Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

Kip

Aug 24, 2003, 7:11 AM

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scorpions

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I was just watching a "stings and fangs" episode on the animal channel. There's a really nasty critter scorpion) in Arizona and one in Mexico that kills a bunch of people every year. The ones I've heard about in Ajijic although plentiful, seem to be a less toxic variety. I've hard of using lemon juice for the pain. Are there any of the nasty variety in the lakeside area and if there are, are the local Dr.s equippied with the antivenoms to deal with them?

Kip
kip

Don

Aug 24, 2003, 11:25 AM

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Re: [Kip] scorpions

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I an unaware of any real poisonous scorpions in the Jalisco area. I know many locals. that have been bitten, but they all lived. Everyone seems to have a different reactions when bitten, depends on your system. The locals in our town use "Tiger Balm" when bitten. They put a little of the balm on the bite with a tooth pick, they put the same amount under their tongue and wash it down with a glass of water. Some then see a doctor and most don't.Tiger Balm is an Oriental Balm in a very small metal container about the size of a U.S. Quarter and about 1/4 inch thick. Has an embossed picture of a tiger on the red lid. If not embossed, it is conterfeit and no good. You can buy it in Oriental stores in Manzanillo, the U.S. and Canada, etc. We have even found some once in awhile in the tianguis in our town. My wife has been bitten twice in her life time and she used Tiger Balm and saw no doctor.

(This post was edited by Don on Aug 24, 2003, 11:27 AM)

Kip

Aug 24, 2003, 12:03 PM

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Re: [Don] scorpions

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Thanks Don.

Kip
kip

mkdutch

Aug 25, 2003, 7:26 AM

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Re: [Kip] scorpions

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Kip, you've gotten most of your answer on this and another thread. The emergency clinics, including Cruz Roja, have anti-venom serum should it be necessary. The temperature and topography, as well as limited development of the area provide a supportive climate for scorpions and some snakes. As has been noted, where humans live closer together, fewer of these "pests" survive. But some still do, just as they do north of the border. No matter where you go in the world there will be insects or critters that can possibly harm you. I wouldn't let that be a reason not to live here. After all, humans have lived here for thousands of years and continue to be the dominant species...8^). Or so they think.

alans727

Aug 25, 2003, 7:39 AM

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Re: [mkdutch] scorpions

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I thought roaches were the dominate species!

Kip

Aug 26, 2003, 3:54 AM

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Re: [mkdutch] scorpions

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Oh no, these little critters wouldn't keep me away. It's more like a case of forewarned is forearmed. I just need information to make better decisions of where, and how to cope. We have horse flies up here that are over an inch long and the blood will actually run. They hurt!! I had to learn from experience not to ride in the woods in the summer time. I hope that I've learned from it. Now I ask!

Kip
kip

Bubba

Aug 26, 2003, 10:50 AM

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Re: [Kip] scorpions

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Horseflies used to drive us crazy while swimming in our pool in Northen California. I mean these were ubiquitous and nasty creatures and damned smart. We have had no problem with them here while swimming.

beverleywood

Aug 28, 2003, 7:16 AM

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Re: [Kip] scorpions

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Should I be worried about my 10 year old dog getting bit by a scorpion?

Uncle Donnie

Aug 28, 2003, 9:29 AM

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Re: [beverleywood] scorpions

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Yes! During one two-day period at the beach my friend Daniel lost both his big hounds; one in La Manzanilla to a scorpion sting on the nose, and one was getting a drink from the freshwater lagoon over at Boca de Iguanas when he unexpectedly became 'gator lunch.

I doubt we'll ever see 'gators in Lake Chapala but there definitely are scorpions and our dogs and cats sometimes tend to play with them. Keep both liquid Benedryl in a spray bottle, and low dose Benadryl pills for quick treatment ubtil you can get them to a vet. The danger for animals is that they usually get stung in the face or on the nose and run the risk of swelling shut their air passages.

I'm NOT a vet, I just play one in the bedr...... uh, never mind!

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beverleywood

Aug 28, 2003, 9:35 AM

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Re: [Uncle Donnie] scorpions

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Omigod, my dog is such a fool!

He tries to eat anything he finds on the ground, bottle caps, paper, leaves, etc. I'd better not let him out in a yard alone! (He ate a peach pit most recently, 2 hours of emergency surgery to get it out of his intestines!)

Kip

Aug 28, 2003, 9:37 AM

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Re: [Uncle Donnie] scorpions

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Do you know if the Scorpion that got your friend's hound was the same type that is common at Lakeside? Don't know what to say about the gator. Unfortunately most of a hound's brain is located in his nose. But they are very sweet.

Kip
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Uncle Donnie

Aug 28, 2003, 10:24 AM

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Re: [Kip] scorpions

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Bev, as a former Special Ed teacher in TX let me suggest that that pup is NOT a fool, merely intensely inquisitive! We're so fortunate not to have to be so PC in Mexico where a spade is still usually a spade.

And Kip, I don't kill scorpions anymore but I also don't become too intimately involved with them either. The main difference I've noted is that the beach boogers seem to have better tans. My best guess is that both kinds are very similar. They're not nearly as evil looking or as large as the more Northern desert varieties.

Max the Cat used to bat them about as toys and he never got stung. Pirata the One-Eyed Wonder Dog totally ignores them. Diff'rent strokes!

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juan david

Aug 28, 2003, 1:45 PM

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Re: [Uncle Donnie] scorpions

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Good advice re the Benedryl. Come to think of it, the same holds true up at the cottage in the Great Green North where we have wasps/hornets that sometimes build ground level condos and seem to resent furry gate crashers.
" let sleeping dogs lie"

Jerry@Ajijic

Aug 28, 2003, 8:56 PM

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Re: [ian] scorpions

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Don where do you get the benadryl spray and how do you use it? On the mouth, nose or site of sting ? Jerry

Uncle Donnie

Aug 29, 2003, 8:50 AM

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Re: [Jerry@Ajijic] scorpions

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I got my last bottle in TX. If you want some let me know and I'll bring you some when I return home in a couple of weeks. There's waaaaay too much stuff to buy up here in Yuppieville.

Use it as a topical spray at the site of the sting and then shoot a squirt or two down the throat. If you do this with your cat make sure you have iodine or alcohol close by. You'll know exactly what to do with them.

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