By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge, located in the Warm Springs area, is a great place to hike, picnic, and learn about the endangered Moapa Dace. But once the sun goes down and the stars are high, it becomes a great place to study another fascinating local specie: the scorpion.
Tim Parker, from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, has been organizing night-time scorpion hunts at the wildlife refuge for a few years now. Scorpions are uniquely suited to late night hunting because they fluoresce very distinctly and brightly under some wavelengths of UV light, particularly black lights.
Contrary to popular belief, scorpions are relatively shy and stay fairly close to their burrows so they can be hard to spot, even using lights. But once one is caught in the black light beam, there is no mistaking its glowing bright cyan-green color.
Parker begins each of his hunts with a talk about safety. All ages are welcome to come and hiking distances are short, but rocky. So Parker warned everyone to stick together.
As the hunt continued, Parker gathered and educated participants about scorpions. He took the opportunity to dispel fears and teach about scorpion predators and scorpion prey, different species of local scorpions, how you can tell a male scorpion from a female, and other fascinating facts.
Many people start the hunt with fear and trepidation, but end it excited about what they have seen and learned, and with a new respect for one of the desert’s most fascinating creatures.
Recent hunts have turned up views of the Giant Hairy Scorpion and the tiny Bark Scorpion, which is one of the most venomous species in the world.
Most varieties of scorpions have a sting that is similar to that of a bee, which although unpleasant, is not deadly. Every hiker had his or her own black light, so all scorpions were easy to spot and it was easy to stay out of their way.
Scorpion hunters came from as far away as Las Vegas. Gabe Fisk, from Vegas, brought his daughter.
“I thought the scorpion hunt was really cool and really loved this refuge,” Fisk said. “The running water was great and the fish tank was really neat.”
Erin Eubanks, 13, and Abby Markowitz, 12, joined the hunt as a surprise from Erin’s mom. “I came with a friend and didn’t know what I was coming to,” said Abby. “At first I was really scared because I hate all kinds of arachnids. In the end, though, I really liked it a lot because it was safe and I didn’t know scorpions looked so cool.”
The last hunt of the spring is scheduled for June 4, but Parker says if you miss it, look for more hunts at the refuge beginning in September. The hunts are free and all ages are welcome. Black lights are provided but advance registration is required to ensure that there are enough lights to go around.
You can get more information on the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge Facebook page, or register at eventbrite.com. Parker also points out that black light flashlights are easily and inexpensively available at hardware stores. So kids can have their own scorpion hunt anytime.
