My unwanted houseguest

[tacman605]

Well the weather is getting cooler so the local critters are trying to find someplace warm to go. I always check my boots and clothes before putting them on now I will double check.

Fortunately I found him before he found me. I happen to be sitting at the computer and looked down and he was at the edge of my shower shoes.

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This is what is known as a DeathStalker scorpion. The sting will not normally kill a healthy adult but kids and the elderly with health problems are not so lucky and each persons reaction is different. There is no anti-venom available.

I grabbed a glue trap and through it on top of him so he is upside down in the pic. We later removed him from the trap and put him in the pet cage kept in the MED SHED with the very large female Black Widow spider. So far nothing has happened but she was just fed yesterday. We have found that even as aggressive as the Camel Spiders are they are no match for the Scorpions and the Scorpions are no match for the Black Widows.

I was bitten by a Camel Spider last year in Iraq while asleep and it was a long painful experience. Although they have no venom they will feed on anything and crawl on the ground so they are full of all sorts of bacteria. I ended up having surgery and a quarter size piece of the back of my hand was removed.

Here is one we caught in Iraq about 3 1/2 inches across. Please keep in mind we do not catch these for fun. If it can be safely caught we keep them to show new people coming in what they are. The poster is from I believe Desert Storm. It is not a good idea to sleep on the ground. These things are not friendly at all and cannot be safely handled without gear. They are also very fast and can jump.
Even though they are nicknamed a "camel spider" they are not a true spider.

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[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Brad426]

Even though it's been nearly 20 years since I was stationed at Ft Hood, I still shake my shoes out every time before I put them on because of guys like your little friend there.

[RightyLefty]

A while back I saw "I Shouldn't Be Alive" or a similar show that had an episode of a female soldier in Iraq who almost died from a Deathstalker scorpion. IIRC, I believe she was stung twice which made it worse than it otherwise would have been.

[WHEC724]

Yeesh. I hope they pay you well over there.

I've never even heard of a camel spider. It looks like a freakin alien!

[buckeye .45]

The critters over there can be downright pre-historic looking.

We used to hear camel spiders run across the metal roof of buildings in Iraq at night. Nasty little critters.

[Fausty]

i may or may not be focusing on entomology when it comes time in school. right now the program i am in is just for general sciences. very cool find. you can mail it to me if you want. my buddy and i both keep snakes and arthropods. he has a northern black widow and would be super jealous. i will send you a tube of chew and some playboys.

[OldVet]

I hate spiders!

[goldshellback]

My wife thinks my sidearms are solely for the purpose of dispatching spiders, but she'll pick up a snake or a scorpon with next to no reservation.

I havent delt with too many camel spiders but those scorpons love nesteling down my boots or my pile of dirty clothes.

Great pics and post Tacman!

[Old Sarge]

I also live in Arkansas, and two days in a row, had one of these scorpions drop off the upper casing around the door, when I opened it. Fortunately, they fell onto my arm/hand, and i shook them off, and stepped on them. Rather odd, two in two days. Hope I got Poppa, and Momma, and the kids are no longer around.

[msgt/ret]

Our barracks in RVN actually had angled pegs sticking out of the wall for us to put our boots on to prevent unwanted critters from getting into them and staying.

[Harryball]

That thing is nasty...

[Ghettokracker71]

Yikes! Glad I've never had to deal with scorpions ,...I grew up on an old hog farm with a natural creek that ran along the property and a small pond. We had snakes, lots and lots of snakes.We also had plenty of black widows around,... Snakes don't bother me, but,..a dang scorpion!?

[oldnfat]

Had a brief encounter with a small scorpion a couple of weeks ago. Little bugger got in my uniform pants at work and stung me twice before I could get him out. He was small and of a lesser venomous type I guess. Mild discomfort which was relieved by applying "Sting Kill". Much more vigilant now when dressing.

[svgheartland]

I can't stand hornets and dog fights. Two years in the desert and scorpions don't bother me. But that spider you've got there.....that'd get to me pretty quick I think.

[varob]

You'd think they would spray around your living quarters like they do in Arizona?