As much joy as the holiday season bring, it can also bring some unwanted guests into your home. We're not talking about an annoying second-cousin or anything, either.
All across the state, Texans have been reporting a rather high amount of scorpions invading their homes! We don't know about y'all, but we would definitely rather hang out with the annoying second-cousin.
One Texan wrote on Reddit that they feel they've been seeing more scorpions as of late, which prompted many others on the website to share their similar experiences.
Wizzie Brown, a senior program specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, explained to the Houston Chronicle that an uptick in scorpion sightings indoors could be due to "changing environmental conditions."
She wrote, "It would depend on what has happened in the area—possibly rainfall, drop in temperature, etc. The best thing to do is to exclude the home/building to keep the scorpions outside where they belong."
There is one species of scorpion Brown says we should all be aware of: the Centruroides vittatus, otherwise known as a striped bark scorpion.
The striped bark scorpion, Centruroides vittatus pic.twitter.com/VrfZHbFDC8
— Michael Skvarla (@mskvarla36) September 14, 2014
It's the most venomous scorpion in the state and is extremely common in Texas. While a sting is rarely deadly, it can be painful and cause localized swelling.
According to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, more serious symptoms include paresthesia and muscle spasms, while more severe cases have resulted in a more intense hypersensitive reaction, characterized by symptoms such as angioedema, abdominal cramping, chest tightness, flushing, lightheadedness, a large localized reaction, nausea and vomiting, syncope, shortness of breath, urticaria, and wheezing.
In the most severe cases, victims suffer anaphylactic shock.
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