Scorpion Invasion

The first scorpion I ever saw in Thailand was in a small village in Si Sa Ket Province a few years back. Then last year I found one when I moved a smallish water jar which had been damaged by a branch falling from a tree next door. The scorpion was hiding under the jar and judging by how slowly it moved and how disoriented it seemed -- unable to make up its mind which direction to scuttle off in -- I think it had been hibernating or at least having a prolonged snooze.

Then a couple of days ago Pensri reported finding one in a sort of pit she had dug to start piling cuttings that would need to be burnt because they were too big to compost (greenhouse effect? in Phana?). Although I rushed over there with my camera, the scorpion had disappeared completely.

 

 

 

 

Then only about 10 minutes later Pensri found another one in a different part of the garden. Possibly it was the same scorpion although it would have had to move a lot faster and much more decisively than last year's specimen to have got to the new location in that time.

 

He is covered in bits of earth so he was hiding under a loose pile that may have been where Pensri first saw him.

 

 

I moved him onto this piece of concrete so that there was a bit more contrast and less tocamouflage him.Two red ants have attached themselves to his tail so there could be a battle of the venoms going on here. Scorpions eat small arthropods and insects so they are playing a dangerous game.

Apparently Thai scorpions (there is only the one species here) are fairly harmless. Their venom is about as powerful as a wasp sting but as with a wasp there is always the possibility of an allergic reaction which could be fatal.  They are nocturnal and hide in dark places such as under rocks and in holes in the ground during the day which is why you don't see them very often. They are preyed on by  birds, centipedes, lizards, mice, and rats.

 

 

Living  in the vicinity of snakes (and now scorpions) which are generally invisible, I have got used to the idea that they are not hiding from me so that they can plot ways of getting at me. I think I have also eliminated the desire to kill such creatures if I should see them. At the same time I have become more mindful when moving about the garden (and the house) so that I will hopefully be prepared if I do come across one. I suppose this makes me more like them, though in the case of the scorpion there was little he could do to take avoiding action once his hiding place had been revealed. He was certainly ready to do what he could to fend me off if I attacked him, though. He wasn't to know that I wouldn't do such a thing. 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Mike]

Lawrence I have only seen two scorpions here. One in the garden and a baby one in some vegetables from the market.

Like you I am hopefully now over the urge to dispatch anything that wriggles or scuttles around. I am of course careful where I put my hands etc

Convincing my Thai partner and Thai friends however is another matter.

[Martyn]

I remember the first time I saw a scorpion in Thailand and I believe I haven't seen one since. It was in Chachaengsao and on the end of a shovel. A bloke in his early twenties was holding the shovel and chasing me with it, albeit playfully but he hadn't told me. I thought at the time they were highly poisonous and set off at quite a pace with this bloke chasing after me. I wasn't amused. Now I know better.

[Lawrence]

Hi Mike and Martyn
Thailand seems to teach us lots of different, unexpected things, doesn't it? That must be one of the main joys of liiving in a culture that's not your own.

[Lawrence]

And thanks for dropping in again, guys!