Scorpion discovered in Sheffield back garden

Sam Booth stumbled across the critter scuttling around outside his house in Hillsborough on Sunday (June 14).

He managed to safely capture the archanid before posting a picture of it to Twitter for advice on what to do next, with some terrified residents joking he should ‘move house’.

Richard Wilson, Yorkshire recorder for spiders at The British Arachnological Society, said it was the first record he’d seen of a scorpion in a free-living state in the county.

Other experts believed the scorpion was an escapee from someone’s collection, or had been brought in with a shipment of paving stones from Southern Europe or North Africa.

Dave Soons, from Cirencester, commented: “We found one at work a few years ago so took it to a wildlife rescue centre, they passed it onto Cotswold Wildlife Park.

“Ae found out it was one the top three most venomous in the world. Small pincers with fat tails are the worst.”

Sam later contacted the National Centre for Reptile Welfare who transported the scorpion from Sheffield to their rehoming centre in London.

A spokesperson for the centre said: “We have this little guy on his way to the centre tomorrow after being found in a back garden in Sheffield.

“Thank you so much to everyone that recommended us and to Sam for finding and keeping it safe!”

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