scorpions

[svrn]

i see a lot of people on the internet eating live scorpions. They dont seem to ever take any precautions in terms of getting stung. Some of these people have been doing this their whole life.

How can you make sure you dont get stung when eating a live scorpion? the stinger is never removed in these videos.

[eveheart]

Not to overlook the obvious: can you contact the people who uploaded the videos?

[goodsamaritan]

Not to overlook the obvious: can you contact the people who uploaded the videos?

Ha ha!

[eveheart]

Ha ha!

I wasn't trying to be funny. I even apologized because my suggestion was so simple. For all I know, the OP already wrote to the uploaders, couldn't find the original uploaders, or never got an answer. After all, for all the increased access to information that the internet gives us, there has been a simultaneous increase in the sophistication and the complexity of unearthing the information.

Venom-eaters have been around for a long time. It would be nice to know more about it.

[FRANCIS HOWARD BOND]

A colleague at work in Cyprus put his hand in a cupboard to draw out some cables and instead contacted a very small green scorpion.   He never knew any pain like it, and was rushed to hospital with a hugely swelled arm.   He recovered, and I saw him some time afterwards in a bar.   So you can survive this - with medical aid!

[cherimoya_kid]

A colleague at work in Cyprus put his hand in a cupboard to draw out some cables and instead contacted a very small green scorpion.   He never knew any pain like it, and was rushed to hospital with a hugely swelled arm.   He recovered, and I saw him some time afterwards in a bar.   So you can survive this - with medical aid!

Different types of scorpions vary widely in their levels of venom.  Some are quite deadly, some not at all. 

[TylerDurden]

I recall foreigners  living in North Africa  having to  check their boots every single time before putting them on as the local scorpions loved to hide in warm areas like the insides of boots.

[eveheart]

(Injected) venom is not the same as (ingested) poison. Getting stung means that the venom was injected. The OP is asking about eating the stuff that the scorpion has in its sting. Totally different from injection.

[goodsamaritan]

My practical sense is if the animal has some venom or poison, just do not eat it.
So I eat python because it's not poisonous.
I've even eaten raw python bile.
But no attempt at other snakes that may be poisonous.

Sure, it would be curious to know who actually eats scorpions, there may a culture that does so.

[eveheart]

My practical sense is if the animal has some venom or poison

Venom and poison are not the same thing. Venom has nothing to do with eating, unless it is also a poison.

[TylerDurden]

Eveheart is correct. Some poisons only affect the person if they enter the bloodstream. If those enter the gut, nothing happens:-


http://knowledgenuts.com/2014/01/02/the-difference-between-poison-and-venom/

There are, of course, types that are both poisonous and venomous. Scorpion venom is only toxic if it affects the bloodstream.

[goodsamaritan]

Even so. Iit's just me erring on the side of safety.  My bad, I'm an engineer.  Factor of safety is important. There are plenty things to eat out there.

But yes thank you it is good to know the difference when we get caught in a starving to death situation.

[svrn]

im not concerned about eating any poison. Im concerned with getting stung and wondering what these people are thinking when they put a live scorpion in their mouth in terms of getting stung. Everyone eating the scorpions on youtube is either asian or some sort of arab, theres one guy food for louis whos australian but he took his channel  down and is tries to put his live animal eating days behind him.

[eveheart]

im not concerned about eating any poison. Im concerned with getting stung and wondering what these people are thinking when they put a live scorpion in their mouth in terms of getting stung.

I saw one youtube where the contestant had to hold a record number of live scorpions in his mouth for 10 seconds. At the end of the time, he spit out the scorpions. When he was asked how he felt, he replied that his tongue and the lining of his mouth were numb from getting stung so many times. For sure, some species of scorpion are more deadly than others.

Here's an answer from https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101128223128AAopZAj

There are lots of things seen on TV that may or may not be as it seems. But to answer your question, the stinger is on the tip of the tail and must be removed. Best to do this without getting stung. Some scorpions sting as bad as a hornet, while others just kill you. You didn't specify the type you are thinking about. Also, even if it isn't a deadly species, you can still have an allergic reaction and die. And considering it is an uncooked live animal, you can get E.coli or other infection from the feces within. Perhaps you can kill the microbes by stir frying in hot oil. So, the short answer is yes, you can eat a scorpion with proper precautions and probably live to tell about it, but the risks are not zero. Bon appetite.

When I read entomophagy books, they talk about how to remove the stinger with a pinch. If you want to eat that part, I guess you could pinch it and pop it into your mouth.

Keep this in the back of your mind: the scorpion eaters who die don't upload their videos.

[svrn]

they must know something i dont know when they risk getting stung like that, perhaps its that they eatnon lethal species