Spike the Scorpion

Striped Bark Scorpion While Life FOCUS XVI green team was in Oklahoma we really enjoyed the wildlife. One evening, when a small scorpion crawled over Logistics Chief M. Wilkes’ hand, he decided to capture it and take it back to Indiana with Centruroides vittatus us where we would reunite with Assistant Director J. Wilkes and blue team. But while he was off for a container, Team Leader M. Staddon, unaware of his intentions, killed it. Feeling indebted, the next day he found one while digging rocks and put it in an empty water bottle. There it stayed until the team returned north where it was adopted as the FOCUS XVI “mascot”. A.L.C. McClary made it a house out of a 2-liter bottle and the director dubbed it “Spike”. After FOCUS it traveled with M. Staddon back to West Virginia so that the rest of the Wilkes and Staddon families could see it. The festivities over, with no intention of returning it to the south or expecting it to survive in a strange climate, it was put to rest on December 29, 2008. Leave a comment to pay your respects.We saw about a half dozen while working in OK Non-aggressive, but too common for unhappy encounters to be avoided...

11 Comments

  1. Elliot January 13, 2009 at 11:30 am #

    Ah, sorry to hear that. šŸ™ May he rest in peace. šŸ™‚

  2. Jesse F. January 13, 2009 at 11:55 am #

    =( may he rest in peace =(

  3. Ben Freeman January 13, 2009 at 12:18 pm #

    he would not die lol. we kept thinking he would die after his first week, but no. it is incredible how God designed the scorpion to be able to live in harsh conditions for a long time. God is one amazing creator.

  4. Crystal January 13, 2009 at 4:48 pm #

    How long was the funeral? Who gave the eulogy? Was it a burial at “sea”? Were you able to notify the next of kin?
    Poor fellow, even though I never met him, it sounds like he had a very striking personality (pun intended). I’m sure he will be missed. BTW, where do we send flowers? šŸ™‚
    Reminds me of burials we had for our hermit crabs when we were little. Jeremiah always “preached” & gave the eulogy.

  5. Joshua January 13, 2009 at 5:28 pm #

    LOL – what great memories our dear critter Spike did bringā€¦sniff, sniff . Glad to know he lived a quiet life until the end and that no injuries were inflicted from or upon it until his final crawl. Iā€™m sure this Scorpion enjoyed an adventure like none other Scorpionā€¦.except maybe the pair that made it on board Noahā€™s ark .

    Greetings to all of Life Focus XVI – AD

  6. Timmy the Asian Sensation January 14, 2009 at 12:09 pm #

    O_O he…. died…. Good memories with LFXVI. wont forget u guys

  7. Matthew January 14, 2009 at 5:21 pm #

    Good Old Spike, he lived such a long enduring life. Thank you, Michael, for eulogizing such an important member of Life Focus 16.

  8. Donald January 14, 2009 at 6:15 pm #

    Wow … I am afraid, I dare say, that my tears were evoked more by the heart-felt memoirs of his constituency than from my personal association with his excellency. (Tears from laughing so hard that is.)

  9. Robert January 14, 2009 at 10:54 pm #

    Dear old Spike. Everyone who knew him loved him…

  10. Michael January 15, 2009 at 7:38 pm #

    I appreciate your all’s comments. Spike sort of had a place in my heart too. But not as big a place as each of you from FOCUS. My prayers are with you. šŸ™‚

  11. James January 17, 2009 at 9:55 pm #

    I didn’t get to read your post until now, Michael. ‘Tis a sad story. šŸ™ But I always thought people didn’t like scorpions! šŸ™‚

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