Scorpion Lizards

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is John Foster. I’m the Executive Director with Wesselman Nature Society here in Evansville, Indiana.

What can we help you with, John?

Well, I’m here to help you and tell you an interesting story.

Oh, do tell.

Once, long, long ago, in the mountains of southwest Virginia, I was a starry-eyed young undergraduate doing a research project with this cute little lizard called an Eastern Fence Swift. Pretty common guy, maybe, you know, a big one is about seven inches long. And I was doing some work with a population that was found at an abandoned coal mine out near Blacksburg, Virginia, at Virginia Tech. And it was out in the sticks. And I was there about three to four times a week, parking my car on the side of the road. And, you know, in the minds of some of the local folks, possibly up to no good back there. And so one of my concerns was to make sure that people would know who I was and what I was doing so that I wouldn’t be greeted by anybody with a firearm.

So I figured the best strategy, because my grandfather was from a rural area, and the little general stores are usually just the hub for information and communication. Oh, yeah. So my first week in doing this, I went to the little general store, stopped, got a drink, and I’m shooting the breeze with the guys, and I pointed out my car and said, I’m working down the road, and I’m doing a research project on the lizards that run around up there in the coal mine. And the guy just sort of gave me a look and shook his head, and, you know, that was that.

And I had been doing this, like I say, three times a week for a couple of months. And I went in one day, and the guy looked at me, and he went, I finally figured out what the heck you’re talking about. You said you were working with lizards. Yes, sir, I am. You’re not working with no lizards. You’re working with them scorpions. And what I had come to discover amongst the local population, that any lizard was referenced as a scorpion. I have no idea as to why they were referenced as scorpions.

And this is where exactly? Southwest Virginia. This was in Blacksburg, Virginia. Okay. Out, you know, extreme Southwest Virginia. And there are no scorpions there. So they’re, you know, what I consider a scorpion, the little eight-legged thing that will sting you. Right. They don’t exist out there.

Well, let me ask you about this eastern fence swift that you were studying. Is that poisonous? No, not at all. Okay. The males have really bright iridescent blue patches under their throats and under their bellies. And when they’re showing off to girls or trying to intimidate boys, they do push-ups to flash these brightly colored patches. Right, right, right.

And, you know, the only thing I can think is, you know, in general in the animal world, often a brightly colored patch is a warning sign that something might be poisonous. So that’s the only thing I could think as to why they would be called scorpions. That’s interesting because the lizard that I’m familiar with that’s referred to as a scorpion in that area is the five-lined skink. Skink, yep, with a blue tail. Yeah, with that really electric blue tail, right? Yes.

I think in general, all lizards are scorpions. No kidding. At least amongst the population at that point in time. That’s really interesting because I know that that five-lined skink with the bright, bright, bright blue tail that can sometimes break off, right? I know it’s not venomous, but it is toxic, right? I’ve heard of cats eating those tails when they come off and dying. Yeah. Well, not dying, but I’ve heard about them puking them back up.

Oh, wow. I’m sitting here listening to this thinking to myself, this totally underscores why we have Latin names for teachers. Latin binomials. That is the take home message. Latin binomials are good. That’s great.

Well, we appreciate your sharing that story. That is really something. Yeah, you know, we’re going to dig a little more on this and see if we can present some of this on the website so people can find out a little bit more about where people use this different language. I could see how it would cause lots of confusion if you were an outsider.

Well, I think that they thought I was an idiot for the longest time. Well, no wonder you need to study these questions. You’re a wonderful-minded boy. Running around chasing scorpions. Yep. Thanks, John. This is great. That is great stuff.

Well, thank you so much, and I appreciate the opportunity. Take care now. Okay, bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye.

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