Crab spider

Yes, it's a spider shot, but this cute little fella hardly deserves to be grouped together with the flesh dissolving, nerve paralyzing, man eating, phobia inciting every day arachnids. True, it's yellow and black livery demands caution, but it's unorthodox shape and stubby legs do not trigger the self preservation instincts that Dr Darwen gave us.

I was just mounting my motorbike for the trip to the common when I noticed a yellow spec hovering just in front of my left hand. This strange, tiny arachnid had built her web between the post and my handlebar, I shall have to leave my bike out more often.

The crab spider is not a rarity, but you just don't see them very often, I have probably seen about half a dozen in fifteen years, being a spider freak, I remember such occurrences. I cancelled the planned session, accepting the day off and retrieved my camera for a photo shoot. In fact it took two sessions to get the three shots in the combo blip. The tiny spider hanging on a single thread was constantly moving, also the merest breeze would sway the arachnid in and out of focus.

She was hanging up-side-down most of the time, so getting the top shot was a bit tricky. By now I had the attention of the group of building workers across the road, who had decided to take an impromptu cigarette break to savor the entertainment and my next door neighbor came over to see what was going on. I brought out my kneeling sponge and was able to obtain the underside shots that I needed for the set. This really tickled the workers, as they had no idea what I was photographing, if they knew, they would have laughed even more, but I am a blipper, I can take it.

The mouse

As I was lying on my bed watching a DVD, minutes before the new year, fireworks crashing like a war zone outside my window but still about as relaxed as could be, a shadow moved to my left in the kitchen area. It was 'the mouse'. It was ferreting about close the two ring gas cooker on the work top. I slowly rose from my comfort zone and putting into practice all the skills that I had learned since I joined blip, with the utmost stealth I approached the kill zone.

'Hang about, what am I going to kill it with', I thought to myself, so I grabbed the broom on the way. This was not going to be easy as there were pots, pans, plastic containers, cooking oil bottles and a host of other stuff that was going to inhibit any full on attack. I could see this turning into a real Percy Wetmore sketch (film - the green mile). I decided to go for it, the mess shouldn't take too long to fix. Alas, like a spooked dragonfly, Satan spotted me, shrieked and disappeared under the cooker.

The cooker is more like a camping stove, standard issue in an Indonesian kitchen, fired by a 15Kg propane gas bottle. I picked up an empty plastic container in one hand and with the broom in the other, I moved a few things out of the way and gave the cooker and everything else in the area a good solid rap with the broom handle. Nada, Satan had gone to ground. I figured that he must still be about, because there was no escape without me seeing it.

I stooped down and peered under the cooker and saw what looked like a tail hanging down. I inserted the broom handle underneath and gave it a poke, but nothing moved, obviously just a loose wire hanging down. I knew the ignition thingy was broken on that ring and would account for the wire.

I parked the container and decided to lift up the cooker to see if there were any signs of mouse residency, still brandishing the broom just in case. No signs of straw bedding or anything that looked like a nest, but the hanging wire was firmly attached to the rear end of a large mouse.

The startled mouse took off, in my direction, straight off the edge of the work top, DOWN MY NAKED LEG, across the floor and under the bed. I dropped the cooker which crashed and dismantled itself and I involuntarily let out such a horrifying, blood curdling scream that I shocked myself. After a second or two I forced myself to stop dancing and pull myself together. I have got to do something about this evil Mickey character, he has to go, permanently.

The mouse saga is sure to be continued.

Dave