To throw away my bedding and possibly never sleep in my bed again.

[RafaellaNhaKyria]

I just went into my bedroom, all sleepy and comfortable and ready to crawl in and snuggle down to watch netflix.

Only to find a two-inch scorpion had beat me to it and was sprawled on my pillow as if he owned it. I panicked and flushed him down the toilet after a harrowing walk to the bathroom turning the pillow up and down as he ran all over it. I had no idea scorpions could move that fast. I now wish I had taken a picture of the beast but as I said, panic.

I'm afraid to go to bed. Where there is one, there must be more, right? What if it was a mommy scorpion?!!

Fucking hell.

I spent a couple of interesting nights in the outback once. The Aussies were trying to convince me to sleep out rather than in a tent. I told them that if nothing came in the night the first night, I would. The first night a scorpion and a centipede turned up. The Aussies typical put them in a bowl to fight it out.

They informed me that scorpions 'aren't poisonous'. I said, "yes they are, they sting you". The Aussies said, "yeah but they don't kill you". That is the Australian definition of worrying, something that will kill you.

Er...rethinking our trip to Dallas in the summer!!!!

Am in California
We only worry about Earthquakes
And possible tsunamis
I prefer those to scorpions tho
Probable not helpful I know
You have my sympathy

When we were walking around the neighborhood of the house we're now moving to, a kind person warned us that there had been a bullet ant problem in the area. He'd been bitten, it had been ten hours of agony and had felt like being shot, hence the name. Apparently they are the most painful insect, some say invertebrate, in the world. I don't think I will relax when we move once.

I nearly stepped on one in the bathroom yesterday. Little bastard had his stinger in the air, all poised to attack me. Now I keep thinking I'm seeing them out of the corner of my eye.

Im voting for burning the house down and moving somewhere without these beasts. I love you England!

oh god, I do not miss american wildlife! when I was in Georgia, I found a massive cockroach in my bed. with my feet. Still shudder thinking about that one. And then there was the mouse that ran over my face one night.

Oh, and this beast (who was beautiful, but about the size of my hand!)

Oneadd Oh my, I could not live with a cobra in the garden. A scorpion on the pillow would be a breeze.

oooo you poor thing. Scorpions are far far worse than snakes or spiders. It's making my skin crawl even reading your OP.

I'd move house.

A friend got stung by a scorpion in the jungle! His leg swelled up a balloon.

Trip to hospital to sort it out.

Oh good god, that is awful! Check your mattress in case it had nested in there.

When I was young I went to sit on a bean bag and my friend's dad grabbed me in the air before my bum hit the seat...there was a scorpion just under me! We then found the nest inside teh bean bag [faints]

I found a scorpion in my classroom a couple of years ago.

A lot of my pupils urged me to throw it out of the window (pleasingly they did not tell me to squash it).

I had to remind them that the elementary kids played directly below my window.

I lived in California and found a squashed scorpion under my pillow when I went to change the sheets one day. After that I threw back the covers and checked the bed each night for months.
They liked the linen cupboard too, in between the towels.
I like a fully lit house after stepping on one in the dark on the kitchen floor, bloody things sting worse than a bee, but luckily don't kill you like the ones in the films. I used to make Dh suck them off the wall up the vacuum cleaner when one got in the house. Finally we called Clark Pest control. it cut down on how many we got.

It doesn't matter where you are it seems; there's a colony of Yellow-tailed scorpions in Kent that have "been living in the walls of Sheerness Docks for hundreds of years" and whose sting "is less powerful than that from a bee". They glow under UV light! Fascinating things but wouldn't want one on my pillow thanks

Good god. This thread is giving me The Fear.

I thought I had it bad with pesky fleas!!!

Hats off to people living in scary creepy crawly countries. I would be permenantly etched with a scream of horror on my face.

I just misspelt permanent above.

I am flagellating myself as I type.

I think folks who live in countries with these creatures are bonkers!

I've never been more glad to live in UK after reading this thread.

I'm so glad I live so somewhere with benign pests.

Another one thanking their lucky stars they were born in England! And lucky for me, I live in the north west so don't even get those false widows everyone is banging on about / terrified of. I will never complain about giant spiders again... Okay that's probably a lie

Ugh, I have a visual impairment and am terrified of frightening flying, slithering or crawling creatures.

I lived in Florida and stil remember stepping on a giant cockroach.... It had the nerve to keep crawling as if nothing had happened.

thank God for cold, wet England!!

I would be more terrified that it would crawl up out of the loo and sting me on the arse. But then I never hoover up spiders because I think that when I come to empty the bag they will have swelled in size and jump out and get me.

Yep totally accept the crappy weather pay off for the lack of terrifying creatures.

Burn the house down, salt the earth it stood on and move continents
Thank goodness for the voice of reason selectausername
Yuck.

Yuck, this thread is making me itch. I need new skin.

I have a Texan friend who amuses her self at certain times of the year by flicking tarantulas off her patio with a pizza shovel. Allegedly they would "sting, but not poison" me. If she gets a really big one she will drawl "daaaaaaang" before scooping and flicking it.

It would take free money and chocolate bars growing on trees to get me to live there. Wretched place, hotter than hell and murderous wildlife (ditto Australia). Too much for my pasty, white hide. I'll stay here in my damp little midge haven.