Tim the Yowie Man goes on the search for glowing scorpions

Australian Community Media

After the sun sets, Canberra’s bush comes alive with creatures out for their nightly forage. Amongst them are scorpions which emit a stunning glow under UV light.

Transcript

00:00 After the sun sets, the bush around Canberra comes alive with animals heading out for their

00:06 nightly forage for food. Amongst the easiest to see, because of their size, are of course

00:11 creatures like kangaroos and possums. However, another critter which becomes active at night

00:18 are scorpions. But because they're so small and because they're dark coloured, it's almost

00:25 impossible to see them. Unless of course, you have a UV light. Canberra nature lover Lauren Ogden

00:33 invited me to explore part of the Canberra Nature Park with a UV light to see if we could find any

00:40 scorpions. At first we didn't have much luck, but it didn't take long before we spotted our first

00:46 scorpion. This glowing scorpion is caused by chemicals in their outer shell absorbing UV light

00:51 and re-emitting it at a lower wavelength. Yet another wonder of the Canberra bush.

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