May 9, 2011

Meet the Locals: Spring Surprise

scorpian - unknown spp

 The first trip of the season was wonderful.  After a hard day's work toting rocks from here to there in the yard (subject of upcoming posts), I was reclining in an old chair, crocheting a summer top and listening to an audiobook.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something.  Just over my shoulder, a little (~1") scorpian was wending his way up the wall.  Hmmmmm.  I took a photo (forgive me for not including a finger for scale) and put him in a jar.  I set him on the front stoop to consider his predicament and went back into the house.
Not too much later, another, larger scorpian caught my eye traipsing along the floor/wall margin.  Another jar, another trip to the stoop.   DARN!  I sleep on the floor on an air mattress and don't like the idea of having "friends" with me. 

I know that there are all kinds of invertebrates around (I've seen them), but the house has been sealed up fairly well for about a year.  However, where there's a will, there's a way.  This was March and during the changing of the seasons, there is a lot of flux in the invertebrate populations.  The scorps were waking up and looking for new, interesting places.  Because the house is adobe, the walls are considerably warmer than the yard at night, and scorpians are drawn to warmth.

I am happy to report that, even though I caught a few more scorps in the house, I didn't have any negative interactions with them when the lights went out.