New creepy crawly found this morning in house

[TritonGlenn]

Since arriving in TX and moving into our new home, I have come across all kinds of bugs, reptiles, etc... that I've never seen before. In the past month, I've found a Walking Stick, Chameleon's, Anole's, some really mean looking stinging catapillars, and then this morning, the one we didn't want to find in our house.



My mother in law had brought a little encapsulated souveinier Scorpion at a gift shop to give to my young son. We told him, "If you ever see one of these, DON'T TOUCH IT!... and come get one of us." Well, at 7am, he comes running into my bedroom yelling "Daddy! There's a Scorpion in the house!" I jumped up and went run into the foyer to find that he was right - a little live Scorpion was right in the middle of the ceramic tile in the foyer. I grabbed a Mason jar in a attempt to catch him alive. Wow! When cornered, these little buggers move fast! I did catch him though, and he is now in the Mason jar (Dead now).



I am so happy that my mother in law showed him what they look like, and that my son did exactly as told. We are so nervous about him getting stung by something around here, as bugs, reptiles, etc... are abundant around here, and to make matters worse - he loves creepy-crawly's. He's got 4 "bug houses" that he has been catching stuff with. We have been teaching him what to stay away from, but there are so many species, it's hard to cover everything.



We have said we were going to do it several times since getting here, but this morning confirms it - we need to get some Epi pens, just in case.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[TrepMan]

Glenn - We never saw any when we lived in Houston, but in Atlanta suburbs we find them under every rock/log and a few times a month in the kitchen in the AM. The ones we find are small, maybe 1 inch total length. My oldest actualy had a full sized Emperior scorpion as a pet for a few years, those big black emperiors are not any more poisonous then a bee sting unless you are allergic.



Tex and others from the Lone Star state, are the local indeginous scourpions deadly or just a bother if stung??



Trep

 

[TritonGlenn]

Trep,

We read up on them before coming here, and we talked to several people who had been stung or had a family member stung. No deaths in any of the stories we heard, but made a couple of people really sick, and most of the time they reported extreme swelling, burning, etc... The worst we heard of was when a guy stuck his hand into a in-ground recessed opening to turn on a water sprinkler and had a female scorpion with babies on her back wack him good. He said his hand swelled up pretty good, and the site stung quite a bit.

All the best,

Glenn

 

[Dan McCloskey]

Glenn,



What part of San Antonio are you in. I haven't ran into any but will Keep an eye out for them. I am out in Cibolo Near FM 78.



Dan................

 

[Larry Harp]

I grew up in Dallas. We had them a lot there. I'll never forget when I was at Boy Scout camp at Lake Texoma a kid got stung on the neck by one that was stuck to the old school Mae West style lifejacket that we wore when canoeing. He was hurting pretty bad. I've never been stung by one but I understand that it's somewhat worse than a Red Wasp or Yellowjacket sting. I have heard that the desert variety that lives in Arizona can be deadly, but I'm not sure of that.



Glenn, be careful to check your shoes and clothes hanging in the closet. They like to hide in dark places. The only one I've seen since I've lived in Okla was hiding in a briefcase that I had left slightly open. I would imagine they would make a small child petty sick.



Trep, not so sure you got good information about the Black Emperor Scorpion. A friend of mine who used to own a pet shop sold them. He said lawyers were especially fond of them. He would clip the stinger with fingernail clippers and then suture it with a lit cigarette so it wouldn't grow back. One time, one of them got away from him and he caught it up against his belly. It nailed him good. He got sick as a dog with a fever and the sting swelled up and abscessed like a Brown Spider bite. I would be nervous with my kid playing with one that hadn't been de-stingered.

 

[TritonGlenn]

I'm in a new subdivision - Alamo ranch off of 1604 right where it hits 151 - near seaworld

 

[Texas Transplant]

Typically, unless you are very alergic to these types of bites, they are uncomfortable and make you sick. However . . . . Certainly not surprised that down there in Alamo country, they are there. Starting to get like the desert around that part of the state.



Tex

 

[Dan Poff]

I lived in Texas for 13 years and had a few run ins with them. If you are living in pretty new construction you might want to have your attic sprayed, they like the heat.



They only have a sting like a yellowjacket. I think the scare you more then they hurt.



I remember one night sitting in the middle of the living room floor watching TV and saw something crawl across the floor and onto my leg, it then crawled across my leg and back onto the floor. I got up and turned on the light and it was a scorpion, never did sting me. Maybe he didn't like Italian!



Shelbydad