A Wokingham woman made a shocking discovery in her home which left her face to face with a potentially deadly scorpion.
Payge Aitchison, who lives in Arborfield Green, spotted a creature sitting in the skirting of her front door on Tuesday evening.
Initially believing the creature to be a spider or an earwig, after shedding some light, she discovered it to be a scorpion.
Speaking to Wokingham Today about the incident, Payge said: “Initially I thought it was a spider, it was dark, and then I thought maybe an earwig – because who on earth would think it was a scorpion!?
“It started walking towards the open door so I thought maybe it would just leave… but it curled up in the door seal – I then thought perhaps thought it had died so called a friend to ask for advice, she suggested I poke it and it was very much alive, so I got a Tupperware box and caught it.
“After I poked it with the spoon it started walking back into the house, I put a Tupperware box on it and then slid a bit of card under, flipped it upside down and put the lid on quick.”
After receiving advice on her Facebook post about the scorpion, Payge got in contact with the National Centre for Reptile Welfare who confirmed that the creature was ‘very poisonous’
The National Centre for Reptile Welfare then sent a representative from Berkshire Reptile Rescue to collect the scorpion.
The NRSW believe that the species is a Tityus serrulatus, also known as the Brazilian Yellow Scorpion which is described as ‘extremely toxic’ and as the ‘most dangerous’ scorpion in South America for the most fatal cases.
Payge continued: “It was the National Centre for Reptile Welfare who helped, they work with organisations all round the country who go out and collect these creatures when they end up in places they shouldn’t be.
“For us, their local contact was Graham at Berkshire Reptile Rescue, he has the scorpion for now and will take care of it until it can be collected by the NCRW.
“He picked it up from me just over an hour after I made the initial call which is super impressive.
“They will confirm the species when it arrives with the NRSW, however if they were correct then it is a very deadly species.”
Payge thanked the NRSW and Graham from Berkshire Reptile Rescue for their excellent work and has warned other to be mindful after recent reports across the country, which included a university student in Bristol finding a scorpion crawling inside a Shein parcel last week.
For more information about the National Centre for Reptile Welfare, visit: https://www.ncrw.co.uk/
For more information about Berkshire Reptile Rescue, visit: https://berkshirereptileencounters.co.uk/berkshire-reptile-rescue/
