African scorpion 'may have hitched a ride' to UK

A scorpion found in a woman's home in Wiltshire may have hitched a ride all the way from Africa.

The homeowner, who had recently holidayed there, managed to trap the unusual visitor under a wine glass at her home in Swindon, before moving it to a jam jar and being put in a touch with a local expert.

Jonathan Cleverly runs an organisation introducing children to exotic animals and said the scorpion is very unlikely to be an escaped pet.

He has now passed the arachnid on to someone who has a licence to keep this particular type of scorpion.

The scorpion is from the largest family of the species called the Buthidae, he said, some of which can have very dangerous venom.

"She'd done a brilliant job of moving it from a wine glass into a jam jar with a secure lid so it couldn't move and escape. She put in some lettuce for a bit of moisture. She looked after it brilliantly well," Mr Cleverly added.

Because of his job running Jonathan's Jungle Roadshow, he has decades of experience with reptiles and invertebrates and keeps scorpions himself, so was ready with the right equipment to transport it.

Mr Cleverly said the scorpion seemed to be "in very good health" even though the woman's trip to Africa was a few weeks ago, adding that scorpions can go without food for long periods.

"The scorpion, I would like to say, is absolutely gorgeous - even if it is potentially harmful to humans, it's a very rare thing for these sorts of scorpion to make their way into the UK," he added.

Mr Cleverly said he has been asked to capture unexpected creatures before.

"Obviously when you travel overseas, there is a small chance something is going to hitch a lift, but this is my first experience of it being a scorpion," he added.

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