a new fear realized today...

Written on 7/03/2008 09:55:00 AM by Miles

...as if the rattlesnake wasn't enough. geesh.

I come into the office this morning to start my day. Once I'm settled in, I reach in the corner of my office to pull out the office guitar, just in case I'm inspired or something to write (or, I just like to play). I slide the case out and what's behind it???? A stinkin' AZ bark scorpion, tail up and everything. This is the only scorpion here that's considered lethal to a person. And, It was literally about two inches from where I was reaching to get the guitar case! I currently have it trapped under a box lid, awaiting our grounds crew to come take care of it. We were told to always call them without doing anything ourselves, and to call the "emergency" messaging system for them. Well, their response time is now going on two hours, so I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to squash it. But, there's a part of me that thinks that maybe, just maybe, this thing could sting through my shoe....it's pretty big, folks. This pic is from the web, so you can rest assured that the hand of an idiot pictured is not that of mine. Actually, the one in the picture is about the same size as the one under my box lid. dangit.

On a better note, while moving my heavy desk out to capture the scorpion, I come across another animal behind it. Only this time, a friend and not a foe. It is a yellow-backed spiny lizard, and they are all over the place around here. You can get close enough to pick them up no problem, but they will scurry off and do push-ups at you to make themselves appear larger than they really are. Some of them are pretty big around here.

I wish I had my camera here today...all I have is my phone, and it does not zoom. So, pictures of what they look like from the web will have to do to illustrate my, now second, near heart-attack experience.