JIMINY, I'VE NEVER SEEN

a live scorpion or rattlesnake in Arizona. I hope I keep that record intact for a long time.

They tell me scorpions love crickets. Once in awhile we get a jiminy in our house. He doesn't last long. I get to him before any scorpions can have a chance. Fortunately geckos also love crickets, and we're blessed with a plethora of them. Both in the front and back.

I generally turn on porch lights to check them out before I retire for the evening. Fat ones, see through ones, little ones, I really like them. I scare them when I get too close for the sole purpose of examination, but I don't want them to leave.

Even when they get into our garage or house, though I've never had very many, no more than one at a time, and none than are even close to being called full grown, I won't extract them to the great outdoors. I used to, but they never stay long at all. Just an overnight.

So while I like the Jiminys, I'm afraid scorpions like them better. I'm rooting for the geckos to find them first.