Couple find scorpion in outside their front door

Islington Gazette: Scorpion found by Neil McCarthyScorpion found by Neil McCarthy (Image: Archant)

A couple got the fright of their lives when they came home from a night out and discovered the route to their front door was blocked – by a SCORPION.

Neil McCarthy and Gadiza Zerari had gone out for the day during the last bank holiday and were climbing the stairs to their fourth floor flat in Thane Villas, Holloway, when they spotted something moving in the hallway.

Gadiza, 38, was ahead of Neil and froze as she realised what the thing was that was creeping on the floor outside their front door.

Neil, 41, said: “It was about midnight and my partner was ahead of me but when I got to her she was pointing at something on the floor and mouthing the word ‘scorpion’.

“When I saw it I wasn’t sure it was alive but then it raised its pincers and started moving back and forth. I was only wearing flip flops so I had to jump over it to get into the flat.

“I came back out wearing boots and then put a glass over it. We had no idea what to do with it.”

The couple searched the internet to find out what type of scorpion it was and any information about why it would be in a block of flats in London.

They also contacted each of their neighbours to ask them if anyone had one as a pet but after they were told none of them did they decided to find a home for it.

Neil said: “Initially I was scared because you always imagine scorpions are deadly but then I was concerned about it because it must be rare. I didn’t want to kill it.”

After calling numerous pet shops they finally found one in Hackney that agreed to take it in but sadly the animal died shortly after due to dehydration.

Nick Taquair, owner of the Pet Shop in Hackney Central, said: “It was just a little jungle scorpion, a baby one. It wouldn’t have been very venomous. The general rule is the bigger the claw, the smaller the venom.

“It’s highly unlikely there is a colony there. It probably came in on someone’s bag or clothes from a holiday. Having said that up in Essex there is a colony of scorpions - so you never know.”