Getting bleary-eyed students out of bed in the morning can be notoriously difficult.
That wasn’t the case for zoology student Vicky Raitt, however, when she opened her eyes to find a tropical scorpion just inches from her face.
Perhaps even more surprising, was that the incident happened in her student digs in Aberdeen, clearly an emerging destination for exotic creatures on holiday.
Residents in the Scottish city can sleep safe however, with the arachnid likely to have climbed into the 23-year-old’s bag as she returned home from a trip to Borneo.
‘I opened my eyes and the scorpion was literally a hand’s length away from my face with its tail raised,’ she explained.
‘I jumped out of bed and, after doing a double take to make sure I hadn’t imagined it, I ran to the kitchen to get a plastic tub to put it in.
‘I’d been back for five days before I found the scorpion so it must have been living with me all that time.’
The scorpion is now in the care of the Scottish SPCA’s Aberdeenshire rescue centre in Drumoak.
‘Once I got over the initial shock of finding it I was okay,’ she added. ‘But it’s still quite scary to think what could have happened if I hadn’t woke up and it had stung me.’
Asian forest scorpions are not deadly but can cause intense inflammation and sickness with their sting.
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