Scorpions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just shake out your shoes before putting them on in the morning. Nonissue unless you are looking for trouble.

wharf-rat said:

Ok, Someone school me on Scorpions and Snakes.
I'm a Canuck boater very use to dealing with black, grizzly and yes Polar bears. Cougars, mountain lions, Mountain goats, moose, deer, cows and elk.. Dealt with them all while rafting.

I have never spent any time in the southern states and I am rafting the grand this summer.
So... What should I know to keep myself from getting stung by one of these creatures, they scare the shit out of me🤣
Im hoping i can sleep on the raft but my next option will be in my tent.


🦂

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atg200 said:

Just shake out your shoes before putting them on in the morning. Nonissue unless you are looking for trouble.

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Shake out yer pants too!!

good advice above. what are the dates of your GC? time of year permitting, i'd consider sleeping on a roll-a-cot instead of a tent.

congrats on your trip down the big ditch 🤙

They really are not the biggest threat to worry about down there. Do pay attention to shoes and other clothing, as suggested. Also be careful picking up tarps and such.

For snakes - Don't step near bushes without taking a look & listen at them.

We only saw a few when we were down there. Weren't ever particularly concerned about them. Slept on the ground, only set up a tent one night, and that's because it was raining.

I spent a few months in Texas a while back...took to calling the house I was living in
The Scorpion Lounge.
They were EVERYWHERE!
In my shoes, in my pants, in my bed. Found one hanging out ON THE CEILING above my bed one evening. I killed more of them than they got me.
Just be mindful.

If there's a snake in camp, leave it alone. Let everyone know where it is, and just let it be. When it senses very large animals (you) stomping around, it will leave. You are more of a threat to the snake than it is to you. If you decide to move the snake, it might get curious and come back. Let it leave of its own accord.

Most snake bites are on the hands. Most are on "young" men. I suspect there is alcohol involved in many of them. Don't try to pick up the snake; just let it wander off.

For scorpions - wear shoes. It's already been stressed to knock out your shoes, socks, and shorts (and wetsuit) before putting them on. If you leave that wetsuit out to dry on a nice warm rock every night, I bet you'll find a scorpion in there at least ONE morning.

Definitely bring a black light.

scorpions like rocks and boulder piles, other critters (spiders! mice!) like the bushes; I rarely get bothered sleeping on the ground in the middle of a huge spit of sand. for snakes, scorpions, rain, wind, etc etc wait til right before going to sleep to unpack all your sleeping stuff. then it doesnt get crawled in, drenched, and blown into the tammies while you're eating dinner!

Black light hunting can be fun indeed, however it can also have the effect of freaking people out. So know your crowd before 'forcing' that activity on everyone.

We had one crawl into the pile of pfd's in the middle of open sand during a lunch stop, I was the lucky winner who had a 3" specimen crawling up the front of my chest. So ya be diligent with anything left on the ground for a while.

They are delicious prepared in the style of soft shelled crabs in ramen noodle soup. Remember to remove the stinger, the only segment of tail where poison resides.

I would recommend not bringing a blacklight and bringing a cot.

We had one person get a scorpion sting on a trip. We were fucking around in the bushes making sure our boats were tied up securely and it got him on the back. At first he thought it was a sharp thorn or something in the bush, but upon closer examination we saw several scorpions chilling around those bushes and the pain lingered long enough for us to conclude he got stung. He was sore for a couple days but otherwise just fine. Those little translucent ones give me the creeps for sure, not a fan of them.

If you're finding snakes in camp it likely means there are a lot of mice at that camp so be careful with food. After a layover at Cardenas, where we saw several different species of snakes, one of the rafts acquired a mouse infestation. Not sure how long the infestation lasted but they had mouse sightings on that boat for several days afterwards.

I second the advice to not set up your sleeping gear if you'll be on the ground until right before you need it. Then you can put the clothes you take off inside your dry bag and have less worry about critters getting into them. Sleeping out, either on the ground of even better on the boat, is so much easier and nicer than dealing with a tent. Just take basic precautions and you'll be fine.

Like others have said, a blacklight is really fun, but if the crawlies creep you or others in your group out, it'll be better to not know where they are.

Will Amette said:

Most snake bites are on the hands. Most are on "young" men. I suspect there is alcohol involved in many of them. Don't try to pick up the snake; just let it wander off.

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the ranger on our GC trip described the typical snake bite receiver to be a male, in their 20s, having drank alcohol. He went on to say statistically speaking most bites are on the right hand of said male.

his advice to not become another addition to this statistic… use your left hand to pick up snakes.

When you shake out your PFD, make sure a cougar doesn't fall out.

MT4Runner said:

When you shake out your PFD, make sure a cougar doesn't fall out.

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Sleeping bag too, presumably?

I just got off the Grand, and found a scorpion in my hat on the last morning. I had already put on my dry suit and spent the next our jumping every time I felt any kind of itch or scratching feeling. If it can be shaken out, shake it out.

Snakes are like Black Bears...could mess you up, but it's pretty darn unusual. I wouldn't go sticking my hand in random holes, or jog through thick undergrowth, but I wouldn't worry about them either.