As some of you know, I work as a field technician for Hydrex Pest Control and moonlight as a blogger. Most of my time is spent checking Hex-pro 
stations. Hex-pro is an in-ground baiting station used to monitor termite activity on properties that have had an incidence of subterranean termites. I like to think of it as a house insurance policy. It gives the owners peace of mind as well as providing us with the information we need to protect our customers homes.
I never know what type of soil dwelling creature I may run into when I lift the bait from these stations. I run across things like centipedes, sow bugs, skinks and so on. This week I had two notable encounters. The first I identified as it was luckily crawling back down into the station. I could see that it’s spiny tail was curled up over it’s back and I watched it’s hind legs crawl away from me into the dark hole. Yes, it was my first scorpion sighting in a Hex-pro station. My heart raced a little faster for a moment and then I began to wonder what it would be doing down there. I have always thought of scorpions as heat seekers, so I researched a bit. Although they prefer temperatures from 68 – 99 degrees, they can survive freezing temps and do seek shelter under rocks, logs IN HOLES etc. Did you know that some species can live up to 25 years?!
My second exciting find made a sound before I could see his huge dark eyes. It was a spotted salamander! Absolutely adorable, and they do actually make a high pitched little squeaking sound when startled or touched. The little guy just sat on the edge of the station staring at me, as if he were asking, ” Now what? It’s awfully bright out here…”. I gently pushed him back into the station and adjusted the bait so I wouldn’t squish him.
So all and all an interesting week in the field. Please let me know if YOU have any cool creature stories that you would like to share!