Scorpions on a plane!?!?!

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Dedalus

I was once camping in Arizona, not far from Tucson. My girlfriend and I were making a ring of rocks for a campfire, and under one of them was a scorpion.

She got inside of our tent so fast she left a smoking trail on the ground, and zipped the door right up to the bottom of her nose. While I made a fire and cooked our dinner, she kept saying, "Honey, get in the tent...it's not SAFE out there!"

I think as long as you watch where you put your hands, and shake your boots out, there's not much to worry about. Like most venomous animals, they have no interest in you unless you threaten or surprise them.

Youre correct! Theyre NOT out to get you, unless you **** em off! Only then will you feel their power, and its not very pleasant! LOL A favorite spot for scorpions to hang out is, you guessed it, under rocks!

[sunrico90]

Scorpion Facts

Scorpions have lobster-like pincers and a venomous stinger in the tail.

Only 25 of 1,500 scorpion species are considered dangerous. No treatment is required, except for stings from the dangerous species.

Suspected victims of scorpion stings are usually kept under clinical supervision for 12 hours. Pain is relieved through local anesthetic.

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada


A scorpion that hitched a ride in a backpack onto a flight from Costa Rica got loose on board the Toronto-bound plane and stung a passenger Sunday, a newspaper reported.

The man was returning from a camping trip in Costa Rica and the scorpion is believed to have entered his bag undetected, the Toronto Star report stated.



During the American Airlines flight, the arachnid exited the bag, crawled up the man's leg and bit him on the back of the knee, airline officials told the newspaper.

When the plane arrived in Toronto, the man was treated by paramedics. The scorpion's venom was not lethal, according to animal control officials.

The plane was grounded as it was searched for other creatures, delaying other flights.

[plaidmom]

And don't they glow in the dark?
Which would make them the coooolest bugs on the planet.
(I'm sure Steve-o will correct me if I'm wrong)

[Steve-o]

Scorpions dont "bite", they dont have teeth. They sting. The mouth pieces are nothing to worry about, its the stinger at the end of the tail that you need to watch out for.

Plaidmom, they dont glow in the dark per se, but rather flouresce when a blacklight is shone upon them.In other words, they cannot store light and glow at night, but only glow when subjected to blacklight, something in the exoskeleton causes this (and arachnologists still dont know what causes it to flouresce). Here is a picture of one of my scorpions under blacklight (an Arizona desert hairy scorpion--Hadrurus arizonensis).

[MoMark]

I'm wondering is someone is placing them on the planes intentionally? I can't imagine them getting on the planes otherwise and why it suddenly occurs in two incidents?
If I'd known that scorpions loved cockroaches, I'd have covered my house in Las Vegas with them and worn thigh boots around the house!

[WazzuCoop21]

Originally Posted by MoMark

I'm wondering is someone is placing them on the planes intentionally? I can't imagine them getting on the planes otherwise and why it suddenly occurs in two incidents?
If I'd known that scorpions loved cockroaches, I'd have covered my house in Las Vegas with them and worn thigh boots around the house!

Sounds like disgruntled employees to me...

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by MoMark

I'm wondering is someone is placing them on the planes intentionally? I can't imagine them getting on the planes otherwise and why it suddenly occurs in two incidents?
If I'd known that scorpions loved cockroaches, I'd have covered my house in Las Vegas with them and worn thigh boots around the house!

The scenario is simple: someone goes on vacation to an area of the country where scorpions thrive. He/she leaves a bag on the floor (purses, etc included). Scorpion crawls into said item, then crawls out and onto the plane. It happens quite often, more so than gets reported Im sure. Its only when someone gets stung that it gets any publicity.

Reminds me of another story from the summer of '06. Some paleontologists were digging up dinosaur bones in Utah and made a resin cast of a dinosaur bone. The cast was shipped off somewhere, I forget exactly where, and a year later they found a scorpion inside the cast, completely alive. Scorpions are very hardy and can survive an entire year w/o food and water. Who knows how long that scorpion was hiding on that plane...

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by kdizzle

Sounds like disgruntled employees to me...

According to the report: A scorpion that hitched a ride in a backpack onto a flight from Costa Rica got loose on board the Toronto-bound plane and stung a passenger Sunday, a newspaper reported.

The man was returning from a camping trip in Costa Rica and the scorpion is believed to have entered his bag undetected, the Toronto Star report stated.

But anything is possible...

[ExNYC]

I've read that airlines are cutting costs by cleanig the planes less often and, presumably, less thoroughly. That scorpion could have been on the plane for awhile.

Scorpions eat cockroaches? Heck, every New York apartment dweller should know about this. Set up a shop on the corner of 42 and Park and you'll be rich in a week. :-D

So now, what, we have to go through a machine that detects creatures as well as toothpaste? Oh, and guns, yeah. Sheesh. I think I'll walk.