Scorpion Shocks Aberdeen Student In Her Bed

A student in Aberdeen had a shock when she woke up to find a tropical scorpion inches from her face.

Vicky Raitt spotted the Asian forest scorpion - which is not deadly but can cause intense inflammation and sickness with its sting - as she lay in her bed.
The 23-year-old zoology student had recently returned from a trip to Borneo and thinks the three-inch arachnid must have climbed into her suitcase before she left."I opened my eyes and the scorpion was literally a hand's length away from my face with its tail raised.

"I jumped out of bed and, after doing a double take to make sure I hadn't imagined it, I ran to the kitchen to get a plastic tub to put it in," she said.

"My suitcase was damaged on the way home from Borneo so I think it crawled inside through the hole. I'd been back for five days before I found the scorpion so it must have been living with me all that time.

"Once I got over the initial shock of finding it I was okay, but it's still quite scary to think what could have happened if I hadn't woke up and it had stung me."
After capturing the scorpion last Friday, Ms Raitt called the Scottish SPCA animal welfare charity.
It is now in the care of the SPCA's Aberdeenshire rescue centre in Drumoak, but it could soon be heading for Inverness to be kept in an exotic animal rescue charity.
Scottish SPCA inspector Fiona McKenzie said: "It must have been a real shock for Vicky to wake up and find this scorpion in her bed and she did very well to safely contain it before contacting us.
"Given Vicky has recently been to Borneo, it's most likely the scorpion has come over to Scotland inside her suitcase."