Saturday, August 23, 2008

Scorpion terror level orange


Reflections from the Backcounter


I could not make this stuff up...this morning at O dark hundred I was awakened by the whining (an improvement from the eardrum splitting howling) of the howler monkey puppy and thought that rather than get up for her I would read in bed for a while. Of course, one must first attend to the call of Mother nature and so not being a fool, I turned on the light, carefully scanned the bedroom floor to ensure that no well camouflaged scorpions were lurking and then trotted off to the bathroom.
I returned to the bed, settled in and started to read when I realized that there was something crawling on my arm.....and of course...being the scorpion magnet that I am...it was a scorpion...and not just any scorpion...this one was less that 1/4 of an inch in size and was a perfect miniature replica of the larger relative that I annihilated the other night....I have never seen such a tiny one...this leads me to the very unpleasant conclusion that there is in fact a breeding program underway and I have visions of tiny scorpions swarming all over me in my sleep...
I have a call in to the exterminator.....we used a black light(scorpions fluoresce) and found nothing.. We plan to use it every night for a while to scan the premises before turning in....I have a feeling I will be interested in purchasing army surplus night vision goggles..what a picture that would make as I slink thru the house in my nightshirt and flip flops ( no more bare feet) looking for the elusive scorpion...Of course the way things are going I think I would have a better chance of finding all the scorpions in the house if I just staked myself naked to the bedroom floor (think of Gulliver and the Lilliputians) and waited for them to come (I am after all a magnet)....


Not very peaceful at this moment,

Julia

8 comments:

Kayla said...

Wow. Scorpions?! Where do you live that you experience such visits? No scary scorpians where I am in Canada.

Anonymous said...

OMG! Holly terror, indeed! Yikes. How do sleep?

Ellie

Angela said...

This post scares the hell out of me!

Stay safe:)

Anonymous said...

HOOOOOOLY COW!!! Scorpions! No wonder you like New York scenery so much. The deadliest bug/critter we have around here are the rabid raccoons (which are rare enough, anyway). However, do not ask me about the very deadly politician who skulks in our closets, flipping through our wallets for any pocket change lying around...

There are plenty of empty homes in New York. :D You could always move out here. :D

chilly said...

WOW!! If you have some that looks like the one in the picture you posted, then YIKES! That thing looks real mean!
But I do know how you feel. I learned a year ago by a huge surprise that we have them in GA. also. Never heard of it here until I found four. Three in the house and one in the garage. Been told they only grow to about an inch long and not deadly. Only makes you bad sick for a little while. Better believe I keep an eye out for them now.

Sara said...

OMG! Whee in the heck do you live? I am not scared of bugs in the least, but that would freak me out so bad I would need $$$'s worth of therapy to make it right!

Anonymous said...

Wow...I am not the only one with a scorpion phobia...these crustacean land lobsters with a sting are ranking up there with rattlesnakes for me...at least I can hear a snake...so for all who are interested...we live in Scottsdale, Arizona...great climate, beautiful scenery, wonderful golf and the downside...snakes, scorpions, javelina and coyotes....one would think that I live ON the Discovery channel....Thanks for your comments. The exterminator comes tomorrow.
Julia

Anonymous said...

Having raised two kids in the Arizona desert, I can say that very few things gross me out, but this is truly digusting. Let me just say that I hope this mother of a scorpion had postpartum depression, because otherwise there would be no justice at all.

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