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...there are at least a couple of reasons that I find New England preferable to the Southwest. The two that come immediately to mind are scorpions and huge hairy spiders. I tried to find a picture of a scorpion to post and came across the article below instead, which definitely illustrates MY point. I was hoping it was a joke, but couldn't find anything on Snopes, etc. At any rate, I'll take a few months of cold weather and even a blizzard or two. For me, it's preferable to the creature below (who probably has a loud voice in addition to its size) and its relatives...
At the very end, is a link to the article.

Texas Caver Catches 65 lb Scorpion!

The Associated Press Jun 24 2000 9:48PM ET

Western, Texas (AP) - Local Caver Bill Bentley caught an unbelievable 65 pound Scorpion during a camping trip and was captured on film by a friend with a digital camera! Experts believe that this is the largest Scorpion ever caught by man on record.

"Top Scientists will want to study it". said Texas Parks & Wildlife Ranger Lars Wilthorp in an interview on Saturday.

"This is one biggest finds of the century!'' was the word heard in the small West Texas town of Notrees, Texas where the huge Scorpion was caught. Mr. Bentley will have it stuffed and mounted and available for display soon. "This will make a nice addition to my collection" said Bentley in an interview with reporters shortly after the catch. Mr. Bentley has a the only stuffed and mounted Jackalope and 9 foot high Roadrunner in his unique collection.

It is not known if there are any more giant Scorpions in the area, but they have been known to travel in packs of 3 to 4.

Copyright © 2000 The Associated Civil Press.

http://www.caver.net/other/story.html