Aug 19, 2007

Vinegaroon

My readers never cease to impress me. I always thought myself something of an animal afficionado before I began this blog, but I have since been humbled. You are the experts.

Marty sent me this new creature. It's a vinegaroon (I'm not sure exactly what species--I'm guessing the Texas variety), which is a type of whipscorpion. They are a popular pet since they can't sting. In place of a stinger they have the ability to spray acetic acid, which is 85% vinegar, hence their clever name. Don't mess with these unless you want to smell like salad dressing for a while.

As Marty put it, they are ugly--but wouldn't you rather find one of these in your boots than a true scorpion?



Thanks for the link, Marty.

Photo source: Georgia Reptile Rescue


16 comments:

Jade said...

That one's fat!!

They make great pets, by the way. They're surprisingly gentle and easy to handle. We've had a few and have a little baby right now.

Anonymous said...

That thing is ugly. Where can I get one and how big do they get?

Nebulous Grey said...

Wow! I've never heard of these before. Man, I love this site...

Anonymous said...

Ick. Still scary. And it's because of the pinchers this time and the strangely huge abdomen. Keep it away from me and my salad.

~Kit

Anonymous said...

I had no idea.... This guy's incredible! The fat body gives me screaming willies though--not sure why.

But what I'm most curious about is what the heck Jade's living space looks like with all of the critters living there. Is there any kind of tarantula or scorpion you don't know about, Jade? Probably not. Do you ever just go to a movie?

Jade said...

Yeah. I go to movies. Eight Legged Freaks, Arachnophobia, etc. ;)

Our house looks really normal until you go into the bedroom. That's where all the creepy crawlies are.

Anonymous said...

Ick. It's the abdomen that gets me. Maybe it's gravid.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say: thank you.

My grandparents lived in Texas for most of my life growing up. They, being awesome, forward thinking people, often sent out dead, dried vinegaroons to their grandkid around Christmas time. They made for great things to show our friends to scare them, and added an extra aspect of fun to every visit--hunting and hoping for a vinegaroon to show up while we were there.

Both of them have passed away recently. Christmas and just last month.

So I just wanted to say... thank you for the fond memories. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

34 years (my whole life) of living in Texas, most of those years spend in the backwoods around Wimberley, and I think I've only seen these twice. Both times they were tiny babies. I've always wanted to see one fully grown!

--TwoDragons

Anonymous said...

Colbywolf--I'm sorry about your grandparents; they sounded like a lot of fun. Those dried vinegaroons would have made great Christmas tree decorations.

Raging Wombat said...

I'm sorry about your grandparents. I'm glad I could bring back some fond memories, ColbyWolf.

Anonymous said...

They were very awesome people, my grandparents :) but I know they're together now, and they got to see everyone at some point in the days before they passed on.

ooh... they WOULD make good christmas ornaments... I may have to do that for next year. I think it'd be a fitting tribute. Though one of my little cousins will freak out, the poor thing. he hates bugs :)

Raging wombat - Again, thank you. I hadn't even thought abut vinegaroons in YEARS until this post. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the imagery, Jade. Sounds like you've got a unique entertainment center right in the bedroom. Who needs movies when you've got crawlies to watch!!

Arachnophile said...

ColbyWolf - THAT's a GREAT story. Thanks for sharing about your grandparents. I thought my granny was cool introducing my to creepy-crawlies but that story totally wins. ;)

Jade always wins for cool critters' Cohabitating. ;)

Anonymous said...

Yikes...with its fat abdomen, it looks like the Queen from Aliens.

*shudder*

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