Funny how modern life is oblivious to creatures that have inspired humans for millennia. People have associated creatures with knowledge, water, moods, fertility and . . . you name it. They weren't just pests; they were tied in with consciousness, including our own. Scorpions, for example, were borrowed to represent one of the twelve archetypes of the zodiac.
We saw our first scorpion in the garage not long after we first moved in. It was my very first. There are no scorpions in Puget Sound, and I don't remember any in Sydney. We killed it and worried about more. Then we found a dead scorpion in the house upon our return after summer on Whidbey. We put it in a jar as a curiosity. Then there was the time Shari blithely picked up a live scorpion in our bedroom closet, like a piece of yarn. She quickly realized her mistake. The scorpion was sluggish. We killed it. A couple of mornings ago, as I was playing solitaire in the living room, a little scorpion dashed across in front of me. I killed it.
But the biggest fellow we ever saw was in the backyard; almost five inches long. It was still alive, but clearly its best days were past. I got some video of it moving, but soon it fell over on its back and that's how it died.
They say the little ones are more poisonous. It was a little one that bit me on a small toe. I didn't realize it at the time. For about a day I thought I had a small, slightly burning sliver in my toe. Then it went away. A couple of days later I found the little scorpion in the dining room, dead. I had stepped on it in my bare feet.
So this is why we fear scorpions? If my personal experience is representative, they are on the same level as honey bees and wasps.
We saw our first scorpion in the garage not long after we first moved in. It was my very first. There are no scorpions in Puget Sound, and I don't remember any in Sydney. We killed it and worried about more. Then we found a dead scorpion in the house upon our return after summer on Whidbey. We put it in a jar as a curiosity. Then there was the time Shari blithely picked up a live scorpion in our bedroom closet, like a piece of yarn. She quickly realized her mistake. The scorpion was sluggish. We killed it. A couple of mornings ago, as I was playing solitaire in the living room, a little scorpion dashed across in front of me. I killed it.
They say the little ones are more poisonous. It was a little one that bit me on a small toe. I didn't realize it at the time. For about a day I thought I had a small, slightly burning sliver in my toe. Then it went away. A couple of days later I found the little scorpion in the dining room, dead. I had stepped on it in my bare feet.
So this is why we fear scorpions? If my personal experience is representative, they are on the same level as honey bees and wasps.
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