OPERATING BASE NORMANDY, Iraq -- How, the medic wanted to know, did the soldier manage to get bit multiple times by the same scorpion on different days?

“It was in my bed one night, it was in my PTs (Army issued shirt and shorts) and it got me at like five in the morning. I shook everything out and I couldn’t find it,” the soldier said. “Last night, like in the morning, it got me again. I was wearing ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) this time and it got in my ACUs and it got me on the knee.”

Soldiers stationed at Normandy, who live in old buildings and make the mistake of leaving clothes on the floor, risk encounters with local creepy crawlers.

The patient was able to catch the scorpion and store it in a small container for testing purposes.

For the soldier, the bites added up to a ride in a UH-60 Blackhawk from Normandy, Iraq, to Balad Theater Hospital in Balad, Iraq.

Sergeant First Class, Patrick Casha, a 42-year-old flight medic from Tualatin, Ore., cared for the patient during the transport.
 
“I always hang all my clothes up,” Casha said. 

The medic and his unit Charlie Company, a Medevac unit based out of Salem, Ore., attended several classes on how to avoid contact with spiders and scorpions.

“Turn your boots upside down and shake your pants out before putting them on,” says Casha. “Also clear your bed off before getting in.”

Several days after dropping the patient off in Balad, Casha called the Troop Medical Clinic in Normandy to check on his patient. Lab results concluded the scorpion was not poisonous, and the soldier was sent back to duty the next day.

Scorpion stings and camel spider bites are common occurrences for soldiers in Iraq.  For arachnid fans, www.camelspiders.net features “UNBELIEVABLE Camel Spider stories from Troops in Iraq and people around the world” and photos of the 8-inch spiders.

The Web site also notes alleged trivia, like the “camel spiders can move at speeds over 30 mph, screaming while they run.” Turns out, that's a myth.

Scorpions are less sensationalized but more numerous in Iraq. The Scorpion Files lists at least 18 dangerous and harmless species found in Iraq.

The Web site reports scorpions make homes in the rubble left by war-torn buildings.

The critters sometimes find themselves subject to insect gladiator fights. Searching the Web for "scorpion vs. camel spider in Iraq" returns various videos made by soldiers in Iraq that pit the creatures against each other.

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Read more of Cali Bagby's reports from Iraq

Cali Bagby is embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation, a Medevac Unit based out of Salem, Ore., for KATU.com. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly.