photo by: Contributed photo

Jim Hart lost his appetite after a scorpion appeared on the bratwurst he was grilling at Clinton Lake last week.

The Eudora resident, his girlfriend, Tina Odgen, and her son, Ethan Harris, 13, were camping at the lake when Hart said they encountered several scorpions.

“I’m 56 years old and I have never seen one before and never heard of them in Kansas,” said the startled Hart. “Ethan found the first two on logs, and they were two to three inches long.”

Hart never ate the brat. Instead, he tossed it into the fire.

Although this was Hart’s first scorpion sighting at Clinton Lake, or anywhere, the striped bark scorpion is native to the area, according to Andrew Short, associate professor and curator with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas.

“When an area floods, many insects and other arthropods living in the ground escape to somewhere else if they can,” Short said.

Scorpions, like spiders, mites and ticks, are arachnids, which is part of the larger group of animals known as arthropods. While there are extremely venomous scorpions in the world, Short said, a sting from the striped bark scorpion would be similar to that of a bee and would rarely be life-threatening, unless a person happened to have a serious allergic reaction.

Young children and sometimes the very old are more at risk of complications, according to www.mayoclinic.org. Around the world, only about 30 of the estimated 1,500 species of scorpions produce venom that is toxic enough to be fatal.

Although Hart’s scorpion sightings were the first that Samantha Jones, park manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, had heard, she said the sightings didn’t surprise her.

“Scorpions are spotted occasionally at Clinton Lake down in the rocky outlet area where water is released,” Jones said. “Their natural habitat is rocky areas where they can get under things.”

However, the lake’s shoreline is currently flooded at a record high of 21.2 feet above its normal average of 875.5 feet above sea level.

The high water has driven out more than just scorpions; other critters who live in the rocks along the shoreline are being pushed up higher to areas where they aren’t generally found.

photo by: Kathy Hanks

“We have seen a lot more snapping turtles getting pushed into the area,” said R. J. Harms, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager for Perry and Clinton lakes. “It’s an interesting time.”

“It’s nothing we don’t always have here,” Jones noted. “They just might be a little disturbed because they have been pushed from their homes.”

Currently, more snakes are in the campground area at Clinton Lake, and Jones said visitors to the lake always needed to be on the lookout for copperheads and rattlesnakes. Both species live in the rocky areas and, like the scorpions, have been pushed out of their homes.

It’s not just Clinton Lake that is experiencing the relocation of flooded-out creatures; rivers and other lakes around the area are also affected.

“Even deer have been reported by the Lawrence river trail in North Lawrence because their habitat is under water,” Jones said.

While the lake will remain flooded through the July 4 holiday, with beaches and boat ramps closed, Jones said, the campgrounds are open, and people can still enjoy the lake.

But don’t walk around in bare feet, Jones warned.

“Shoes are always a good idea when out in nature, and stay in the mowed areas.”