Bhubaneswar, Jan. 5: Like many guys his age, Pratyush Mohapatra has many “loves”. But the love bites he is used to could easily kill another man.

They come from creepy, crawly creatures with a deadly sting in their tail — scorpions.

The 25-year-old research scholar in zoology is passionate about scorpions. But it’s not a one-way relationship.

Meet him at his laboratory, and a common sight is a scorpion stealthily climbing up Mohapatra’s cheek while another crawls hesitantly on his wrist. The jeans-clad young man does not wince even once.

As his colleagues at the Utkal University’s cell and developmental biology laboratory grimace and whisper about Mohapatra’s strange “loves”, the young man cups a scorpion in his palms and kisses it. The creature, almost docile, seems to enjoy his soothing caress. There is no jab of the poison tail.

Mohapatra’s passion for scorpions began when he was a Class VI student of a government school in Dhenkanal district. With an uncle who had a veritable zoo that included peacocks, peahens, Swiss mice, albino mice and mongoose, it did not take him long to discover his love for the animal world. But it was an “instinctive feel” for scorpions that prompted him to “understand” them.

“In our Dhenkanal home, scorpions would creep out of all possible corners. Initially, I used to catch them with forceps, though I started touching them afterwards,” Mohapatra says.

At first, the scorpions did not reciprocate his feelings and stung him several times. It did not deter Mohapatra.

“Since the scorpions use their venom either to distract the enemy or defend themselves, all that you have to do is soothe them. As the scorpions mostly reside in stone crevices, one has to make them feel at home by cupping them in your hands,” he says.

“He has an inborn feel for the scorpions,” says S.K. Dutta, reader in zoology at the university and Mohapatra’s guide.

Though the research scholar is doing his PhD on snakes in the Eastern Ghat ranges and is an avid snake-catcher, scorpions take up most of his time. As Orissa has no recorded data about scorpions, Mohapatra and Dutta are now scouring the state to map several scorpion species for a book he intends to write. Mohapatra has already found 14 species of scorpions.

Mohapatra says Buthids found in the Tikarpada sanctuary of the state are the most toxic and can inject enough poison to kill a human being, but others like the Heteremetrus found in termite hills can paralyse a man for several minutes.

His love for scorpions has rubbed off on his colleagues, who admit they are no longer repulsed by the creatures.

“After Pratyush came to our department, we have got friendly with scorpions,” says Artatrana Pal, a fellow research scholar.

Mohapatra’s unusual passion has even prompted a film. An Oriya producer cast 35 of his pet scorpions in an yet-to-be-released movie titled Rahichi Rahibi Tumari Pain, where the swarm avenges the hero’s death by stinging the villain to death. Mohapatra had to teach the lead actor to be friendly with his scorpions.

Despite his enduring friendship with the creatures, scorpions have at times stung him enough to send him to bed. Three years ago, a scorpion stung him while he was showing the arachnid to a group.

“But that is rare,” says Mohapatra.