Soldier bitten by snake, 8 others by scorpions

Since Wednesday, eight Israel Defense Forces soldiers in southern Lebanon have been bitten by scorpions and one by a snake. Those who encountered scorpions are in good condition and the one bitten by a poisonous snake is in moderate condition at Western Galilee Government Hospital in Nahariya. The hospital said that those bitten by black scorpions, which are not poisonous, suffered no real symptoms, while those bitten by yellow scorpions had to receive an antidote, as did the soldier bitten by a snake. The incidents each occurred in different places, the hospital spokesman said. One soldier, for example, took his boots off to sleep in his vehicle and was bitten by a scorpion when he put his boot back on.