Scary Scorpions/Useful Notes

In Real Life, scorpions are mostly shy, retiring creatures, preferring to stay out of trouble and only using their pincers and stinging tails to subdue prey or defend themselves (some even use them to calm down their uncooperative partners during sexual intercourse). Like spiders, they are hunters, seeking out prey by sensing vibrations through their jointed legs and using the difference in the vibrations to each leg to pinpoint the direction of the prey, much like our ears measure the difference in sound hitting one eardrum compared with the other. Scorpions also, as you may gather, have pretty difficult sex lives, with most of the males engaging in strict rituals to prevent the females from attacking or even killing them - one such ritual may involve a kind of dance where the male tries to impress the female by going toe-to-toe (or claw-to-claw, as it were) with her. Moreover, nearly all scorpions eat only small prey, rarely tackling anything much bigger than a gecko. As with spiders, only a minority of them have the venom needed to kill a human, notwithstanding allergic reactions or similar exceptions. Surprisingly, some scorpion mothers are actually pretty caring of their young, giving birth to live young and feeding and protecting them in their early childhood, though after they have become independent the mother will lose interest in them and even eat a few if they don't go away quickly enough.

By the way, the Emperor Scorpion, probably the largest and most iconic scorpion species, is often used as the model for these Scary Scorpions, but don't fall for the Reality Is Unrealistic trap. Emperor Scorpions are good examples of the retiring type, preferring to run and hide and rarely attacking except in self-defense. Plus, they're one of the least venomous species of scorpions. They also make good pets, and while perhaps not as affectionate as, say, a rabbit, there's no reason why a scorpion wouldn't make a nice companion.