'OK, it's alive': Vancouver woman finds scorpion on kitchen floor

Gail Hammond was standing in her kitchen washing dishes last Thursday when she noticed something nearher feet.

It looked like a scorpion, butthe Vancouver woman figuredit was a fallen fridge magnet. After all, she'sa huge fan of the Germanrock bandScorpions andhas a variety ofband memorabilia around the house.

Then itscuttled under the fridge.

"OK,it's alive," she said to herself.

With her daughter's help, she managed to move the fridge andtrap the scorpion under a plastic bin.She punched air holes in the bin and left itwith some water.

Unsure of how to welcome this new house guest, she began doing some research. She called an exterminator, who told her to spray it with poison or offered to dispose of it for $100.

Instead, she kept the scorpion in the container for a few days while she figured out what to do.

"They can live without food but not water. We did put a few bugs in there," Hammond said. "We'd kind of taken a shine to him."

TheSPCAsuggested a veterinarian get involved. So on Monday, shedrove the scorpionout to a vet in Maple Ridgewithexpertise in exotic pets.

'Hero' for not squishing scorpion

At Dewdney Animal Hospital, Dr. Adrian Waltondetermined that the scorpion, which measuredabout five to seven centimetres long,was a female. It's alsopregnant within three or four monthsits babies should appear, looking like tiny white bugs on its back.

Walton believesit's a striped scorpion normally found in California and Arizona, but is working on figuring out exactly what species it is.

Hammond has no idea how the scorpion ended up in her kitchen. She bought groceries at Costcoand left the bags on the floortwo days before the scorpion appeared. She'd also returned from atrip to Cuba on April 17.

If it did come from Cuba, Hammond says that explains why she's seen no spiders for the past few weeks.

Walton said thearachnid couldhave simply hitched a ride in some produce or California-grown house plants. That's howWalton says the last few scorpions he's heard of were discovered.

He said he's thrilled the scorpionsurvived both the journeyand the person who found it. In most cases, if he receives a scorpion, it's already dead.

"[Hammond] is actually the hero here," he said.

"People usually squish these things and then afterwards call me up and ask, 'What is this? Is this thingdangerous?'Most of the time it's like, 'No, but thanks for killing it,'" he said.

Walton wasconsidering keeping the scorpion. He said the clinic's long-time mascot scorpion recently died; the arachnidscan live up to 10 years.

But abiologist with the Victoria Bug Zoo has identified the scorpion as one of two quite venomous species, one being a Central American bark scorpion. That means the zoo may be the scorpion's new home, as staff there are trained to deal with venomous animals.

For Hammond, she's hoping the next scorpions to arrive in Vancouver might be her beloved band.