Surprised Roofers Found Scorpion in Box of Slate | Roofing Contractor

The installation team at Ocean City Roofing in Plymouth, England, got a ‘proper fright’ when the owner's brother found a 0.4-inch scorpion hidden in a box of Brazilian slate roof tiles. Fortunately, no one was stung, and it seems the scorpion was something of a ‘local.’

— Derriford Hospital image courtesy of Google Earth; Scorpion photo by Jamie Cooke

A team of roofers in the United Kingdom had quite the startle on Monday after discovering a live scorpion hiding in a box of slate tiles while working on a reroof job at Derriford Hospital in the seaside city of Plymouth along the southeast coast of England.

Jamie Cooke, principal of Ocean City Roofing, said his team was on site working when they made the surprise discovery in a box of slate tile from Brazil: a 0.4-inch scorpion, the BBC first reported on July 23.

The arachnid — scorpions fall within the same class as spiders, mites, and ticks — was taken to Plymouth Reptiles in Plymouth, where employees said they believed it to be a non-deadly common “European” scorpion.

Cooke said his brother, Ben, found the scorpion while removing slate tiles from a box just as work commenced for the day.

"Ben got toward the bottom of the box and then suddenly said, 'There's a scorpion in there,'” Cooke told the BBC. “I didn't believe him, so I had a look, and after carefully taking all the slate out, it was there."

The contractor said that while he’s found other animals and bugs hidden in boxes throughout his career, this one was a first. The 30-year-old said he had no fear upon discovering a potentially venomous creature.

"It was quite exciting to be honest,” he said. "I wasn't scared when I saw the scorpion; I guess my adrenaline was pumping."

Plymouth Reptiles’ owner, Mark Craddock, said it was not the first time he had been asked to take in or rescue a scorpion.

He said despite the box coming from Brazil, it looked like the animal was a common European scorpion, a variety not native to South America; the pet store rescues exotic animals.

"It might have gotten into the box somewhere in transit between here and Brazil," Craddock said. "You wouldn't want to be stung by it, but it is not deadly."

Bryan Gottlieb is the Managing Editor of Roofing Contractor magazine. He previously worked for the Detroit Metro Times, the San Diego Daily Transcript and Adweek magazine.

Reach him at [email protected]