Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A Canadian woman found an unusual souvenir after returning from a vacation in South Africa -- a black scorpion that must have hitched a ride in her suitcase. Theresa Arnott of Manitoba had returned home from a Christmas vacation visiting family in South Africa and was doing some housework Monday when she moved a wastebasket in her bathroom and found a small black scorpion hiding out. Advertisement "At first I couldn't quite believe it, then I realized the little critter must have snuck into my suitcase," Arnott said. She's since named him Harold, after Herolds Bay, South Africa, where she was staying. She told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. the scorpions are fairly common there. Though she admitted had she run across Harold -- who now has a temporary terrarium while she attempts to find an adoptive owner in the Winnipeg zoo -- in South Africa she probably wouldn't have hesitated to squash him with a shoe, the fact he made it half-way around the world means he deserves a chance to live. "[Y]ou know, it made it all the way here," she said. "So I thought, 'What a little trooper.' And Canada being the land of peace and opportunity, I thought I'd give him a fighting chance." Advertisement Read More Scottish woman finds scorpion in her bed Woman discovers scorpion in groceries New scorpion species found near Tucson Scorpion injures Spanish plane passenger Scorpion sting leads to a hefty bill Fla. scorpion found in Scotland New scorpion species found in California