Author Topic: Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall  (Read 2931 times)

Offline stuartwaters

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Re: Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2021, 12:04:44 PM »
Under threat now it seems....


https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/12/robinmckie.theobserver


Admittedly, an almost 20-year old article in the good old Grauniad..
"I did not say the French would not come, I said they will not come by sea" - Admiral Sir John Jervis, 1st Earl St Vincent.

Offline stuartwaters

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Re: Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2021, 12:00:33 PM »
Didn't the Sheerness dockyard scopions come from the Cornwallis?


No, they came in with cargoes of stone from the Mediterranean, used in the reconstruction of the Dockyard in the early 19th Century.
"I did not say the French would not come, I said they will not come by sea" - Admiral Sir John Jervis, 1st Earl St Vincent.

Offline Sidw

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Re: Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2021, 06:01:44 PM »
Didn't the Sheerness dockyard scopions come from the Cornwallis?

pete.mason

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Re: Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2021, 08:17:12 PM »
There is also a colony in East Anglia IIRC at a railway sidings that imported fruit. My mother, a Bluetowner, used to talk of catching them when  a child- we never believed her back then

Offline John Walker

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Re: Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2021, 07:31:18 PM »
I'm sure I saw on tv some time back that scorpions are also to be seen in walls around Dover but nowhere near the large population that exists in Sheerness,


http://www.jasonsteelwildlifephotography.yolasite.com/uk-scorpions.php

Offline stuartwaters

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Re: Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2021, 09:47:36 AM »
The presence of scorpions in Sheerness is certainly of local historical interest. It would be interesting to learn about other non-native exotic wildlife in our county.
"I did not say the French would not come, I said they will not come by sea" - Admiral Sir John Jervis, 1st Earl St Vincent.

Offline Local Hiker

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Scorpions in Sheerness Dockyard wall
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2021, 08:34:58 AM »
https://www.facebook.com/graham.baigrie/posts/10159702177933991

Is this history? I am sure admin will delete if not.
The scorpions came ashore from a ship (or ships?) in the early 1800's.
They have populated the main external dockyard wall in Blue Town, Sheerness.
It is south facing so catches the sun, so it probably emulates a hot, dry rocky environment for them.
You need an ultraviolet torch to see them. They were "invisible" with no light and hard to see with a normal torch.
There were many of them, and easily seen with the UV.
It is facinating what is on your doorstep sometimes.