Army Scorpion Expert in Kuwait Stung by Insect, Irony

American Forces Press Service ^ | Sgt. Sarah Scully, USA

[SandRat]

Irony and Agony leads to embarrassment.

[TheDoctorNoh]

Technically, scorpions aren't insects; they're arachnids, related to spiders...not to be pedantic :D

[edpc]

Odd title, since they refer to the scorpion as an insect, yet correctly call it an arachnid in the article.

[chilepepper]

now he's even *more* of a expert and can accurately describe what scorpion venom feels like coursing through your veins...

[bert]

Pedantic ditto.

It's science and exposes the ignorance of reporters who have no science.

[Killborn]

Might wanna temper your comments. This isn't a DSM butt boy moron, this is a servicewoman reporting.

[Yo-Yo]

Do as I say...

[bert]

The rule stil applies. The headline is proof.

[SkyPilot]

Gosh, I hate that part of the world.

[patton]

Seems to me, every time I went through jungle school down in Panama, they had an instructor wheeled in, suffering from "two-step" poison.

Sure added emphasis.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We have little brown scorpions here in Missouri but no matter. The spiders get em.

[Ax]

The first scorpion I ever saw was when I turned on the light in the living room in Havana. I had been watching "Sea Quest," and went to get a beer at the commercial. That bad boy was 5" and was on a cushion across the coffee table from me. After my heart went back to my chest, having traveled up my throat, I picked up a running shoe and approached the cushion from the left. I picked the cushion up and shook it, dropping the brute down the to terrazzo floor. I smacked it once and it hardly made him (or her, I wasn't about to examine it) look up. I hit it a second time and the brute figured I was serious. After the third smack, he was KIA. But there was no mess on the floor; his shell was that hard.

One of my buddies there had been the Commander of the Special Forces SCUBA school in Panama. He said that when he was at the Jungle Operations Training Center at Fort Sherman, one of his instructors told him that if he were to be stung by a scorpion, he should immediately cut the brute in half with his bayonet, and as its juices were flowing out, he should rub that on the site of the sting.

My gardener in Havana told me that to avoid being stung, one should grab the scorpion in one's fist, thereby limiting Brer Scorpion's ability to swing his tail.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are two theories that are going to remain untested by the Axeman.

[Red Steel]

That one not too bad, as I recall, its those little indigenous green ones that's over there.

[Killborn]

At least she's in the military and isn't shilling for Al Qaeda and Iran.

That shows she's plenty smart. :)

[patton]

Up in Maine, they call that lobster, and EAT IT.

Sick puppies.

[patton]

You'all also have the brown recluse.

Shhhhhhuuuuudddddddeeeer.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Yup but they're pretty rare. The scorpions get snared in spider webs. Mr. Recluse is not a web builder, from what I understand, so it must be someone meaner...

[TASMANIANRED]

Just plain ugly critter.

[patton]

Yep. Mean, extremely poisonous. Hides in a hole, pops out, can kill a grown man.