Lori Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but does anyone know anything about scorpions? I never saw one last year - did see some the year before, but this year have seen several (in the house). I seem to remember someone telling me the black ones were harmless - that it was the light tan colored ones that are to be feared. Anyone out there know the truth?Also, do scorpions do anything good so as to justify not killing them? Say, eat other nasty bugs, etc.? I just can't stand the things in my house.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janey Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Don,t panic Lori, we live in the South and there,s loads of them down here. Sometimes we get them in the house. I don,t like them but I,m not terrified of them like I used to be. I must admit though that I do bash them. Apparently they do eat other bugs in the house and if you have them in your house it means the home is healthy. If you get stung by one it will be like a nasty wasp sting, you might have a temperature for a few days but shouldn,t be any worse than that. Not sure about the tan coloured ones though. My hubby once saw a clear coloured one?Janey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard-R Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Ours seem to like the shower tray! and wandering around the kitchen in the middle of the night when i decide to pop down for a cold drink. I now keep a pair of flip-flops by my side of the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 I guess I'll hope and pray I don't get stung. Each Spring and Fall I seem to fall prey to spider bites (usually on the Torso! while sleeping at night) and they are awful. No one else in the house (even hubby in same bed) seems to get bitten, just lucky me.I guess that is one of the reasons I was curious about the scorpions. I seem to have a terrible reaction to the spiders - and - I am assuming they are spiders that are crawling on me in the middle of the night and biting !Ughh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 I now keep a pair of flip-flops by my side of the bedVery sensible. And always give your shoes a good shake before putting them on as they love to crawl inside. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 MWJ, no kidding and check your jackets before you put them on too. We have a coat rack beside our front door and are often finding big spiders on them when we go to put them on ... I'm cursed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcazar Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 I've never seen my youngest lad move so quickly, as when he picked up a Man utd shirt that had fallen off the washing line behind the caravan in the Herault, and pulled it straight on over his head.One of that region's enormous, fast, trapdoor-type spiders crawled out of it and up his neckAlcazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Hate em, just hate em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Are you sure they are scorpions? To identify look at http://www.museums.org.za/bio/scorpions/ and click on "dangerous scorpions, how to identify." The only scorpions I've seen were in the Malayan jungle, but we get lots of centipedes in the bathroom which can bite. Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewitts Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Lori I think I know what you need, at least at night. A mozzie net. Hangs from the ceiling and covers the bed. That way they can't get at you. We are sometimes plaagued with cockroaches if it is very very hot. We live in an old suburb of Sydney and unfortunately they are just a fact of life. I hate them, but have got used to it, but we have a permanent mozzie net fixed to the ceiling in our spare room for guests.Last year we had a visit from a girl friend of my daugher's from Denmark and her girl friend from Sweden. They were absolutely terrifed and sealed themselves into the bedroom every night. Some how I don't they will be back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 We are sometimes plaagued with cockroaches if it is very very hot. We live in an old suburb of Sydney and unfortunately they are just a fact of life. I was about to post exactly the same. They come with the territory where we currently live and they drive me CRAZY. I'm fine with scorpions, quite like them in fact, I don't even mind snakes sneaking in through the window or up the drain pipe, mice even rats, no problem but roaches? We've tried everything from fumigating the house monthly to moth balls to very expensive Japanese made traps but still they come. Wait for it....I even found one crawling across my trousers last Monday morning when I took them off the clothes rail. I screamed the b****y house down, had absolute hysterics. It was huge and brown with those disgusting twitchy tentacles and when I started screaming it actually flew off the rack on to the wall. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 Hewitts - how does that stop them from crawling in from under your bed and then up the bedding? I have seen what you're taling about and considered it, but I was convinced they would reach me from going under the bed and coming up (the spiders that is).As for the scorpions, yes, I am sure they are scorpions - that shape is just impossible to get wrong. However, I will go to that website and see if I can determine which variety they are. Folks around here say they are mostly harmless ----We have centipedes too ! Oh the joy of country living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 MWJ - where do you live??? Sounds absolutely wild. I could not tolerate any of the creatures you mentioned, particularly the snake thing. A mouse here or there - well - hard to be avoided in the countryside, but the rest sound horrible. I have not yet seen a cockroach, but surely they are here...What a way to wake up in the morning....Good luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewitts Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 HI lori.The mozzie net hangs from a hooop fixed to the ceiling. It has enough see through but bug proof light flimsy net to drape as far down as the floor or nearly the floor.You then tuck the ends under the mattress so that you are completely in cased inside the netting. The material is overlapped on one side so that there is enough material to form an opening which you then fold across when inside and tuck under.I'll try and find a picture, but am frantically trying to pack for a trip to Bali tomorrow!! I must be mad with all the bad publicity and they don't speak French. bah humbug!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 Okay Patf, I went to the website. What a useful source of info. I have to admit, while I was reading all that data, I was feeling rather yucky.. not the enjoyable type of reading material.I did manage to determine that the scorpions we are seeing are from the category on the right - the dark black looking ones at the top of the list. Apparently those are non-venemous - whew..And, it appears they do eat lots of other annoying bugs, so I guess they have their place. I just hope they don't decide to set up a community in my home. That would send me over the edge..Just got rid of bee hive in the cheminee, that was enough for me.Thanks though, it was really informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 [quote]Lori I think I know what you need, at least at night. A mozzie net. Hangs from the ceiling and covers the bed. That way they can't get at you. We are sometimes plaagued with cockroaches if it is v...[/quote]Ah that will be something I won't miss about Australia - all the creepy crawlies. They're enormous over here! We're looking at moving to the Loire Valley and that means no red backs, no huntsman spiders (around 150mm plus) and no bloody brown snakes! Are there any poisonous thingies in France, particularly the Loire Valley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suninfrance Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 As I can't get most of the web page, including "authors name", "search", etc, can you all tell me which parts of France you live in and when you saw the scorpions.I was commenting the other day that we hadn't seen any snakes since we came here last year, and lo, 2 days later, having a 5 minute sit on the front doorstep before cooking dinner, I spotted something moving in the grass 2 steps down. It was an adder - I've never moved so quick. Scorpions however, they really do scare me.Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted June 22, 2005 Author Share Posted June 22, 2005 suninfrance - we live in the Vaucluse (Provence) 30 minutes from Avignon. We see the scorpions from June onward - really depends on the year and the weather.Have come to learn that they are not the terribly deadly ones, but I still don't like finding them in my home.This year, we seem to have all kinds of insects flying and crawling around. It is hard to believe we are in a drought as we have had several rains this year that - I think - have brought us the huge amount of insect population... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.foreman Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 What parts of France do Scorpions live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janey Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 Andy, they,re definitely here in the south(dept 30 )Janey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyp Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 [quote]Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but does anyone know anything about scorpions? I never saw one last year - did see some the year before, but this year have seen several (in the house...[/quote]Do scorpions live in Normandy also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpprh Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Hiwe have red and black varieties here.They seem to be timid, and no one seems to worry about them .On the other hand :La couleuvre de Montpellier (Malpolon monspessulanus) Le serpent le plus important de la zone est incontestablement la couleuvre de Montpellier qui atteint assez fréquemment 2 m de long. C'est une espèce craintive et discrète qui fréquente les endroits ensoleillés, pierreux et broussailleux, mais aussi les friches entre les zones cultivées et les alentours de maisons. Elle mord fortement lorsqu'elle est attrapée et possède deux crochets au venin très toxique en arrière de la bouche, avec lesquels elle tue ses victimes pendant la déglutition. C'est le principal destructeur naturel de rongeurs, rats et souris depuis la retraite des chats fainéants, et de la faiblesse des populations de rapaces nocturnes sur la zone. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcazar Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 Isn't the picture of the snake also known as the Montpellier Whipsnake, on account of it's long thin tail?AFAIK, NO grass snake (Couloevre?) is harmful to humans even babies, as their fangs, When they have them) are so far back in their mouths that they CANNOT inflict a venomous bite on us.On the other hand, they are not shy like adders and if they sense that they are being attacked, cornered etc, they do give a nasty bite, and apparently, hang on!!!AlcazarForgot to say: I saw a programme the other day claiming that there is a colony of scorpions living around a disused tube station somewhere to the east of London. Upminster?And last year a french magazine reckoned that Black Widow spiders are now endemic on the south French coast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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