The Forest Scorpion
A scorpion in the lush Pacific Northwest forest of the Central Cascades of Oregon. Known as the Northwest Forest Scorpion that prefers to live in the damp forest climate. Not the dry desert we usually associate with scorpions.
This is a pretty good story, at least I think so. Let me start this by saying I knew Oregon had scorpions. Surprisingly, for all my time in the outdoors, this was my first time seeing one. Maybe they are giving Sasquatch a run for their money as the world's best at hide-and-seek. Who knows.
It was a family camping trip in the Willamette National Forest of the Central Cascades, and on the last morning, as we were cleaning up from breakfast, my daughter's friend went back over to their tent to get something. I heard the words, "there is a scorpion in our tent". Not screaming in panic. Calmly, as in that seems odd. Of course I hear that, and the logic in my head says there isn't a scorpion in there. I walk over and look down to see a live scorpion was indeed on the mattress pad.
Two questions immediately came to mind. One, how did it get in there? Two, what do we do with it? And I guess three, is it venomous? None of us had encountered one in our home state. Sure, I have seen them in places like Death Valley, yet it never crossed my mind camping in a dense forest filled with evergreens and moss. My daughter's friend said she woke up itching what she thought were multiple spider bites. We eventually concluded those were stings from the scorpion. This particular type normally wants to hide from humans under logs, rocks, and leaves or play dead. They normally only sting when they are trapped, which was the case here. Fortunately, the stings aren't any more medically of a concern than the sting of a bee.
Some in our group wanted it dead because of fear it was venomous, and it might get someone else. This was before we were back in cell range to fully determine what kind of scorpion and what likely happened. That was not my plan. Just because something can hurt us doesn't mean it needs to die. Sure, sometimes that might be the case, but not here. No one was threatened. Since we didn't know, I put the scorpion in a mason jar. And just down the road from the campground walked into the forest to let it go. This is when I was able to take the photo. It didn't want to hang around long. I took a small number of frames, and then it was gone into the leaf litter of the forest floor. I am sure much happier than being stuck all night in the tent.
I titled this photo "No One Like You", if you know why, bonus points for you!
Camera and Processing:
- Canon R5, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, f/4.5, 1/60 second, ISO 800
- Cropped in some from the larger frame, minor color updates, along with a couple adjustments relating to highlights and shadows for the scorpion to stand out more in the dark damp forest