Last night I watched the beginning of 'Die Another Day', the one where Pierce Brosnan is captured in Korea and imprisoned for 14 months in an unknown facility. His torture regime consisted of being stung by scorpions. Now I can relate to this, not the torture bit, but the part where he is stung by a scorpion.
My first job after graduating from Leeds University was in Zimbabwe, where I worked in Save Valley Conservancy. A lot of my time was spent camping out in the bush and I had my own rondavel, a mud hut, where I slept many a nervous night expecting every animal in the immediate vicinity to join me - there was no door, just a wide gap saying 'come in here and make yourself at home'. Needless to say, only the creepy crawlies came to stay, and luckily not the resident leopard that I would hear coughing in the bush nearby each night. Unfortunately, one over friendly scorpion made his way into my sleeping bag and and as I rolled on top of him, he responded, rightly so, with a sting.
You can tell the potency of a scorpion sting by the size of its pincers which are disproportionate to its sting. Large pincered scorpions have small stings as they can grapple easily with prey, relying on their size to secure their food. Small pincered scorpions have large stings and they rely on a quick, potent sting and then wait for their prey to die before beginning to dine. Luckily for me, my bedfellow was in the former category.
It has been 18 years since I was stung, and I still remember the pain, it was like having a red hot knitting needle relentlessly poking me. What I learnt is to make sure my mozzie net is tucked in when I lie on the floor of a mud hut in the middle of the African bush. Or alternatively, sleep in a bed - my more favoured option.
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This story reminds me of the time we'd rigged up a makeshift shower out of a washing up bowl and a water pump while camping in the Saudi desert. I had stepped into the bowl and was awaiting the water when I happened to look down and see that I was sharing it with a scorpion...you can guess which one of us leapt out of the bowl first!! Lucky not to get stung, huh?
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of the moment when as a young child staying with my french exchange friend in the south of France, we walked out of the front door to notice a small black scorpion lurking waiting to come in. Without a moments hesitation or any sign of concern, Madam whipped off her sandal and crushed it against the wall - well that taught me not to be so soppy about them!
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