THREATS VI – ΑΠΕΙΛΕΣ VI

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Master Scorpion

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This is Master Scorpion. The sting at the tip of his tail is painful especially in spring. He is slow and shy so he goes out only at night. The problem with him is that when he sees danger he can’t walk backwards easily. So he gets panicked and he stings –sometimes he stings himself!

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Master Scorpion hates light. Like in all the islands, there used to be many scorpions in Ikaria too. But now there seem to be less and less. The people here say this is not because of pollution etc. but because of electricity. Master scorpion doesn’t like even the distant glow from electric bulbs. He likes to work in pitch dark.

What’s “pitch dark”? Pitch dark is when you raise your eyes to the sky and you see the galaxy –the stars of the Milky Way.

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When you are out and you can see the whole Milky river, check if you are wearing flip-flops.

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If you are, jump onto your boyfriends’ arms. There are scorpions around and a string on your ankle is not a joke. Have your boyfriend carry you like that until you reach the nearest light.

Light or not, at night you don’t have to worry about scorpions when you are near the sea. Salt in the air keeps scorpions away –in Ikaria at least. The Ikarian Scorpions like it sweet, not salty.

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ψψστ!

Στην Ικαρία λένε τους σκορπιούς «σκόρφιδες» (ο σκόρφις, του σκόρφι). Πολύ ωραία λέξη που θυμίζει το φίδι (όφις) και τη φυσική απέχθεια του ανθρώπου γι’ αυτό. Έτσι η λέξη λειτουργεί σαν προειδοποίηση. Σκόρρφφιιςςς

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Saturday April 21, 2007 – 11:00pm (EEST)

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