Image copyright AFP Image caption An Australian scorpion

A Canadian weatherman found a live scorpion in a bag of bananas he bought at his local Costco.

Nathan Coleman, who works for the Weather Network, found the creepy crawler after buying bananas at a Costco in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

He double-bagged the scorpion and took it to the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, where it had to be put down.

The fruit was imported from Guatemala, and he said he hopes it is removed from store shelves for safety.

Mr Coleman said his daughter was the one who spotted the venomous arachnid while helping her parents unpack the groceries.

"She was holding it up and I said 'don't worry it's just a slug,'" Mr Coleman told the Weather Network. "My mother was in the living room too and it was still squirming around in the bag and she said it might be a scorpion. I got up and looked at it and couldn't believe it was a scorpion."

Scorpions are found all over the world, but are especially prevalent in warm climates near the equator. They carry venom in a stinger located on their tail, which is used to both paralyse prey and defend themselves against predators.

Out of more than 1500 species, only 25 are known to have venom strong enough to kill a human, although a scorpion sting can be quite painful.

On Twitter, Mr Coleman said that the museum had to put the scorpion down for people's safety.