Was chased by a scorpion... Never knew these bastards are that aggressive.

Decided to go house hunting in Southern California desert. Realtor warned us desert living is not for everyone. I didn’t pay attention, what could be worse than being stuck on an island? Fuck was I wrong...

First you guys that have never seen one in person need to know these fuckers camouflage well inside a home. They’re basically invisible on the edges of beige freshly paint walls.

"Don’t move..." My partner whispered. Not sure why the hell he was fucking whispering, not like these things have ears.

He opened the patio door, gently handed me a broom and told me, "there’s a scorpion right by your foot."

I placed the broom bristles up against its body and holy shit, literally went around the broom towards my feet. Lifted its tail and pincers up; darted towards me!!! I’ve never screamed so hard in my life, it then stopped and ran towards my partner then he screamed.

We then laughed, it was the size of a 11 inch shoe, but it’s mean and, "don’t fuck with me," is a thing of nightmares. We see these things on nature tv and think they are push overs... sooooo fucking wrong lol. These bastards fucking go after you if you piss em off.

Glad to hear you and yours didn't get nailed by the Kombat Skorpion.

Some important medicines are analogs of some components of scorpion venom, but other components are, well, just wicked nasty.

Give your boots a shake every morning before you pull 'em on, pardner.

"

crunkatog wrote:

Glad to hear you and yours didn't get nailed by the Kombat Skorpion.

Some important medicines are analogs of some components of scorpion venom, but other components are, well, just wicked nasty.

Give your boots a shake every morning before you pull 'em on, pardner.

Oh damn, I just read babies like the inside of shoes...

Tarantulas can be mean beans too. My brother had 5 at one point.

Yeah those "spooky" bugs are a lot faster and aggressive than most people think.

Scorpions, much like snakes and spiders, aren't aggressive, but defensive. The simplest way to get rid of them is to simply cause a racket near them and they'll scurry away. Obviously you're going to get their backs (and in this case stingers) up if you attack them, even loads of people would react aggressively to that! If you find one next to your foot again, just slowly step away and it likely won't respond. Then just rap the ground nearby a few times to let it know this isn't a great place to be around anymore.

For what's it's worth, if you do wish to take it on (not advised), then the proper method is to approach it (very) slowly and get your fingers around its tail, just below the stinger. When ready, instantly grab the tail and lift it up with that. You can then toss it away or cut off the tail (if you're feeling mean - they'll die without it) or whatever. They won't be able to get to you with you holding them like that. Mind you, if you're skittish then don't bother - you'll more than likely drop the bugger out of fright as soon as you feel if wriggling in your hands, and then it's up in the air as to whether it runs away or comes after you.

But yeah, trying to sweep it away with a broom isn't a good idea. They're quick bugs, that's kinda their whole key to survival.

HoAG OP NERF PLX

It's the small scorpions that you really need to watch out for. One the size of an 11 inch shoe is a pretty large one. It'll hurt if they sting you, but the venom won't be lethal. They don't need potent venom, because they're large enough to kill their prey and defend themselves without it.

There are devices you can get that emit ultrasonic frequencies that keep arachnids away. Considering scorpions are arachnids, it probably works on them too.

https://spiderexterminators.org/ultrasonic-spider-repellent/

I can confirm these type of devices work. I know people who have roofed in patios, and those are typically a den for various spiders, and these devices will keep them away from your patio. Orb weavers (examples below) are pretty common spiders around here, and they're quite a nuisance if they get on your patios.

These types of spiders can take over a patio in no time, they can get quite large and look more menacing than they are in reality, but they're relatively harmless. I still don't want one dropping on my head from the ceiling of my patio when I walk out at night though. Just imagine one of these things actually crawling on you solwitch....

I used to rent this old farm house about 10 years ago, rent was super cheap, like $350/month, and it was a 2 bedroom house with a full basement. Anyway, this place was infested with brown recluse spiders. I woke up one morning with bite on my leg, and scratched at it as I was waking up. Then I was like, wait, this is actually pretty serious. Looked at the back of my leg, right on my calf muscle, and there was a spot that was blue and purple around the bite, and I knew it was something serious.

I went to the ER immediately, and they had to remove tissue that was damaged, and I still got a pit on the back of my calf muscle where they removed it. When I got back, I flipped my mattress over and moved everything around, and I found a whole nest of those fucking things in my bedroom. Big mommy was sitting there chilling right under my bed frame.... A fat brown recluse spider a little bigger than a quarter.

In the past, I remember getting woken up at night feeling like something was crawling on me, and I'd just casually swat it away, and go back to sleep. I thought it was maybe nerves, or hair on my body getting pressed and recoiling, etc. Never woke up with bites though until that one morning. If you actually feel something crawling on you in the middle of the night, even if you don't get bit you might want to double check just to make sure it's not brown recluse spider hatchlings.....

I ended up bug bombing the whole house, and probably went a bit overkill with the bug bombs. Bug bombs won't necessarily work, if they're well hidden behind or under stuff. 4 bombs per room, strategically placed.

Had an old pear of sneakers under my bed, and I picked one of them up and tapped it on the floor, and out comes another fat brown recluse who's super pissed off and starts scrambling on the floor before I squashed it.

Next time you buy a pack of bananas, you might want to double check and see what all you're getting in that bag.....



Those are venomous, by the way.

"

The Brazilian wandering spider is a highly venomous and aggressive spider. Also known as the ‘banana’ spider (because these spiders are frequently found in shipments of bananas), the Brazilian wandering spider ‘wanders’ the jungle floor as opposed to living in a lair or building a web.

BR BR hue hue hue - as they say.

maybe rename this thread the "Arachnophobia" thread

We had a problem with recluses for a while, they basically took over a closet and used it as a base to infiltrate every piece of furniture in the house.

Then there was the time we helped my uncle clear out some boxes of junk from his old apartment in Florida. He had some seashells in a cardboard box that had been sitting around indoors for a while. We shipped it to the new place and he was unloading it into a knickknack cabinet when he suddenly dropped what he was holding and backed away from the box.

Apparently he picked up a shell and out came a widow, boiling mad. I watched as he taped the box shut and kicked it out to the curb.