Somebody's got to say it:

"I am tired of these motherf*ucking scorpions on this motherf*cking plane!"

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Going to have nightmares about this.

That said, scorpions sting, not bite. The poison comes from the stinger on their tail.

This is an example of a post in which a cat photo would clearly be a not only reasonable, but much safer choice. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate insects and arachnids and creepy crawlies of all kinds. My heart actually did a weird thump and I felt a sense of dread.

@redskull:

Or the FX tv version.

"I am tired of these monkey-fighting scorpions on this Monday-Friday plane"

In this case, the Bark is worse for it's bite.

Oh well, apparently it's ok to use the term "bite" even when discussing what are officially stings. In other words, it's the action, not what caused it that counts.

I understand some panic as scorpions start falling from the overhead bin. But standing on seats? I'm assuming they were standing on seats because the critters were running around on the floor? Why not just smash them with your foot? C'mon, it's not THAT gross. Just some odd-colored arachnid juice stain.

Bite? Shouldn't that read sting (at least if you're talking about the effects of the venom). I wasn't aware that scorpions bite was venomous too. It doesn't look like they could physically bite a human to well anyhow.

UPDATE - When later interviewed by investigators, the scorpion was reported as saying, "I came, I saw, I rocked him like a hurricane..."

How long before US Airways starts charging an extra $5 fee for Scorpion-free flights?

It's still better than flying Delta.

@pecan 3.14159265: How about this photo of a Cat Killing a scorpion?
[www.swordinhand.com]

The explanation of scorpions climbing into luggage is reasonable. I recently traveled to Hawaii and a gecko climbed into one of our bags. Fortunately we found him before we left Hawaii. Upon locating him, the gecko promptly tried selling me car insurance.

@cabjf: They do not bite at all really, they have the stinger in the tail, and their pincers, which will pinch, but no biting.

When I was living overseas, we had a cool biology lab, wall to wall glass terrariums full of critters.... We were cruel kids, we tossed a cricket into one of the large glass bowls with a scorpion and a wolf spider.. and made them fight over the cricket :)

@redskull:

LMAO!

@seeker1321: I watched that the other night! And I about fell off the couch laughing when they got to the "monkey-fighting" snakes line.

Wait a second here, this is nothing more than 'viral marketing' for another awesome 'Snakes on a Plane' sequel, eh?

By 'awesome' I mean atrocious.

@humphrmi: Well it's not a reasonable reaction, but being scared or startled can do that. I once had a mouse crawl under my bedroom door. I like mice, I've had a pet mouse. But it startled me because I was not expecting to see movement out of the corner of my eye or a little critter scurrying into my closet. I had jumped up on the bed before rational thought even caught up.

Wow. Good thing the scorpion only bit him. It would have been worse if it had stung him.

@Bluth_Cornballer: I read that as "Scorpio-free" and started dreaming of a world where those poor folks born in October and November could not get on an airplane. Given that my sister is a Scorpio - I'd pay that fee joyfully. ;-)

@saya: Which is why it's not poison, but venom.

@pecan 3.14159265: Most bugs (especially roaches and those freakish cave crickets) creep me the hell out, but I've always thought spiders and scorpions were badass. Snakes, too. Not that I'd want to cuddle with any of them, but they've never creeped me out the same way, despite their incredibly alien appearance. In fact, some jumping spiders are actually kind of cute, if an arachnid can be such a thing.

@Hil-fish: Fun Fact: They recorded many ridiculous and over the top fill ins for the swear words with those two being the ones chosen. There's a list somewhere on the webs of the other phrases they used.

The crack TSA security didn't notice LIVE SCORPIONS in the luggage?

@humphrmi: I'm the bug-killer in the office, but even with a bug with which I was familiar, I'd need a moment to gather myself if it dropped from above my head. And since I'm not familiar with scorpions, I wouldn't know if it was foot-squishable or not. (We've got some kind of bigger-than-a-mouse beetle that would endanger my footwear.)

@Anathema777: I'm imagining you also yelling "Thomas! Thomas!" while doing so, which is amusing. ^_^

I had a mouse run along the baseboard in my bedroom once. It did startle me, but I went for the pellet gun. It was gone before I could get a shot off, which is just as well, because I didn't think about the blood I would have then had to clean out of the carpet had I hit it, and the possible damage caused by a wide shot had I missed. :-/

@seeker1321: I would pay money to see a monkey fight a giant scorpion.

@RecordStoreToughGuy: I grabbed a coat hanger as I jumped up onto the bed. I'm not sure where my subconscious was going with that idea, but I hope no one ever breaks into my home since my instincts apparently cause me to select the worst possible weapon in a time of need.

@floraposte: I was going to say that venom is poison, but I looked it up and learned something. Thanks!

[en.wikipedia.org]

@RecordStoreToughGuy: You can. Play Fallout 3 (not really a giant monkey, more like a half monkey/half wolf mutant, but there are giant scorpions ^_^)

@brianary: They obviously didn't feel that the boy's luggage had anything inside worth stealing, and therefore, did not investigate.

@humphrmi: I can't squish bugs that are big enough to squish or crunch. Toooooooo icky. I used to capture cockroaches and set them free in my grad school days. Ditto bees. I could never stomp a scorpion, at least not without vomiting.

Some TAS is going to be in big Trouble! They let someone/something get on a plane that has a kick ass weapon and did not stop him. What about the ticket person, they let someone/something get on without a ticket (6), what about the fee's on top of the fee's. Why most of what I am saying is a joke. One would have to say why and how come the TAS did not find the problem. Or was their a 80 year old lady they had to take in the back?

@ugadawg: I need to watch that movie again. Like, soon.

@tonalanswer: Now we know, and knowing is half the battle!

@RecordStoreToughGuy: I've always been fascinated by scorpions as well. You couldn't design a cooler looking creature if you tried. It's got lobster claws, a bunch of spider legs, and a tail with a freakin' stinger on it! There's no way those things came from Earth.

@humphrmi: Actually, if bugs are falling from the overhead bins wouldn't the floor be safer? Or scrunched down in your seat in terror?

When is a sting a bite?

@Anathema777: I agree. When I was in basic training a giant cockroach scurried across the floor of the toilet I had dropped trow in. I yelled, jumped into the air and decided to try to land on it on the way down. The whole platoon came a runnin' and laughed at me... until they saw the thing... It was HUGE! :)

The Consumerist pic on the article looks like an African Emperor scorpion, in which case, the sting is really no worse than a bee sting. You can buy them in pet stores for about $30 bucks. But the source article claims it was a Bark scorpion, which is worse, but not deadly.

TSA spots every cup of pudding and 1oz bottle of liquid you forgot in your bag, but scorpions (more than one!!) aren't noticed by the x-ray machine and allowed through?!?

Great, just great. Now, in addition to fearing catastrophic mechanical failure and terrorist attacks (either one of which could turn the plane I am on into a twisted heap of flaming metal), I also need to fear arachnids falling out of an overhead bin. I'm gonna need to up my Ativan dose next time I get on a plane.

@redskull: Or mayyybe, they were intelligently designed.

@Geekmom: I don't know about that. On 2 occasions, once in Phoenix and once in San Jose, I forgot to pull my baggies of 3oz liquid bottles out, but they said nothing as my bag went through the X-ray machine.
This doesn't surpise me.

@Hil-fish: Both my mom and my sis are scorpios. I would GLADLY pay 5 bucks to have them off my back.

@MostlyHarmless: Though now that i think of it, i have NEVER flown with either of them. So probably its not an issue to begin with.

@saya: Oh, but saying bite is so much more frightening and lends to Consumerists' mission to create a panicked, misinformed mob of consumers.

@BZMedia: Theres always one of you in every thread :P

I was at a friend's lake house (in Georgia) a few weeks back and when we went to put the swim suits on her 3 kids (y'know the ones w/ the built-in life jacket), a scorpion crawled out of her eldest son's suit. Apparently, they left them to dry from the day before and she says they like moist areas and had crawled in the suits. I wonder if somebody could've had some wet suits that were laying around and then just threw them in their luggage.

The 2-year-old just crouched down and looked at it while it was crawling toward his feet. Man, I snatched him up so fast. He would've tried to pet the damn thing.

Aw, poor kid. Scorpion stings hurt very badly in comparison to the size of the bite. And then there's the numbing and the sense that your face is wet when it isn't. My brother got stung by a little 2-inch scorpion as a grown man and almost went to the hospital; I can't imagine how miserable and in pain a little boy would feel trapped on a plane.