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Photo#1232636
Is this dangerous? - Uroctonites montereus

Is this dangerous? - Uroctonites montereus
Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, California, USA
June 2, 2016
Size: 1 inch
I found this inside my home, walking around on my carpet. I had previously found a couple of similar ones in my garage, both dead under boxes. I did not know that these are common in the area I live, but upon further investigation, it seems it is not totally unheard of. My question is, are these dangerous to humans and cats? Just a pinch or possible death?

Not much to worry about
To answer your question, they are generally not dangerous to humans. In the USA, most scorpions have a sting comparable to a bee or wasp sting, painful but not life-threatening except to someone whose health is already very weak. Only two scorpion species in the world are generally known to be able to kill a healthy adult human, neither of which occurs in North America. Cats may be more susceptible if stung, as they have less body mass so the same amount of venom will harm them more, but they also get stung less often, as they are much quicker and more observant of scorpions; in encounters between the two, cats kill scorpions much more often than the other way around.

Moved
Moved from Northern Scorpion.

Not P boreus
This appears to be Uroctonites.

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