VICTORIA, B.C. — Remember the snake that hitched a ride to Hawaii? Well, maybe it got the idea from the scorpion that bummed a ride to B.C.

After travelling to Cuba recently, a Vancouver woman got the shock of her life when she found a scorpion crawling around in her kitchen. She found the courage to capture it alive and brought it to the Victoria Bug Zoo where it was initially identified as a potentially deadly species found in the Caribbean.

It’s likely that the scorpion, which was given the name Gail after the woman, crawled its way into the woman’s luggage in Cuba and inadvertently migrated to Canada.

(Note to self: Keep your luggage zipped up tight while abroad!)

It’s a good thing the woman found Gail when she did because it gave birth to about 20 baby scorpions shortly after at the Zoo!

Experts at the Zoo have since determined that Gail is a less venomous species known as the Cuban scorpion, or Heteroctenus Gerridoi. They say Gail is doing a fine job of raising the babies, which are currently clustered on her back.

When the offspring get a little bigger, zoo officials say they will be removed from Gail’s cage in case she mistakes them for prey and devours them.

Gulp.

With file from The Canadian Press