A TikTok posted by @alexblumy shows the creator finding a live scorpion in her bed at the wildlife reserve where she now lives in Zimbabwe. As of publication, the video had drawn more than 99,200 likes and 2,426 comments.
The creator, Alex Blumenfeld, previously went viral after leaving a banking job in New York City for work on a rural wildlife conservation reserve in Zimbabwe, where she does fundraising and digital work, a move the Daily Dot covered after she found a python living in her ceiling.
She continued documenting wildlife encounters around her home, including scorpions, spitting cobras, and hyenas near the house at night. In her video posted on July 15, 2026, she wakes up to find a live scorpion crawling in her bed. She says, "Are you kidding?" multiple times while inspecting her bed and asks viewers in her caption to help identify whether the scorpion is venomous.
Commenters weighed in with a mix of general scorpion knowledge and warnings specific to the region. One wrote, "All scorpions are venomous to some degree. The smaller they are, the stronger the venom."
Another commenter wrote, based on personal experience: "As someone who has family in Zimbabwe PLEASE always shake out sneakers/closed toe shoes before putting them on! These things notoriously love to hide in shoes!"
@alexblumy Good morning to me!!! ???#wildlifereserve #scorpion #africa #zimbabwe
♬ original sound - alex blumy
Research published in the journal Toxins in 2022 by scientists at the University of Galway found a similar pattern across 36 scorpion species, showing that smaller scorpions with narrower pincers tended to have more potent venom than larger species with more robust claws.
One commenter wrote that the determining factor was not the scorpion's body length but pincer size: "The golden rule with scorpions. Is not their size. But, the size of the pincers [sic]."
Some commenters offered more alarming warnings about the specific scorpion shown in the video, though these claims could not be independently verified. One commenter wrote, using informal spelling: "Very poisonous a scorpion if it stings u [sic] u [sic] dead in a few minute's [sic]."
Another commenter repeated the size-based venom theory and urged caution, writing, "oh yea very venomous, the smaller the scorpion the more venom they produce to protect themselves. RUN."
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the species or danger level of the scorpion shown in this video. The details above reflect the TikTok creator's account as shared on TikTok, supplemented by prior Daily Dot reporting and scientific research on scorpion venom potency.
