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@HappyHippo,

Suricates......... The best time to find them is sunrise and just before sunset. It is cold in their burrows so as soon as the sun starts heating up they will come out to warm themselves and also before they go into their dens at night. I have seen so many around in the riverbeds. Just see what the weather does and keep your eyes wide open.

Also remember where they might have been seen a week ago that they might have moved site and might not be there anymore.

Not to discourage you but they are around, just make sure you look for them the right time of the day and you will be rewarded.

Regards

Thanks for your tips Scipio and KG! I will see you shortly and hopefully this time Suricates as well

Great pic Tony T, thanks for posting !

A good day to everyone.

I have never seen a live scorpion in my entire life.
I'm not clued up about their behavior either. What are our chances of coming across them in December? Not to scream like a girl, to photograph one and have a good look at it.
Second question about scorpions - do we need to be careful when walking around at night and preferably wear shoes or flip-flops?

Then Red Romans.... Haven't seen one in many moons. Last was when I was a child in December on the West Coast and I remember being dead scared of them because they would run after our shadows in the middle of the day. Do we have a chance in either Augrabies or Kgalagadi of seeing them?

Can't answer your question directly but have seen some good scorpion specimens in Namibia and also Red Romans in December. Are Red Romans the same as Kalahari Ferraris? Those things creep me out
Got a good introduction to them and scorpions during Summer time several years ago in Zimbabwe.
If they are around you do need to be vigilant about not leaving your shoes outside or at least checking them in the morning!! The scorpions I have seen were all in the evening and using cover or near cover of some sort be it rocks, pot plants, exposed tree roots etc. I think though that wearing covered shoes is always a good idea at night be it for arachnids or serpents! You never know.......

That's them, threedogs!

Should keep MY camera handy to capture the moment Duco tries to go after one with the macro-lens.....

GP

We have seen both in Nossob in summer! Definitely recommended to wear closed shoes...especially when making your way to the hide...keep your camera ready...and your ultra-violet light!

Enjoy!

We bought a UV light specially for finding them.

Make sure you shake out your shoes before wearing them

and yes keep your camera handy

They love crawling into camera bags and hiding under the lens.

Hey, you guys are going to make me shake out every single bag or shoe or anything it can hide in every morning!

I see some fun nighttime adventures coming up.

In April, minutes before we arrived at Nossob, around 12H00 the morning, a lady was stung by a scorpion when they were busy pitching camp and she removed a rock lying on the camping site. She was rushed off to Upington.

Unbeknown to me when we arrived, we went for the same campsite as it had lovely large trees etc and whilst pithching our tents etc, a ranger came around to warn us about the incident. Needless to say, we never walked around bare foot or with only sandals during our stay there.

So yes, they are around, just be careful when you pick up rocks, bricks etc lying around the campsites.

GP I am sure you have seen madach's scorpion photos here Hope you get some too

Oh I know Madach's photo's very well.

Hi Guinea Pig,

We found this one and a few others under our tent after we packed in the morning on the Eco Trail in Dec. Just imagine these creatures were only a few inches away while we slept.

During our stay other campers found a snake under their tent and the gardener nearly raked up a snake near the office in Nossob camp. We did the walking trail one afternoon and came across a rather large cape cobra in the camp. So besides scorpions be on the lookout for snakes.