A horrified backpacker was rushed to hospital after a scorpion that had hitched a lift in his luggage stung him as he relaxed back at home on his sofa.
Holiday snaps and souvenirs are usually brought back from a trip abroad, but this unfortunate traveler unknowingly brought back part of the wildlife with him too - and it was not very happy about it.
The creepy-crawly had survived a nine-hour transcontinental flight from California to Germany unscathed.
The 32-year-old hiker said he felt a searing pain in the ball of his foot as he got off the sofa afer arriving back home in Munich on 8th October.
He and his girlfriend had just unpacked most of their bags after the 12-day trip through California.
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The couple - who believe that the beige-brown scorpion made the journey in the rolled-up tent - managed to react swiftly and trap it in a plastic cup before the creepy crawly could scuttle off into the house.
The man - whose name was withheld under Germany's privacy regulations - called an ambulance and an animal rescue organisation.
A spokesman for the city's fire brigade - which was involved in seizing the scorpion - said on Sunday (9th October): "He is doing fine and will be discharged in the coming days."
Firefighters transported the arachnid to a centre for reptiles.
The vast majority of scorpion species do not seriously threaten humans. Healthy adults usually do not need medical treatment after a sting.
However, around 25 species have venom powerful enough to kill a human.
The news comes after another traveller tried to take an exotic animal across a boarder, but this time hidden not in his luggage, but down his trousers.
Calvin Bautista, 36, was charged after allegedly attempting to smuggle three Burmese pythons across a border hidden in his trousers, officials claim.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said Bautista was arraigned on October 4 and then released pending a trial. They allege "Bautista smuggled the snakes in his pants as he rode on a bus that crossed the US-Canadian border".
The charges against him carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in jail, a possible $250,000 fine (£234,000) and "a term of supervised release of up to 3 years".
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