Monday, August 16, 2010

The Ultimate Death Match

If you've ever wondered who would win in a fight, a scorpion or a spider, read on to find the answer. First, a little background...

We've been living in Arizona for a few months now and absolutely love everything about it. We love the weather, the landscape, and the people. The only thing we HATE about living here are the scorpions. Because of the copious amounts of rain this summer, we have found multiple scorpions inside the home (one was climbing up my arm). Yesterday we found yet another scorpion in the house, but instead of our usual response (a swift smash with a shoe) Jeff decided to catch it and then feed it a bug. In my quest to find a yummy meal for our new pet, I found a LARGE spider. So, being the immature and curious adults we are, Jeff and I decided to put the two together and see which disgusting insect would win in a battle to the death.

Now, before I continue, I feel like I must explain something. I absolutely hate spiders. They're creepy and crawly and they freak me out. The only things I hate worse than spiders are scorpions. So, call me masochistic, but I have no qualms about putting a spider and scorpion together for a death match.

So, place your bets. Scorpion or Spider?
Our 2 contestants. An average sized scorpion and a large spider (probably a wolf spider)
At first, I was convinced that the scorpion had the upper hand. He was very aggressive and had the spider's legs in his pincers several times, while the spider seemed only concerned with escape. But, in the end the scorpion couldn't compete with the spider's large fangs and lost the battle. After about 6 hours together all that remained was a few bits and pieces of scorpion carcass and a very happy (and full) spider.
Here's what's left of the scorpion. Poor guy never had a chance.
Now, after the battle was over we were left with the conundrum of what to do with our winner. To me, the only good spider is a dead spider, but we decided that our spider friend was the lesser of 2 evils, and that if he could help decrease the number of scorpions in the yard he was worth something. So, we let the spider go free with the hopes that he'll devour any scorpion that crosses his path.

The End (at least for the scorpion).

2 comments:

katie said...

That freaks me out! Spiders and scorpions are the worst. I still can't believe you let that monster spider go.

sonna said...

I love this post Brittany! I'm impressed you guys managed to catch both of those nasty critters. I'm hoping there's a follow up to this... wolf spider vs. javelina??