The Big Guy has Escaped!

Morning. Day 7. Woke up with a sudden thought that all my scorpions had escaped. I rushed outside to check if they were in there. But what I had thought was true. Althogh not all were gone, the first and biggest one had escaped. The small ones were still in there. The 2nd one was as ok but I realised that the 3rd one had died. That leaves me with just one Scorpion left alive. I have no idea of what happened to the big one as it is no longer with me. I checked around my entire house but could not find it.

I decided to let the small guy go. Before releasing him into the deserted field far ahead of my house, I took a few shots of him. Here:

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After releasing this little fellow I got back home and took various shots of the dead scorpion.

Have a look:

View of Top:

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View of Venter:

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Sideview:

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Frontview:

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Do Not Play with Fire!

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It was around 8 in the evening and the current suddenly went off. The rooms were so dark that I could not even manage to see where I was going. After lighting a candle, I sat in front of the candle and started to read my book. As my mother passed by, she told me that there was a Praying Mantis on the candle. When I turned and looked, there it was! A similar Praying Mantis to the first one I saw since my trip here. I slowly started to photograph this cute mantis. A few shots caused it to move up the candle. But all of a sudden it moved all the way up, causing one of its front legs to touch the flame. It immediately moved its leg and put it into its mouth.

Here's a picture of the mantis suddenly touching the fire. I don't know why, maybe its because of the flash that I can't see the flame in here.

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The first picture in this post shows the mantis with its burnt leg in its mouth.

I pity this tiny insect as it can easily be burnt, and a such a slight fire burn can hurt it so much.

Here are a few pictures I took before it burnt its leg.

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After a few minutes of 'licking' its leg, I moved it outside onto the Guava Plant, hoping that it would not return and burn its leg again. I took a picture of it before getting back into the house.

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So guys, now know how disastrous it can get when you play with fire? Better watch out!

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Spiders seem to like their Shelter too

After getting all my scorpions into the tank, I kept it in a dark place and looked around the cleared area for any other living creatures. I was fascinated to spot this Big, Beautiful Spider resting on a rock nearby. I took the oppurtunity to photograph it as the spider was not knowing that it was being exposed. A soft flash was enough to get a brilliant photograph of this awesome spider.

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The colours of the spider were so attractively patterned that in my opinion this is the most beautiful Spider that I've seen in my Wild Life.

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Below the rock, a few stones were lifted and I found this similar one hiding underneath. However I don't think they are the exactly same species.

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My vision was rather poor. If I had looked carefully at first look, I would have seen this much smaller spider of the same species beside the big one. But lucky I did see it on my second look.

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3 Scorpions in a Day!

A group of workers had just arrived at my house to clear a pile of old rocks and soil. I was confident that I could find a snake in there as it is a very suitable hiding spot. But my Grandpa, who has a lot of experience with snakes said that it may be rather hard to find snakes in there but I may surely see some scorpions... Wow... Scorpions were also one of my favourite Invertebrates... To find a few of those would be good too... I thought. And as the workers started removing rock by rock, I spotted a few centipedes and spiders, but no Snakes or Scorpions.

It was when one Big Rock was removed did I first see something interesting. Fat body, black in colour... Yes. It was a Scorpion. I quickly turned on my Camera and started photographing it. It was such a joy to find it. The picture [above] and [below] are pictures of the first Scorpion.
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I was so excited about this Scorpion that it forced me to take a few more. Enjoy these small pictures. For a better look, zoom in by clicking on the image.

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I used a stick to hold onto it as I brought it to the sitout infront. Wow... The Scorpion could jump really well and I got an awesome shot of its pincers high up and its sting ready to attack.

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But it was not over yet. A few minutes after getting this big one, I went back to the pile of rocks and found a smaller scorpion on a rock. The workers had found it and got it out safely. Check him out. But sorry for the fact that he's full of mud and soil. They live in such environments, where they can dig and burrow.

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Here are two more pictures of the second scorpion:

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After the clearage of the entire pile, I managed to get another scorpion that seemed to have injured itself during the clearage. It was about the same size of the second one. I got them all into an empty bucket and got a shot. The one circled in red is the thrid scorpion. If you notice you will be able to see that the left pincer is partially broken.

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I decided to keep the scorpions for a day, so I moved them into a small transparent, plastic tank overnight.

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Phew! All in a day's work.

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A Curly yet Venomous Moustache

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It was finally the start of my 5th Day. Feeling rather moody, I decided to sit outside and enjoy the cold breeze. As I walked slowly looking around for some creatures, I spotted something like a very tiny Pink Headed Reed Snake. But it wasn't. It was a Centipede with Red Heads and Tails, and to my plaesure, it stayed where it was when I moved closer to photograph it. I hardly get chances to photograph centipedes as they are too fast moving.

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These centipedes are common in my area but there used to be Giant Centipedes here too. There was once on my last visit when my female dog, Tiky, was curiously looking at something moving in the dark. When I shined the torch at it and looked, it was an giant centipede coloured in white, black, red and yellow. But the one I have found here is so common that I had myself giving it to my chicken who happily gobbled it up.

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Zzzzz... Don't Wake Me Up!

It was around 2.30 and my dogs were feeling really moody and were asleep too. This is how Titu and Tiky sleep:

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Titu sleeps like Humans, The head and front facing up.

Tiky, on the other hand, can often be seen sleeping with her tongue partially out.

Finally they woke up. Yawn... by Titu. Tiky's all ready for a run.

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Irritating Fleas.... Bite here Bite there...

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At last Titu has done his daily stretches and is finally ready to run.

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Toads having a Rest after a Long Night's Work

There was yet another wooden plank to be unlifted in the backyard. There was high chance for a small snake but when I lifted it I found Toads. A couple were snoring away after the long night shift. Of course, They have to change homes/shelters everyday. I got my camera ready to get a shot of them sleeping when this guy opened hid eyes and gave me a strange look face to face.

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But it was a normal time for this smaller toad sleeping in a narrow hole. He closed hid eyes and didn't give a damn about me. Zzzzz...

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Mating Millipedes

It was around 12.oo noon and I was off hunting after lunch. At the first piece of marble lifted, I felt rather weird after noticing that there were 3 Common Millipedes mating together. I'm not exactly sure if they are mating or not, but the 3 ontop of one another was a sight rather ugly.

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The Intruder came off and decided to join in the fun again.

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Strange Little Hoppers

It was the start of the 5th Day and I was feeling rather tense due to the fact that in 4 days I had only managed to find 1 Snake. But in during that day, I came upon a number of hoppers. Hoppers as in insects like grasshoppers and locusts. I the morning I Tiky trying to catch this Green Grasshopper.

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A few hours later, in my frontyard was this small Locust Nymph resting on a wire. I had difficulty photographing it as it kept moving the opposite side when the camera aimed him.

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In the evening I had a visit to my old house and I found something on a plant. Can you spot this living creature camouflaged on the plant?

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It was a Katydid munching on the leaves.

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I got a number of pictures of this creature with different poses. If you would like to, you could have a look at these images...

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