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Old 04-07-2010, 09:26 AM   #1
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I am now an official Arizonian. I saw my first scorpion in the wild. yech!

It was poised to bite the nose of my snoopy little beagle. Fortunately, I grabbed her in time to get her away. My defense was to quickly cover the thing in gravel and run the opposite direction. I am sure the thing was laughing while singing "Here I am, rock me like a hurricane" as it watched my backside quickly fade into the distance.

3 of my 4 neighbors have reported rattlesnake encounters within the last week. The snakes did not receive the same compassion I gave the scorpion and are now soup, I think. Perhaps my more rustic neighbor will make a belt.

The horrid critters are waking up. What do the old Arizonians do at this time of year to prevent harm to beagles or themselves?

I am leaving here in a week and the biggest fear from wildlife where I am going is slugs.
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Old 04-07-2010, 09:37 AM   #2
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Gina-----Stay in your unit. Keeps pets cooped up till you leave. Buy a shot gun. defend your self.
No snakes here in Grande Cache Alberta. Yes we do have slugs also---No big deal. We have bears, deers, caribou,wolfs, coyotes and a few other creatures running around.
Good luck in your travels North.
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Old 04-07-2010, 10:57 AM   #3
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I HAVE been in here. Its scary. My tanks are full. I am running out of Dr Pepper.
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Old 04-07-2010, 01:35 PM   #4
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I live in Moab, Utah, in the desert. I was out in my yard one day (desert vegetation, not grass) and looked up to see a scorpion coming at me from a good 50 feet away. Actually, it was probably running from something else, but it was coming straight at me. I whacked it with a shovel, even though I hate to kill anything.

But after 15 years here, that's the only rogue one I ever dealt with, they're usually nocturnal. I don't know about AZ, I think there are more there, but unless they're poison (and only a couple of species are, and I think they're in Mexico, not sure) all they do is sting like a bee, I mean not pleasant, but shouldn't really do much damage to you or a dog. I have dogs and they've never encountered one. We also have giant desert centipedes, which I hate more than scorpions. They also are nasty when they bite. I saw one over a foot long once, creepy.

As for rattlers, haven't seen but a few and I give them all my utmost respect, which means I run like heck (so do they, usually). Most of these critters are nocturnal, they come out when it cools off in the evenings.
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Old 04-07-2010, 01:36 PM   #5
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I am leaving here in a week and the biggest fear from wildlife where I am going is slugs.

Ahhhhh! Slugs! Are you headed to the NW?

Rattlesnakes are the reason I only go east of the mountains before late May or after late September, though Mike assures me they want to stay out of the way, I want to be there when they are still dozing or at least in a stupor and too cool to move fast.

However, on this side of the mountains, in slug country, we have more and more cougar encounters, also a danger to small dogs!

Nature - the good, the bad, the sublime and the dangerous!
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Old 04-07-2010, 02:18 PM   #6
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None of these creatures would go out if their way to bite or sting you..esp the snake, yould almost hafta step on it or something. The dog is well equipped to deal with it also, you probably saved the scorpion.

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Old 04-07-2010, 08:19 PM   #7
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A co-worker got stung three times in her bed Monday here in Mesa. I saw a rattler last saturday, it's that time of year. Co-worker is fine, just freaked out and has trouble sleeping. She has found three in her house in the last week. Gina your runnin off next week without your Burro?
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Old 04-07-2010, 08:53 PM   #8
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Ah Gina,

Summer in California or the Pacific NW. Rattle Snakes are not fun particularly if you have a dog!

I don't know you -- but I am officially worried about you and your dogs!

Look into canine rattle snake vaccine and rattle snake avoidance clinics.

good luck!
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Old 04-07-2010, 08:58 PM   #9
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I have never seen a scorpion in Oregon. They probably inhabit eastern Oregon, But I stick with the coast and Cascades!

I worried about snakes when I lived in So. Cal. I only ever saw two. One baby and one that caused me to have to realign the front end of my Geo Metro. Those things are HARD. Especially at 50 mph. I have *heard* several. I didn't stick around long enough to have a look.

Shane, I sold the Burro. I have an evil Motorhome now.

Sigh.
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Old 04-07-2010, 10:01 PM   #10
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Only thing we have to Fear is Fear it'self. Been living in New Mexico desert for 34 or 35 years, never been close to being bitten by anything. Find a scorpion in the house now and then, never close to being stung. The deadly ones in AZ are very small, no color, almost transparent, as I understand.

Just be alert when out and about, shine a light before stepping out of the RV at night, keep away from clumps of growth, etc.

One of those yellow slugs scared out two NM kids when they were out playing in a state park in Washington years ago. Nasty creatures! Ha!

Our old German Shepard cross, live all her life in NM and AZ, with many years running through the NM deserts and never bitten. I've seen her jump over a rattler without either seeming to know. Scare me, but no harm. Once and a while a dog will get bitten, as do people. But not often. She just passed at age 14.

http://www.dotcomtucson.com/tucson_arizona..._scorpions.html

http://askabiologist.asu.edu/research/scorpions/
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Old 04-07-2010, 11:24 PM   #11
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3 of my 4 neighbors have reported rattlesnake encounters within the last week. The snakes did not receive the same compassion I gave the scorpion and are now soup, I think. Perhaps my more rustic neighbor will make a belt . . . I am leaving here in a week and the biggest fear from wildlife where I am going is slugs.
Where your neighbors do not have a propensity toward slug soup nor belts. :-)
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Old 04-08-2010, 07:56 AM   #12
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When living in Phoenix area our cats would play "patty-cake" with the scorpions (either in-doors or out) til the scorpions were worn out and then the cats would eat them, stinger and all. No ill effects that I ever noticed. All our neighbors were overrun with scorpions but we had no problems. Not only the cats killing them but I think the scorpions sensed or smelled the cats and gave us a wide berth. BTW, even indoors this time of year in the desert you should shake out your shoes before putting them on. I had a scorpion in the toe of a shoe more than once in Phoenix. Here, kitty, kitty! They loved'em!

Here in Show Low the worst we have is a skunk who lives in our culvert (he?she is very posseesive of it, too), and elk droppings all over the back yard most mornings. "For tender grass and sweet petals, nine out of ten elk recommend Jim's back yard," - apparently!

Gina, enjoy the rain forest of Oregon. Quite a change after Quartzsite, eh? It's so wet up there I hear they have pythons - or is it anacondas! Giant fern spiders, too.
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Old 04-08-2010, 09:45 AM   #13
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mnnnnnnmmmmm. Slug soup.

Its that normally called Egg Flower soup in most Chinese places?

I have never met a slug I couldn't outrun, so I am not real worried about them.

Fern spiders.. now there's a different story...
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Old 04-08-2010, 12:49 PM   #14
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Warning to beer drinkers:

When stopping beside the road to relieve yourself, be extra careful where you step, especially at night. (photo stolen from the internet)

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Old 04-08-2010, 01:03 PM   #15
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Ok, here is a u-tube of a cat encountering a rattlesnake. He is a pretty fast kitty. He knows what he is doing. He doesn't get bit. And as he walks away you can see him saying "It aint bragging if you can do it".

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Old 04-08-2010, 09:34 PM   #16
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Gina, I figured you didn't get pictures of your encounter. So I remembered a few weeks ago my nephew who is in the Navy currently in El Salvador had put a couple of pic's of a scorpion that was in his Hotel room from a weekend of r and r on facebook, I was able to find the pic's so you had a reminder of what to watch out for. LOL.........


He was telling me that in his barrecks that the scorpions crawl out of the sink and shower drains, I guess they are really thick down there. He says he shakes everything out before putting on, and checks his bedding before crawling in. But I asked him, what if one of those things crawled in after you went to sleep. He's like Aunt Robin why do you have to think about things like that? LOL........ Well, cause I am one of those people who thinks ahead. LOL
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