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That looks just like the one my wife crushed under our bed at the El
Morro in Santa Rosalia. That room was cleaner than new by the time she went to bed that night.
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| Originally posted by Russ c-cktail in one hand, black light in one hand & the killer spray in the other? |
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| Originally posted by Pompano Ouch! Tough luck, Russ, but glad you missed the Big Event. I've had my share of stings over the years, too. As you know, one can't avoid it for long in Baja if you are into palms, bark, yardwork, etc. My worst sting was my first, naturally. The fear of the unknown and all that stuff. I was stung 3 times by the same dang scorpion: Desert camping with buddy Randy, 1973. It was nighttime at the campfire and I had my boots up on a burning log when I felt something crawling up my pantsleg just above the boot top. I reached down to feel what it was when ..Zing! it got me good. I yelled and rubbed at the spot, but it crawled a bit higher up my leg and stung me again on the knee as I tried to crush whatever was in my pants. I was pretty excited and alarmed Randy a bit, too. Then it got to the top of my leg and stung me the third time just below the groin. Hells Bells, I was damn frantic by this time and hit that spot with my fist..QUICK AND HARD...and smashed that damn crawling thing to a pulp. Another couple inches further up and it was Home Territory. (I can just see Randy administrating First Aid with a machete and tournaquit) I jumped up and hurriedly took off my jeans..shaking the squashed invader into the fire..just to make sure! Those three sting areas were now on fire themselves..Ohh, did they hurt! Now's when the fun started. Our companions were Richard Long and his then wife, Shirley. Shirley was a stone fox blonde from Georgia. She took control of this situation very expertly. She said to just relax, and she would help with the pain. I might survive after all. She had me sit down on the back of my Jeep gangbox, legs dangling over the endgate. ..with just my shorts on. Shirley came back with some ice cubes and starting rubbing the stings with the soothing coolness. First the one on my shin, then the one on my knee...ahh, I was feeling much, much better. And could not wait until the final wound was treated! But Shirley was looking at my grinning face, then gave me the ice, saying, "You can handle it from here, cowboy." Ahhh..those were fine times. Almost wish I could stand a repeat of those stings! Scorpion stuff: Russ, did you know scorpions can range from 3/4 to 9 inches? One of our local Mexican varieties is one of the deadliest, species Centruriodes. but thank God most people report no more pain than that of a honeybee. The good news is, that in North America only the Centruroides is a known killer of humans. The bad news is, they live in Mexico and the extreme southwestern USA. They are usually old-straw-yellow or yellow with dark longitudinal stripes, and reach from two to 7.5 centimeters in length. Their pincers are long and slender as opposed to bulky and lobster-like. The sting, immediately and exquisitely painful, is increased by a light tap on the site. Deaths have almost exclusively been in small children, the elderly, and the severely allergic. First aid for any scorpion sting should involve cooling the wound which allows the body to more easily break down the molecular structure of the venom. Cooling also reduces pain. Use ice or cool running water if available. Also a local poultice of aloe vera and palo blanco bark. On a warm night, a wet compress will help. Keeping calm and still helps..not like me on that first night! . Panic and activity speed up the venom's spread. If the scorpion was Centruroides, you might have heavy sweating, difficulty swallowing, blurred vision, loss of bowel control, jerky muscular reflexes, and respiratory distress..often resulting in pitching face down into the campfire. Well..good luck with next sting, amigo! |
