A woman found she had brought home an unwanted souvenir when she found a scorpion in her luggage 12 days after coming back from vacation.
The Irish woman had taken a horse-riding trip to Kenya but was terrified to find the small creature in her bags almost two weeks after returning home.
The traveler, Lorraine Dempsey, contacted the National Reptile Zoo in Kilkenny Ireland for help. They came and took the scorpion, which Lorraine nicknamed Kenny.
The fat-tailed arachnid is common across Africa and the Middle East. Lorraine had found it nestled in her bag, having made the 4,000-mile trip with her from Kenya to Wickly, Republic of Ireland.
However, after she first discovered the scorpion, it went missing. Luckily, she managed to find it again 90 minutes later under a bed. Lorraine then put it in a box which she labelled on top “Scoprion – Do not open!”
She was terrified it was a Death Stalker scorpion which is one of the dangerous breeds and can be found in Kenya.
Although, the Zoo has clarified it wasn’t that breed, thankfully.
James Hennessy, the zoo’s director, told NBC News it’s common for animals to hitchhike in traveler’s luggage.
He said: “It’s not as rare as you’d think. We do get a few cases every few weeks where something has gone into someone’s luggage or something.
“We get quite a few spiders, geckos and so on. They end up in clothing. If you stay somewhere for two weeks they can find their way into a bag.”
He clarified the sting is not “medically significant” but if someone does get stung, they may have irritation and become difficult for people with breathing problems. But Hennessy says it could have been worse.
On Sunday, Lorraine wrote on Facebook: “Bye bye Kenny the Kenyan Death Stalker. Kind of sad to see the back of him.”
The zoo says Kenny is “now safe and sound (and very secure!) in our venomous unit”.
