Qué onda Aztec Raptor. I live in Mexico city, and my office is in Santa Fé. As I wrote earlier I’ve found a couple of alacranes ocasionally—usually behind some cardboard boxes— but I have never found scorpions on any supermarket *knocking on wood*

Si tienen tele, ahí se ven!

Since such nightmarish tales are brought from imported tropical fruits, you’d think it’d be common as dirt here. It isn’t. It’s just as rare here as it is in the States. The only difference is that the buglies are common to the area. But they’re NOT common to the veggie bins!

So have heart. And remember, too, that even if such a critter bites you, you can be treated successfully for it.

But the odds of it happening in your local supermarket are slim to none. One in several hundred thousand, I would think. Maybe even less than that.

The very fact that such a case is so newsworthy should tell you how extremely uncommon such things are. The handling of produce, in itself, will quickly rid the food of scorpions, tarantulas and spiders. They don’t like the handling at ALL. The handlers are in far more jeopardy than are consumers. But they are expecting it, so they’re ready to deal with them when they show up.

Logic: Bugs - including venomous ones - are a part of life. We’re stuck with them.

Emotion: How I wish we weren’t! I hate bugs!!!

I have.

I’ve lived in Mexico for 14 years. One night, while falling asleep, I rolled over onto a pillow that an adolescent scorpion (the worst kind) had decided was his solitary domain for the moment. I felt something like a sharp piece of fingernail jab me. That’s what I thought it WAS.

It wasn’t long before the pain increased. No fingernail would do that, so I looked in the mirror at my shoulder blade. Nothing. Back to the bed, where I searched “just in case” it was some kind of bug. That sucker had taken refuge in another pillowcase. I flipped him onto the floor and - well - he knew my wrath.

The pain kept increasing until it was extremely - loud. I’ve been stung by bees. There IS no comparison. This is industrial-strength PAIN, dude. I have emphysema, and the venom is a nerve poison which could cause respiratory trouble, so I got a shot of cortisone. That hurt almost as much! But by morning, the pain was all gone, thanks to the cortisone. As I understand it, it can last several days.

Putting ice on it helped a whole lot, but as with a really painful burn, it’s only temporary. Without ice, though, it’s much worse.

One night, minding my own business, sleeping starkers because it was hot, something landed on my naked hip. I slapped it hard and in one motion swept it onto the floor, because the body was not softly bug-like, and I had reason to suspect anything like that. Sure enough, a scorpion fell on me from the ceiling. Not exactly nice.

There are horses running free in the lot across the street from me. Every so often I hear one, obviously in agony, and it keeps going for hours. I already know what happened to it. Poor thing.

I don’t know how true it is that most scorpions are not dangerous. If they mean their bite probably won’t KILL you, maybe. If they mean their bites aren’t BAD NEWS, they’re dead wrong. Maybe some won’t kill you immediately, as a snake bite might, but if it’s bad enough, it might do so over time. Medical care is strongly recommended, and soon.

The reason adolescent scorpions are the worst (usually narrow bodied and 2-3 inches tip to tail) is because babies have extremely powerful venom, but little of it. Adults have a lot of venom, but it’s less potent. Adolescents have a respectable quantity, and it’s still pretty nasty stuff. So they’re the worst.

In Texas, I learned that lots of kids will actually play with tarantulas. I’ve never heard of kids actually playing with scorpions - unless they remove the stingers first. Which, in itself, is risky business.

But I’m lucky — only one bite in 14 years. I know a Canadian lady, 85 years old, who has been bitten eight times! Egad. Trust me on this: Even once in a lifetime is much too often.

No insecticide I’ve found kills the ones that regularly invade my home, either. I “Raid-ed” one and put it under a custard cup, on a tile crack, so he could have air. Every day I sprayed him again. After four days I just killed it; it wasn’t about to die from the Raid, although the can said it kills “alacranes”.

The lady from Mexico City probably doesn’t get many of these buggers because she IS in a city. I’m near Lake Chapala, and set out gluetraps which regularly catch them - lots of them. Especially in dry season, and after it starts to get cold, but they come in the house year-round. Anywhere in Mexico has them in plenty, but I imagine metropolitan areas don’t have many - too built up. They also tend to travel in pairs - not together, but one following the other. They’re mated pairs, and know how to find each other. So if you find one, you should look for another.

I doubt this applies, however, to scorpion-laden watermelons at WalMart. If that one had a mate, it’s probably still in Mexico.

I killed a REAL BIG one once, whose body looked almost like an armadillo. That sucka had MUSCLES. Made a rather revolting splash when I stomped on him, too. Mess to clean up.

The only sure-kill of a scorpion is a shoe - with a hard-stomping foot in it.

Never take any scorpion lightly.

I remember seeing a documentary on a type of banana spider (the phoneutria of Central and South America) that lives in the bunches that can actually kill a human with it’s bite and is aggressive. Other names for the phoneutria banana spider include: bananenspinne, kammspinne, and wandering spider. Which makes these “hitchhikers” a little scary. What would happen if one of these bit someone in an American Store? I doubt the antivenin would be readily available here in the US for a Central/South American Spider.