I Found a Scorpion!
It’s always cool to walk through the same forest that you’ve walked through a hundred times and still find something new. On this day, I found scorpions! This is a southern devil scorpion (Vaejovis carolinianus). This is the first scorpion I’ve found in the wild since I was a child. I didn’t even know they were in this particular forest until today. I was looking at a mushroom growing on a chunk of wood – moved it for a better look at the mushroom and saw 2 of these scorpions.
After looking up more about them, it makes sense why I haven’t seen them around. They’re nocturnal, and I typically walk during the day. I also don’t normally flip things over. So, I’ve probably walked by hundreds of them over the years.
Some interesting stuff I learned while identifying: they give birth to live young one at a time, up to as many as 80 baby scorpions. The young hang out on mom until their first molt. Scorpions can survive under water for up to 6 days. They can go up to 1 year without eating. I knew that they glow under a black/UV light but what I didn’t know is they will also glow under natural moonlight. Also, the exoskeleton is not reactive to UV after a molt until it hardens. You can see this phenomenon in some of my gallery photos where I am holding a UV light near the scorpion.
Scorpions are arachnids like spiders and ticks. They can sting, it does hurt (I did not get stung). If you are stung by a southern devil scorpion, you should look elsewhere for medical advice. I am not a doctor. The stinging tip is called a telson. Typically, they will grab prey with their pincers and sting with the telson. Humans aren’t prey, so there’s nothing to worry about unless you’re messing with them. Don’t mess with it if you don’t want to be stung.
