Unsurprisingly, the Arabian Desert is pretty desolate. There is not a whole lot of wildlife to be seen, either flora or fauna. Mostly what we see are pigeons, doves, GIANT flying cockroaches, ants, and (not wild) camels. However, we recently had the lovely experience of finding this creature in our swimming pool (thank goodness it was DEAD at the bottom of my pool and not crawling over my kitchen floor). This is what they call a "Fat Tailed Man Killer".
Wikipedia tells us that, "Fattail scorpion or fat-tailed scorpion is the common name given toscorpions of the genus Androctonus, one of the most dangerous groups of scorpions species in the world. They are found throughout the semi-arid and arid regions of the Middle East and Africa. They are a moderate sized scorpion, attaining lengths of 10 cm (just under 4 in). Their common name is derived from their distinctly fat metasoma, or tail, while the Latin name originates from Greek and means "man killer". Their venom contains powerful neurotoxins and is especially potent.[1] Stings from Androctonus species are known to cause several human deaths each year."
So, how awesome is that? Yeah, not so awesome. I'm just hoping this is the only one we ever see. People told us it is very rare to see them here, but we live kind of on the edge of the desert so who knows. All I know is I had nightmares for days after finding this guy.
Scott wanted to keep it to cast in resin for like a paperweight or something. I freaked out at the suggestion of keeping that THING anywhere in my house. The scorpions fate was to get thrown out in the dumpster. Yuck.
