I would like to tell you that I am going to share a picture of this incident with you, but I won’t. I can’t. I didn’t take the time to snap a picture because it all happened so fast, so you will have to settle for the mental image!!
Calm Before the Storm
My day was going so smoothly and quietly. I was calm and relaxed in my cool, dark home watching TV and I decided to get my kindle from the room. As I was striding into the hallway, I flipped the light on without slowing down. FREEZE!!!! Seriously…….I froze in place and was completely unable to form words!! Then, suddenly, as if someone slapped me on the back like you would do to a choking child, the word came flying out of my mouth. Repeatedly!! “Scorpion! Scorpion! SCORPION!!”
The Dance
I have made it through all 41 years of my life without ever crossing paths with these devils. They are tiny aliens with claws for hands and missiles on their tails. It was small in comparison to my reaction to it, but I didn’t care. It is a well-known fact that I hate bugs. I don’t mind a few, like butterflies and lady bugs, but most all bugs send me into a frenzy. This monster was about the size of my pinkie finger but that didn’t stop me from launching into a full dance show routine in my flip-flops. It was somewhat like an evolution of dance. I dropped a few moves like Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov in White Nights, slid in a couple of steps like Ne-Yo in Stomp the Yard, hip-hopped plenty of Channing Tatum moves from Step Up, and pirouetted like Natalie Portman in Black Swan. I wish I had video of the routine because it felt pretty epic. Kym tried to stop me but my dance routine was already in full swing and it was impossible to stop. I found out after the show that she tried to stop me because sometimes they carry babies on their back. {insert whole body shiver} The most amazing thing is that I managed to have a full-flailing dance party in the narrow hallway without causing any injury to myself. But, I can proudly say that I conquered the dance of the scorpion!!
I successfully destroyed the scorpion. My heart was racing and I was so happy to see that it was completely flat. Any longer of a tap dance would have turned him to dirt!! I still didn’t feel comfortable being close to it and it took a long time to scoop him up, using 2 pieces of paper so I never had to touch him!!
I know some of you may not agree with my handling of the situation and would suggest that I gently usher him outside, back to nature. I understand that all animals and bugs have a purpose. Nevertheless, if a mosquito lands on me, I will smack it…….if a snake is near me, I will kill it……..and if any unwanted bug gets into my house, I will unleash all of my wrath on it. I am not wildly going out and serial killing bugs, only the ones that invade my space.
Scorpion Info
After this incident, I wanted to learn more about scorpions so I did some research. Some of this information was obtained from Wikipedia. Read the entire article here.
- Scorpions have been here for 430 million years and are on every continent except Antartica.
- All scorpions have a venomous sting but most of them will not require medical treatment. Only about 25 of the 1000+ species are known to have venom that is capable of killing a human.
- They glow a blue-green color under a blacklight.
- The babies are carried on the mother’s back until they have undergone at least one moult.
- Scorpion anti-venom sells for about $12,000 per vial. So, let’s hope that we have insurance that will cover it if we ever need the anti-venom.
I do not have any personal pictures of scorpions to validate this information but you can google for pictures!! The pictures of the scorpions under a blacklight are really amazing.
Watch where you step and always pay attention to your surroundings. This goes for everyone in every situation. You never know what could be lurking!! {SHIVER}
