turns
>out the scorpion was imported from another part of the
>world where the species may carry significantly more
>venom.

Hey Jay,

I just looked around at scorpion sites on-line, which was a highly traumatizing activity. The Texas A&M site, annoyingly, makes the claim that there is no species of scorpion in Texas that is considered lethal to man at http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insects/fieldguide/cimg364.html. Then, at http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/l-1678.html, it says that scorpions with even relatively low poison levels can produce fatal reactions in young children. It also mentions allergies. I was lucky enough to find a photo of a 65-pound scorpion at http://www.caver.net/other/story.html.

I read that the bark scorpion, the least painful common variety, is the most common, even out here, though nastier species are to be found. So I'll try not to cry like a baby if I see one. I'm pretty sure it's a lost cause, though.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.