®Musty: the scorpion rearer®


"Unlike many invertebrates, scorpions don’t lay eggs, they wander off. Instead, the females give birth to minute, almost fully formed baby scorpions..." The Herpetologist emphasized.


"Really?" I exclaimed. "How much does their venom cost?"

He scratched his head and drawled "the last time I checked, it was....ehmmm —  24,278 naira per gallon"


I was surprised at how lucrative scorpion rearing was. I credited a huge amount of money to his bank account. For the necessary things needed for the scorpion rearing


350,000naira!. Was not a money to joke with — the money I had earlier planned to start a business with. LIFE NA RISK. I comfort myself.


The news of my wanting to rear scorpions spread around the community, not excluding my family. I had been called to the family's court of justice a number of times. But I still insisted.

"My Elders, is like you people don't know how lucrative scorpion rearing is. With 100 gallons of scorpion poison we can rebuild our family house and...."


"Shut up! Before the gods shorten your penis...what insolence, stupidity. Snakes and scorpions are considered sacrilegious reptiles..." My uncle poured out.


Law was meant to be broken. The Herpetologist finally brought all that was needed. He constructed a rectangular aluminium glass with a vent at the corner with an opening at the top. 15 black poisonous emperor scorpions were caged inside it.


Due to so much pressure from my father, I moved the cage from the sitting room where it was earlier to my room.


So one evening, we returned from a marriage ceremony that took almost the whole day. I went into my room exhausted. I unbuttoned my shirt, hung it at its regular place and dived on my bed. Lo and behold! I felt a sensitive pain in my stomach, it was very excruciating, I thought the world was coming to an end. scorpion! I screamed


I was rushed to a nearby chemist. 


My family couldn't sleep in the house that night for fear of the missing scorpions. 15 poisonous scorpions!.


350,000 naira wasted. How the scorpions got out of the cage still surprises me...


™ Musty strange.