I wake up at 6am in our guesthouse bedroom to go for a pee. When back at the bed I notice something on the wall about a foot away from where my head had been. I’m a bit sleepy at this stage and not too sure if my eyes deceive me. Is that? Is it? Yes, it is.
It is a scorpion.
Only a baby one, about an inch long and a light brown colour. But a scorpion nonetheless. I am deathly afraid of spiders. They make my legs go to jelly and I whine like a scaredy little girl. But I am pleased to find I am not deathly afraid of scorpions. “Oh”, I say, “that’s a scorpion”. Rob is playing with the wood-burning stove at this point (yes, even at 6am – that fire became something of an obsession for him) but he comes to deal with it in his usual laid-back style. Our agent Max tells us that’s as big as they ever grow here and they’re harmless. We later found another one in the garden and took a picture. It looks mean but it’s only an inch long, honest:
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| We found this beast lurking under a plant pot! |
Wildlife in this region of Bulgaria is interesting. Bear Grylls would love it here. It’s a very rugged mountainous area and we hear there are bears in the woods. “Oh yes,” Max says, “but I’ve never seen one”. Max, however, has three loud dogs who make lots of noise when walking in the woods, so any bears must hear them coming a mile off. Rob and I do not have dogs and we’re pretty quiet folk. We consider carrying a bell when walking to announce our presence to any neighbouring bears.
Does anyone know what to do if you see a bear? I vaguely remember hearing the worst thing you can do is run away. Rob thinks you should make a ton of noise and shout at it to scare it off. I favour the stand-very-still-and-hope-it-doesn’t-see-me approach. Comments welcome!
And wolves, we ask Max? “Certainly there are wolves”, he says. “But you’ll never see a wolf. They’ll see you but you’ll never see them.”
Well that’s me reassured then. Anyone for a stroll in the woods?
there is a common misconception about running from bears and how they are faster than you and you should not it – actually, that doesnt matter – you only have to run faster than your husband