Unexpected Surprise

A rather unexpected surprise while weeding a flower bed, mother scorpion and her eight babies.  First reaction was to check which was better developed, her pinchers or her sting, the latter meaning she was probably venomous. 

Turns out she is mildly venomous although and not a serious threat to humans.  Painful but not deadly.

Uroplectes lineatus (Striped Lesser-Thicktailed Scorpion)  are  endemic to the Western Cape, South Africa.  occuring from the Cedarberg in the west to Cape St Francis in the Eastern Cape.  

She was in no mood to be nice, sat poised with the tail ready to sting and her pinchers ready to grab.  She had babies to protect.
We carefully transferred the mother and babies to an earthen pot and then released her in a "safer" spot in the garden, safer for us rather than safer for her but where she would have ample place to hide and hunt.   

It is truly amazing when one takes a closer look.  Eight perfect replicas of their mother, tightly packed on her back where they clambered after birth. 
Still creamy-coloured as the exoskeleton hardens, here on her back they will stay for the next 10 to 20 days.  Scorpions give birth to  live young and the babies clamber onto their mother’s back where they will remain until their exoskeletons have harden.   

Mother nature is amazing when you think that these babies know to clamber onto their mother's back and to remain there until such time as their exoskeleton hardens enough for them to be able to fend for themselves.  
They may look like a primitive form of life and to be honest a bit scary to but they have all the instincts of higher forms of life.  Here a mother bravely stands her ground protecting her young rather than scurrying off and possibly losing a baby or two along the way. 

We need to let these creatures be as scary as they may seem, they have an important roll to play in our eco-systems.