How aggressive are the large black scorpions?

[green job]

Pick them up by the tail,taking care not to get stung,these black scorpions,the sting is about same as

a bee, its the ones with thin claws you have to be careful with ,they can be deadly.thanks for not killing

them,lots of people on ThaiVisa seem to want to kill anything that moves.

regards worgeordie

Good post and good advice.

They are not really very aggressive, but like most creatures they will defend themselves if they feel threatened.

I have been stung by a scorpion before, but it was my fault, not his.

It was on a piece of wood that I picked up.

I didn't see it,

It stung me in self defense.

Like you said, it was like a bee sting.

It did hurt, but nothing serious.

In Thailand many people, especially Thai people I know will kill anything that moves.

Curious behavior for people who claim to follow the teachings of the Buddha...huh?

Well in the US any thing that flys dies is that true?

No, Green job.

It is not true.

Do you have any more brilliant questions?

Well old chap I can assure you it is true. I have been on shoots in the UK ( commercial phesant shoots ) and anyone from the USA would shoot and kill anything

in range ( like 10ft away and all that )

The saying was Any thing that flys dies. And as far a English woman were concerned,,, they always said,, Two yanks and they were down

[itsmylife]

They can be fried and eaten is good for your body.

[Lex Talionis]

Ducks love to gobble up millipedes, chooks will also have a go at them.

Going a bit off topic about Americans killing anything that flies, let me remined you about the passenger pigeon. Before the arrival of the European they existed in their billions. When they swarmed they blocked out the sun. Unfortunately they were easy to shoot and good eating. The last living specimen is said to have died in 1914.

History is full of extinct species that were "easy to shoot and good to eat." Americans have no special claim on it.

In regards to the passenger pigeon it looks like those damn Yankees are trying to bring em back via DNA cloning. What a world.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-dna-could-return-passenger-pigeons-to-the-sky/

Edited August 16, 2015 by Lex Talionis

[streboris]

I'd be interested to see what damage one of those scorpions can do with its claws on a wooden pencil...

Somebody try it please!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[kannot]

I wont pick up millipedes as I believe them to be toxic. No animal will eat them, but some species of lemur crush them and rub the fluid into their fur as an insect repellant.

wrong , hens eat it.... and not confound millipedes and centipedes : big difference

I haven't seen hens eat them myself, but you could be right.

I don't confound them with centipedes, there are very obvious differences. [we used to get centipedes 8-10 inches long marching through our camp when prospecting in the Australian bush. Chopping them in half with a shovel would result in 2 very angry halves charging all over the place.]

I didn't say millipedes were venomous, but toxic. They won't kill you if handled, but I would hate to transfer any of their juices to my eyes or mouth. I've never seen a Thai who picks them up.

Ive never seen a Thai look at junctions on a motorbike either

[Old Croc]

I wont pick up millipedes as I believe them to be toxic. No animal will eat them, but some species of lemur crush them and rub the fluid into their fur as an insect repellant.

wrong , hens eat it.... and not confound millipedes and centipedes : big difference

I haven't seen hens eat them myself, but you could be right.

I don't confound them with centipedes, there are very obvious differences. [we used to get centipedes 8-10 inches long marching through our camp when prospecting in the Australian bush. Chopping them in half with a shovel would result in 2 very angry halves charging all over the place.]

I didn't say millipedes were venomous, but toxic. They won't kill you if handled, but I would hate to transfer any of their juices to my eyes or mouth. I've never seen a Thai who picks them up.

Ive never seen a Thai look at junctions on a motorbike either

I'm not a bike person, where's the junction, is it just below the gearbox?

[streboris]

Here's one from July last year. I got up for a pee and before I put my feet on the floor at the end of the bed, I checked the floor with a torch and found this beastie sat waiting for me...

Wife had to rescue me

[itsmylife]

Aroy ka

Edited August 17, 2015 by itsmylife

[streboris]

If you think about it, they are a lot like shrimp or tiny lobster

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[hawker9000]

Here's one from July last year. I got up for a pee and before I put my feet on the floor at the end of the bed, I checked the floor with a torch and found this beastie sat waiting for me...

Wife had to rescue me

You ARE the careful sort! But then I'm reminded of stories posted elsewhere of snakes coming up through toilets. 'Cant be too careful I guess, eh?

[jak2002003]

I have been stung by both the big black ones and the smaller brown ones.

The black one hurts the most.. but the pain does not last long and after its gone there are no side effects. Feels like a bee sting.. which is also painful, as those who have been stung by a bee will know... much worse than a wasp.

The small brown ones feel like you stood on a shard of glass or a hot needle going into your foot. Does not hurt straight away... but then starts to ache and get worse over time... It also swells up around where you have been stung. Pain stayed a long time... In the morning when I got out of bed I nearly fell over as my foot and leg were numb from the sting! Took the rest of the day for my leg to get back to normal.

I have also been stung be a jellyfish in Phuket, black hornets in my garden (hand swelled up like a balloon), bitten by a dog while cycling, sprayed with chemicals from black ants in a tree, pinched by the red ants and smacked in the face by a bat when I was cycling home at night... which then hung onto my T shirt and climbed towards my shoulder before if flew off and before I crashed into the ditch.

Nature seems to have it in for me!

Edited August 20, 2015 by jak2002003

[streboris]

Do the black ones glow under ultraviolet light?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Seastallion]

I never saw a single one all of last year. This year, I've seen a few in a month or two.

I've also noticed dead geckos out on the street, with tail front legs and thorax eaten away but the rear legs, spine, and head still in place.

I assume it's the scorpions.

Any input?

[Craig krup]

Do you ever think that it's a bit worrying that the locals take the view "kill it now" and it's the people whose ancestors haven't inhabited the land for 10,000 years who have the"hakuna matata, circle of life, hey man I'm a traveller not a tourist", thing going?

I was watching TV one night when (I think) Mark O'Shea was driving along roads and night and jumping out to pick up snakes basking on the black tarmac that stayed warmer longer. He got bitten by something about six inches long and nearly died - rolling about seriously ill in the back of the vehicle as they rushed to hospital.

I don't know if the account below of the aftermath of being bitten by something venomous is true, but it has the appalling ring of credibility. Bloke gets tagged in a Bangkok bar and is casually told by the doctor that he can expect to feel like s*** for five years. I'd be very, very cautious. The locals have the attitudes that they have for good reasons.

http://www.thailandsnakes.com/thailand-snake-news/bitten-by-a-deadly-banded-krait-in-a-bangkok-bar/

Or how about being tagged by a Russell's viper? Complete recovery is unlikely and you'll probably have kidney problems even if you've a credit card of the kind of insurance that means a choice of menu.

http://www.venomoussnakes.net/russels-viper.htm

Why would you pick up a snake? An Aussie hockey player did it recently and died - didn't even know he'd been bitten. Another bloke training to be a white hunter managed the same thing - tagged by a black mamba, didn't even know he'd been bitten, and died. During their jungle training the British Special Air Service would automatically fail anyone who didn't have their machete with them. There were some circumstances when they might not have their rifle, but they were never, ever, ever, ever were without the machete.

[some wag will doubtless suggest that this is where Thai taxi drivers got the idea ]

Edited August 22, 2015 by Craig krup

[impulse]

Do you ever think that it's a bit worrying that the locals take the view "kill it now" and it's the people whose ancestors haven't inhabited the land for 10,000 years who have the"hakuna matata, circle of life, hey man I'm a traveller not a tourist", thing going?

Not at all. Forget hakuna matata. It's just much safer to leave the critters alone than it is to try to kill them. Win-win.

I've never had a snake or scorpion go out of its way to attack me. Wasps and bees, yes. Snakes and scorpions, nope. My only close calls have been a result of my deliberate actions.

Edited August 22, 2015 by impulse

[chonabot]

I never saw a single one all of last year. This year, I've seen a few in a month or two.

I've also noticed dead geckos out on the street, with tail front legs and thorax eaten away but the rear legs, spine, and head still in place.

I assume it's the scorpions.

Any input?

Scorpions are too slow and cannot climb well enough to prey on geckos, I've kept and bred both.

More than likely a dead gecko that has been eaten by ants.

[daoyai]

I never saw a single one all of last year. This year, I've seen a few in a month or two.

I've also noticed dead geckos out on the street, with tail front legs and thorax eaten away but the rear legs, spine, and head still in place.

I assume it's the scorpions.

Any input?

I have seen centepedes kill and eat small lizards, they seem to like to eat the innards most of all so maybe the geckos you describe met this fate.

[Craig krup]

Do you ever think that it's a bit worrying that the locals take the view "kill it now" and it's the people whose ancestors haven't inhabited the land for 10,000 years who have the"hakuna matata, circle of life, hey man I'm a traveller not a tourist", thing going?

Not at all. Forget hakuna matata. It's just much safer to leave the critters alone than it is to try to kill them. Win-win.

I've never had a snake or scorpion go out of its way to attack me. Wasps and bees, yes. Snakes and scorpions, nope. My only close calls have been a result of my deliberate actions.

I'm sure you're right, but there's two issues.1) Lots of the things that people do around small camouflaged stuff are indistinguishable from aggression if you look at it from the creature's point of view. Australian TV used to have an advertisement that showed kids playing with a ball in the garden. The ball bounces into the high grass and the kids dives in to pick it up. By this point you're seeing the whole thing from the snakes point of view - it's just behind the ball, and has probably just been hit by it. Farmers get bitten because they grab piles of wood full of crawl spaces, they gran a hold of fruit and veg, they hit the ground with hoes and forks........how does the snake interpret any of this? 2) We've got people on this thread saying they pick up snakes, and thereby encouraging others to do so.

It'll end in tears. Someone will get tagged and then we'll have the story on Thai Visa. "He seemed totally fine and then he said his eyes seemed funny. Couldn't see the television properly. By the time the ambulance arrived ......."

So I wouldn't try to kill anything, but I also wouldn't ignore it if it was where people were likely to blunder into it, I would try to prevent critters getting into places where people will interact with them and I certainly wouldn't pick anything up.

My pal's compound in Phra Khanong had snakes in the back garden. They lived in coexistence with them, but the Thai guards would batter them with a broom handle if they saw them. You should seen the reaction when I suggested that maybe the guards had an understanding of the food chain. "Here comes the king"!

[Mousehound]

I pick these up and if placed on your hand they are OK. I put them on my shoulder and they walk about a bit. No problem. Don't pick up snakes - you never know! I never pick up centipedes either.