Scorpion

When I went to close the curtains in our room last night, something ran across the wall. At first I thought it was a spider, but it had large claws or pincers so I figured it was probably a scorpion, although I didn't think of them as climbers. It was big for a spider, but its body was only about 1/2 inch. I attempted to catch it under a glass but it was too fast for me. We pondered what to do and decided we didn't really want a scorpion loose in our room. So I put down the glass and picked up a paperback book. It was over my head on the wall so I was a little nervous that it would fall on me and I'd get stung. I shouldn't have worried, again it was too fast for me and disappeared into a crack between the ceiling and wall. I guess we're sharing our room with a scorpion.

Today I did some research on the web and I think it's probably a bark scorpion since they are the only scorpions that climb. They're called bark scorpions because they hide under bark on trees. They are also supposed to be fast moving, which matches my experience. Unfortunately, they also have a very nasty sting - they are the most venomous scorpion in North America and the sting can cause severe pain for up to 72 hours. The joys of tropical climates. Nothing a little snow wouldn't fix :-) Hopefully it'll stay up in it's crack near the ceiling!

Pests of Homes, Structures, People, and Pets

Arizona bark scorpion (Wikipedia)