Putting on your shoes in the desert can be a very shocking expience if your not careful. Without looking, you might just put your toes down on a scorpion who has created a new home in one of your shoes!  The sting you get can be painful and sometimes even poisonous. 

     Scorpions are a relative to the spider.  While most are harmless, some desert in Arizona in Mexico are quite poisonous and kill many people each year.  In fact, these scorpions often claim more human lives than poisonous snakes and spiders. 

Scorpions are dangerous to people because they like living in houses.  They live in closets as well as dark spots under beds and furniture.

     The scorpion stings with its tail.  It whips the tail over its body and stabs the stinger into the victim.  When stung by a scorpion, a person's skin turns cold and clammy and he starts to foam at the mouth and nose.  Next time you see a show about cowboys, you'll know why you always see them shake out their boots when getting dressed.