An Irish woman who recently traveled to Kenya discovered an unpleasant surprise almost two weeks after returning home. A scorpion has taken her on a journey of over 4,000 miles in her luggage.
Speaking on Ireland’s RTÉ Radio One, James Hennessy from Ireland’s National Reptile Zoo said the woman and her family sought help from the zoo after realizing they had a poisonous visitor.
“The person came back from Kenya two weeks ago and was in his bedroom doing what we all do, putting his bag in the corner, unpacking it, not caring about it. I looked at my bag, moved it, and as I picked it up, something moved on the floor beneath it. Then, in my bedroom, sitting on what I think was a shag pile type rug, was a tiny little scorpion. ” explained Hennessy.
Hennessy said the bag sat in a corner of the room for 12 days before the stowaway was discovered.
national reptile zoo
Mr Hennessy said the family was “startled at first” and the scorpion “ran away”. Hennessy said it disappeared under the bed. That’s when his family called him.
“They immediately called us and said they found a scorpion under their bag, but now they don’t know where it is. “I think everyone was involved. They tore the house apart, found it probably under the bed, and somehow managed to put it in a little Tupperware container,” Hennessy said.
The zoo identified the creature as Fisher’s Fat Tailed Scorpion. Hennessy wrote on social media that the arachnid is now “safe and sound (and very safe!)” in the zoo’s poison department.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that such discoveries were “not unusual”.
“It’s not common, but it’s not uncommon,” Hennessy said. “Mostly geckos, but also quite a few scorpions, and occasionally frogs and snakes.”