Did you know that the world’s most dangerous scorpions live in North Africa and the Middle East (species in the genera Androctonus, Buthus, Hottentotta, Leiurus), South America (Tityus), India (Mesobuthus), and Mexico (Centruroides). In some of these areas, scorpion stings may be a significant cause of death!

Yes, Mexico! Fortunately you are only going to find them out in the desert, right!

Wrong! I found this fine example of a specimen a little closer to home… scurrying across the floor of my hotel roo in fact… a moment after I stepped out of the shower! Needless to say it didn’t have much of an opportunity to scurry any further once I managed to find my shoe! [Apologies for the picture quality it was actually moving quite fast at the time.]

On a serious note there are an average of thirty cases of scorpion stings seen at the Hospital del Niño Morelense in Cuernavaca per month. If you are unfortunate enough to get stung by a scorpion you should stay calm and get yourself to the hospital as quickly as possible. The sooner you receive treatment the less severe the symptoms.  However don’t let the thought of scorpions distract you from enjoying what will inevitably be a wonderful experience.

*** I just want to add a footnote to this article to say that apart from this one incident I never saw another scorpion or for that matter any other insect / reptile that caused me any concern, though it didn’t stop me checking my shoes each morning to make sure they were empty before slipping my feet into them.