# Euscorpius flavicaudis



## oliwilliams (Feb 23, 2010)

Hi i know we get these wild in the uk but is it ok to go find them and keep as pets? or do people sell them ?


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## Hedgewitch (Feb 12, 2008)

Someone on here has a small breeding group of the UK stock if I remember rightly... Do a search and private message the person maybe. As an introduced species I doubt they are particularly protected.

You'd need to be in/near Kent though, they don't live much north of that.


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## hashnak (Apr 18, 2009)

ive got a mature male, there awesome scorps even though they are only small. not sure on whether there protected or not but the person i got mine from had permission to collect them and went with the BTS.


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## gothling (Feb 17, 2010)

*found this: could just take a trip and collect a few wild 


Britain's only colony of scorpions - 10,000 stinging arachnids that have made a permanent home in Sheerness Docks - could become victims of a plan to build loft apartments during dock redevelopment works. 'I am extremely worried,' said Dr Tim Benton, of Stirling University, who has studied the scorpions for the past decade. 'These little creatures have been part of the landscape for 200 years, but we could lose them because they are not a native species of Britain, and therefore are not entitled to legal protection. It is believed the Sheerness scorpions arrived in cargoes of Italian masonry during the Georgian era and settled in the port's dockyard walls. Yellowtailed scorpions, Euscorpus flavicaudis, have found Kent's warm weather to their taste, and in recent years, with global warming, have multiplied vigorously. Dr Benton estimates there are now between 10,000 and 15,000 yellowtails living in crevices in the dockyard walls. The Yellowtailed scorpion grows to a couple of inches in length and is dark chocolate brown with a yellow-tipped tail. 'They do have a sting, a bit like an ant's, but nothing like as bad as a bee's,' added Dr Benton. 'You have to get them really mad before they will attack. For most of their lives, Yellowtailed scorpions do absolutely nothing. They live in crevices without moving - until a woodlouse or spider scuttles past. Then they pounce, and devour the hapless passer-by. Thanks to an incredibly low metabolic rate, yellowtails can live on only four or five such catches a year. 'Essentially, they are active for about 10 minutes every 12 month,' added Dr Benton. Occasionally, a few scorpions manage to travel to other sites and set up independent colonies, but none have survived. Only the Sheerness scorpions have thrived. But now their existence is threatened. Medway Ports, owners of Sheerness Docks, is negotiating the sale of the scorpion site with its buildings being scheduled for restoration to their original residential use. said Dr Benton. A spokesman for Medway Ports admitted the scorpion site was being sold off, although he stressed no plans had been put forward that might affect the creatures. An English Nature official also confirmed that the scorpions could not be legally protected. *


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## oliwilliams (Feb 23, 2010)

yeah shame i am so far away would really like to get a few of these guys


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## hashnak (Apr 18, 2009)

bit of info about them MISC - View topic - Euscorpius flavicaudis field trip and theres also a pic of 1 eating a Sergestia florentina :gasp:


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## gothling (Feb 17, 2010)

field trip next year i think! wooo! you know, just to 'rescue' a few.


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

I thought there was another species of scorpion, that can be found on the flat walls on the tube tracks in Essex?


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## Mr_Goodbytes (Sep 7, 2008)

Just had a google and they're wicked 
They can only be found around kent?


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## gothling (Feb 17, 2010)

i lived in essex, i never saw a single scorpion at any station.




Stelios said:


> I thought there was another species of scorpion, that can be found on the flat walls on the tube tracks in Essex?


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