Monday, September 29, 2008

The "Escapade" at Midnight

Minding my own business the other night, never thinking of danger or creatures, I got ready to go to bed, But, first, a stop in the bathroom and as I turned on the light............OH MY GOSH, the biggest, black scorpion I have ever seen..............close to four inches long.........did I mention it was black?

OK, I'm not afraid of snakes - red and yellow kills a fellow - or other creatures, not even tarantulas but those creepy, sneaky scorpions raise my blood pressure and vocal expressions.

I left the light on, I slammed the door (hoping to scare him out of the house) and went and sat on the bed in contemplation. I probably sat there for thirty minutes thinking about how to ignore this creature in the bathroom. My options were: (1) barricade the door with multiple towels and rugs. That was ok, unless I needed the bathroom in the middle of the night and the odds were I would. (2) Where would it be when I DID want to find it? Oh yikes, maybe it would slither under the door anyway and come into my bed. (3) Deal with it! So I went up, got the fly swatter and my trusty can of spray starch. Put my shoes back on, along with a heavy robe just in case it flew at me (I don't know if they fly or jump or what) and went in for battle. If I had had goggles I probably would have secured those too - just kidding.

The scorpion had slithered down amongst the stack of towels that I keep in a nicho next to the shower. So, one by one, I shook and threw each towel into the shower. And, of course, it wasn't til I lifted one of the last towels that THERE HE WAS. It was NOT a pretty sight. I started smacking him with the fly swatter and spraying him with spray starch (that stiffens them I think) and quietly screaming as I decapitated it from the fly swatter.

Whew, it was over! I triumphed over a 4 inch creature, that to me was as big as tyrannosauros rex. The plight of a single woman living in Mexico!

12 comments:

Steve Cotton said...

Babs -- Your wildlife adventure tales are always fantastic. Too bad you did not have a camerman with you. I await the wrestling of the gian anaconda.

Babs said...

A cameraman when I was in my fuscia flannel pjs? No way, Jose!
But I am astonished that you said anaconda cause I started to end the blog by saying the "only thing left is to battle an anaconda" Interesting that we had similar thoughts!

Anonymous said...

This made me laugh! Thank you for the chuckle.I don’t mind bugs but I also do not live where there are giant scorpions.

Frankly Ronda said...

Going through the towels is actually kinda scary ... that would have made me quite jumpy.

Glad you found him.

Our friends with 3 boys have been finding scorpians in their house for last 2 weeks.

So far none in our casa!

Jonna said...

¡Ay! How brave you are! Good for you.

Our big black scorpion was also hiding in a towel, one that was on the floor. We beat it to death with a squeegie, I wouldn't have thought of spray starch. Of course, I have no spray starch anyway.

I did take a picture though, probably because we had it cornered OUTSIDE on the deck by then. I could send you my picture and you could chop out the blue caribbean and say it was in San Miguel?

Calypso said...

It is almost if a MAN in the house is needed. There is hope for us yet - but then in the end you handled things quite well - well I might question the value of spray starch. What something about too much starch in its diet? ;-)

;-)

Nancy said...

Babs, you crack me up!

And spray starch? Who would have thought of that?

I think my first impulse would have been to vacuum him up. Of course then would I ever be able to empty the vacuum?

Babs said...

Well, I must admit, that now that it is over, it is kinda funny! But at the time, I was gritting my teeth. Calypso, a man would be gladly welcomed - especially when the house is shaking, someone is knocking on the gate at 1AM or this latest episode........You gave me QUITE a chuckle with the "too much starch in his diet comment" And Nancy, the first time I had to kill one, there was a can of spray starch nearby and I squirted him. It froze him in motion and I swatted it! They move so FAST and the spray starch slows them down and its not toxic to me..........American Mommy, while staying in Yelapa I saw zillions of them - good luck!

Islaholic Trixie said...

I commend you babs!! I have yet to have a run-in with a scorpian in our Isla Apartment. I actually have a pretty funny video of my girlfriend and I chasing a cockroach around the apartment. Can't post it because we were getting ready to go out and most of the video is in our birthday suits. It's pretty hilarious!!

Islagringo said...

I almost squirted coffee out my nose reading this! I know it was not funny at the time, but it sure was the way you wrote it up!

In 2000, I rolled over onto a scorpion in my sleep and it stung me 14 times. It was not a fun time afterwards!

Spray starch? I didn't find that too unusual. We get centipede babies coming up the shower drain. I kill them with the Glade Air Freshener! (I do keep a protective cover over the drain and they only emerge while I am in the shower with the cover removed. Yukky little creepy things.)

Paul said...

Oh my. Big black scorpion. Shaking towels. Fuschia PJ's. Spray starch. Beheading.

If I am going to continue reading your blog, you need to provide warnings as to their content. How am I to take my afternoon nap today after all that?

Babs said...

Wow, just write about a "near death experience" and you guys LOVE it! Wayne, it's more painful to squirt coffee out of your nose then be bit by a scorpion and Paul, I'm sorry you're going to have nightmares......Trixie HOPEFULLY you won't EVER see one. Those creepy things!