In our jungle house the best eyes in the place for scorpions has my five year old son. And he appreciates having that great eye for spotting Centruroides, aka, scorpions. So much, if luck has it, he even eats those carrots which I continually wave in front of him, convincing him that the more of them he eats, the better his eye sight will be, well just maybe he will reach the ripe old age of 101.

There are sixteen states in the United States where poisonous scorpions are found. In Belize, there are four known species: Scorpionidae Diplocentrus Maya; Scorpionidae Diplocentrus Ornatus; Scorpionidae Diplocentrus Lucius; and Scorpionidae Diplocentrus Taibeli. If you have a problem with scorpions, Belize is not your cup of tea, for they are found border to border. That's right, and although they can be dangerous to humans though they rarely will kill you, you will for sure remember that moment in time if and when you ever meet up with one.

Most people refer to an encounter with a scorpion as a bite. But in reality, scorpions don't bite, they sting. The stinger is in the tail and a sting is painful. Although not all scorpions are considered deadly except to insects which are their main source of food, a scorpion sting should not be taken lightly. The reason being, the venom contains digestive enzymes and they cause pain in humans.

Sometimes numbness occurs around the sting or in the mouth or a tingling sensation around the sting. There are serious symptoms, mostly when children are stung, to include abnormal head, eye and neck movements, increased saliva production, sweating and restlessness. Some adults also have these symptoms, along with severe involuntary twitching and jerking of their muscles, as well as difficulties in breathing.

Scorpions are also nocturnal, that's why inevitably around our house they always come out when the sun sets. They love corners and hidden spots. We also found a female scorpion covered with hundreds of her babies in a cleaning cloth table we had mistakenly looked over for weeks on our front porch. Our machete man Clemento comes across scorpions every day when he is working. He once stumbled across one while he was moving a pile of lumber. As I stood back in awe, Clemento pulled the stinger off the live scorpion rendering him harmless. Harmless to us, but now vulnerable in the world where live, I guess is better for a scorpion with his stinger.