EL JEBEL — Leapin’ lizards, a scorpion in El Jebel?
A couple say they found a scorpion in their house in Summit Vista two weeks ago. Stanley Coriat said people doubt his story, until he shows them the proof. He’s just as perplexed as they are about how it showed up at this high elevation near Aspen — apparently hundreds of miles from its regular habitat — and how it got in his house.
Coriat said his wife was exiting the laundry room about two weeks ago when she spotted the scorpion trying to dash out with her.
He told various folks about the find, including Eagle County health and human services in El Jebel. “I had to bring the scorpion to the community center before anybody would believe me,” he said.
County officials advised him to contact the U.S. Forest Service. Coriat eventually connected with Phil Nyland, the wildlife biologist for the Aspen and Sopris Ranger Districts. Nyland established that the Coriats’ flesh-colored catch was probably a venomous common striped bark scorpion. How it got to Eagle County remains a mystery.
