Slow but deliberate; winding and arachnidian. It is the scorpion shuffle!
Night Blindness: A Prose
Dry paint spatter on the wall, curled pieces of string on the floor. These were once accepted for what they were. Just small, dark imperfections on an otherwise uniform backdrop. Barely worthy of a subconscious thought. Then came the move to scorpion country. It is the type of life change which has a way of creeping into and scrambling one's schema with a certain quickness. Those little, brown guys, the bark scorpion as they like to call them, are just an inch and a half from stinger to pincer on average. Just small enough that there is almost always a nearby hiding place. And, barring a broken air conditioner which has turned the interior of a structure into a walk-in freezer, they can get to that hiding place fast enough to rarely be seen. Fortunately they have the advantage of being able to grab prey with their pincers, which in some cases is enough to crush them, and, if necessary, whip their tail rapidly and repeatedly over their head, stinging and envenomating it each time which quickly disables the prey's nervous system, effectively paralyzing it so that the scorpion can vomit its digestive gut juice all over it which liquefies it into slurpable goodness. How is this fortunate? Well, when coupled with the durable nature of their exoskeleton, they are generally pretty cocky and haven't the need for speed. This means that, on occasion, they can be spotted and carefully dealt with (by whatever means necessary, some would argue.) Having had many close encounters with the little guys both outside and in, it goes without saying that those small, dark imperfections, once barely worthy of my attention, are now louder than bang snaps, blasting into focus from every peripheral degree.
Dry paint spatter on the wall, curled pieces of string on the floor. These were once accepted for what they were. Just small, dark imperfections on an otherwise uniform backdrop. Barely worthy of a subconscious thought. Then came the move to scorpion country. It is the type of life change which has a way of creeping into and scrambling one's schema with a certain quickness. Those little, brown guys, the bark scorpion as they like to call them, are just an inch and a half from stinger to pincer on average. Just small enough that there is almost always a nearby hiding place. And, barring a broken air conditioner which has turned the interior of a structure into a walk-in freezer, they can get to that hiding place fast enough to rarely be seen. Fortunately they have the advantage of being able to grab prey with their pincers, which in some cases is enough to crush them, and, if necessary, whip their tail rapidly and repeatedly over their head, stinging and envenomating it each time which quickly disables the prey's nervous system, effectively paralyzing it so that the scorpion can vomit its digestive gut juice all over it which liquefies it into slurpable goodness. How is this fortunate? Well, when coupled with the durable nature of their exoskeleton, they are generally pretty cocky and haven't the need for speed. This means that, on occasion, they can be spotted and carefully dealt with (by whatever means necessary, some would argue.) Having had many close encounters with the little guys both outside and in, it goes without saying that those small, dark imperfections, once barely worthy of my attention, are now louder than bang snaps, blasting into focus from every peripheral degree.
Barefoot midnight toilet runs which I once negligently executed with minimal cognitive processing now necessitate socks, a hall light and watchful eyes. Every night, I shuffle down the hall with the coordination of a hypnotized sloth. Business as usual. Hours of silence make the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen annoyingly real. After the cascading symbal crash of the flush explodes through the otherwise near-silent house, I am awake enough to dawdle back to the bedroom, disengage the white giant hovering above my head and randomly slap air on the way back under the covers. Success! Quickly, I engage in a peaceful and relieved slumber.
Meanwhile, grasping for dear life to the popcorn texture of the ceiling above my sleeping head...
Scorpion Biology and Role in Human Life
Scorpions belong to the order Scorpions in the class Arachnida. They are predatory arthropods. They are found across the globe, on all continents except Antarctica, and in a variety of landscapes, including deserts, forests, grasslands and mountains.
According to the fossil record, scorpions are among the most ancient known arthropods. In fact, because they have been linked to 400 million year old amphibians in the Silurian, they are known as "living fossils." Why have they been so successful with little need for change? This could be for a number of reasons, including their tough exoskeleton, small size, ability to go significant periods without food and their swift movement. And lest we forget their defensive (and offensive) hardware. Their pincers and venomous-injecting stinger probably make them about as liked among the rest of the animal kingdom as they are with humans. In fact, these anatomical features are central to their popularity among humans. The general shiver-inducing effect these creatures have on us has been widely exploited in media, including
art (1,2), television and film (3,4), and music (5).
Despite their reputation as one of the most feared living creatures, however, only about 25 of the approximately 1,500 varieties have been shown to possess venom which can be fatal to humans. On the other hand, helping this reputation (at least in the United States) is the fact that some of the deadliest scorpions are also the most encountered. The back scorpion in the southwest United States is the most encountered scorpion in the United States. This is a disturbing figure considering their brown color which camouflages them against the dirt of the widespread barren land of this region. So, how often do they crawl beneath our feet unnoticed?
Scorpions belong to the order Scorpions in the class Arachnida. They are predatory arthropods. They are found across the globe, on all continents except Antarctica, and in a variety of landscapes, including deserts, forests, grasslands and mountains.
According to the fossil record, scorpions are among the most ancient known arthropods. In fact, because they have been linked to 400 million year old amphibians in the Silurian, they are known as "living fossils." Why have they been so successful with little need for change? This could be for a number of reasons, including their tough exoskeleton, small size, ability to go significant periods without food and their swift movement. And lest we forget their defensive (and offensive) hardware. Their pincers and venomous-injecting stinger probably make them about as liked among the rest of the animal kingdom as they are with humans. In fact, these anatomical features are central to their popularity among humans. The general shiver-inducing effect these creatures have on us has been widely exploited in media, including
art (1,2), television and film (3,4), and music (5).
Despite their reputation as one of the most feared living creatures, however, only about 25 of the approximately 1,500 varieties have been shown to possess venom which can be fatal to humans. On the other hand, helping this reputation (at least in the United States) is the fact that some of the deadliest scorpions are also the most encountered. The back scorpion in the southwest United States is the most encountered scorpion in the United States. This is a disturbing figure considering their brown color which camouflages them against the dirt of the widespread barren land of this region. So, how often do they crawl beneath our feet unnoticed?
Photo Credits
http://www.pensacolamuseumofart.org/collections/11/43
http://www.sheinfashion.com/best-scorpion-tattoo-designs-fashion/scorpion-tattoo-on-back/
http://media.gunaxin.com/the-ten-coolest-human-bug-flicks/23011
http://randyandyshouseofnostalgia.blogspot.com/2011/03/sexy-scary.html
http://www.coneysrockmachine.com/061212.htm
http://www.pensacolamuseumofart.org/collections/11/43
http://www.sheinfashion.com/best-scorpion-tattoo-designs-fashion/scorpion-tattoo-on-back/
http://media.gunaxin.com/the-ten-coolest-human-bug-flicks/23011
http://randyandyshouseofnostalgia.blogspot.com/2011/03/sexy-scary.html
http://www.coneysrockmachine.com/061212.htm
