Backyard Wildlife & the "Phantom"

I had a lovely time this morning photographing all the "wildlife" that seemed to come out of nowhere in our backyard. They were very cooperative with me and stood very still :)

No idea what he is...giant moth? He lost an antenna poor thing. 

So, this one made me the most nervous but he was my favorite.  I did ask him politely to let me take a few pics of him and as you can see he obliged/humored me.

 

Someones playing hide & seek...

While we're on the subject of "wildlife" I had a run-in with some wildlife that I'd rather not have again. I'm still feeling the effects (well...sorta) of it 3 days later! 

Anyway, this past Wednesday night I was headed up to my room to go to bed. It was, oh, around, 9:30ish? I had just gotten off the phone with James who was in Baltimore (had been since Monday and would be until Friday night). Well, I was walking into my room, which was dark, and right as I put my left foot down across the threshold of the door my pinkie toe started on FIRE! Ok, ok, not really but that is what it felt like! I hopped on my right foot swatting at my left one and I even stepped on my left foot - either attempting to stomp whatever got me or trying to stomp the pain. I turned around and turned on the light to see the little bugger that had just gotten me and NOTHING!! There was NOTHING around me! Boomer was right behind me and he saw me looking around so he puts his nose to the carpet and sniffs in a little circle too. He looks up at me as if to say: "What? What was it? I can't smell where it went!"

I did cry. I'll be a big girl and admit that. But just for a few seconds. I called James right back and told him that I think I just got stung by a scorpion!

Here in AZ we have these creatures, hideous ones, that are part of the arachnid family. They are called scorpions. Even the name of them is hideous. Around our area especially there are some called Bark Scorpions. They are little. They can be poisonous/dangerous depending on the sting and who gets stung. Here's what one looks like:

This is NOT the one that got me. This one was in my kitchen sink sponges a few weeks ago and attempted to get my fingers as I reached for the sponge. Luckily I had running water so it prevented it. However, I have a feeling it was one very similar to this. You can see by the size of the drain that this seemingly big guy really is little. But they can pack a PUNCH.

The sting initially hurt for the first few minutes. Then it wore off a little, coming back when I walked. Blood flow + bite = ow. But then my foot started to tingle. And the tingle kept creeping itself up.

I called the nurse line (a help line for questions about situations like these) and they told me to take Ibuprofen or Benedryl (sp?) and keep my foot elevated. I called my friend Amanda to see what advice she had too because I knew that she'd had a few scorpions in her garage. She ended up coming over :) I didn't know whether or not I should go to the ER because I'd never gotten stung by ANYthing before - not even a bee (although I know how to take care of those stings. Mud  :)  ) Since I didn't see what had actually gotten me Amanda told me that certain spider bites could cause symptoms that wouldn't show up until 8 hours after. I didn't think I'd been bitten by a spider because I'm pretty sure I'd have been in MUCH worse pain than what I was. But I didn't like the tingling and I figured it be a "rather safe than sorry" deal if I went to the ER.

So that's what we did. We went to St. Mary's hospital. We were there for 3.5 hours. But the Dr. and staff were very pleasant for it being so late at night :) and the Dr. was super nice about me being there :) He educated me rather than making me feel dumb for being there and I greatly appreciated that. He said that the tingling/numbness (the tingling was almost to my knee at this point) was normal with these kind of bites but if that was the only symptom then I was ok. He said that if I lost eye muscle control, had extreme anxiety and greater pain, then that is when it is an emergency.

He ended up giving me a shot of Lidocain, twice, to numb the toe. The shot was like getting stung AGAIN! It made me jump when he did it. "You might feel a little poke" are the worst words. Dr.s just shouldn't say them. EVER. :) The tingling went away almost instantly.

sorry for the finger everyone...

Anyways, Amanda was a super sport with me (she's pregnant!) because she stayed there with me and we didn't get home till about 1:15 in the morning. And peace of mind cost me $150. Oh well. I know better for hopefully not the next time. :) The Dr. also wanted to prescribe me vicoden for the sting. I said, "Seriously? I'll be fine." Vicoden??? I fall asleep with a child's Benedryl! And the sting was sore not painful. I declined :)

I ended up staying awake until 2 trying to look for the culprit but to no avail. I'm sticking to the story that I mushed him reeeeeeal good into the carpet when I stamped....I also vacuumed. I also slept on the couch. I have checked every pair of shoes, gingerly shaken out clothings or blankets on the floor. The "Phantom" is gone. I can't find him. Hopefully I never will.

My toe is still numb. :)