- Joined
- Aug 8, 2005
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- 11,048
The house next door to us was torn down, the roof tiles, heavy ceramic/cement things nearly 2 feet long, were removed and stacked in haphazard piles all over the yard.
They sat there for the better part of a year before a pick-up truck came by; a boss and a local laborer. The boss wandered off doing important boss nothings leaving the laborer to it.
I had a birds eye view from our upstairs porch as the guy loaded the tiles into the truck.
Gingerly, each individual tile was carefully tilted up, looked under, then set off to the side in a stack of four. Then the stack loaded into the truck.
I thought of the scorp folks here on AB and how they would have been drooling on themselves.
It was a study in casual long term experience with the animals. Every 10th tile or so and out came a scorp. That uniform small gap between tiles a scorp dream home. Some were the small brown ones, Lychas Mucronatus, but mostly it was the chunker Heterometrus.
I couldn't clearly see what the guy did with his hands. One diverted the scorps attention while the other deftly picked it up by the tail and with a flick of his hand sent it sailing into brush and bushes across the yard. I think he cast a shadow over the scorps face. Maybe touch or tap a claw. Not sure. It was just enough to divert the attention for a moment so he could grab the other end.
Scorp after scorp, all dispensed with in this casual easy going way. No gloves, bare feet in sandals. Knowing the animals, giving due respect, and the little flying lesson.
They sat there for the better part of a year before a pick-up truck came by; a boss and a local laborer. The boss wandered off doing important boss nothings leaving the laborer to it.
I had a birds eye view from our upstairs porch as the guy loaded the tiles into the truck.
Gingerly, each individual tile was carefully tilted up, looked under, then set off to the side in a stack of four. Then the stack loaded into the truck.
I thought of the scorp folks here on AB and how they would have been drooling on themselves.
It was a study in casual long term experience with the animals. Every 10th tile or so and out came a scorp. That uniform small gap between tiles a scorp dream home. Some were the small brown ones, Lychas Mucronatus, but mostly it was the chunker Heterometrus.
I couldn't clearly see what the guy did with his hands. One diverted the scorps attention while the other deftly picked it up by the tail and with a flick of his hand sent it sailing into brush and bushes across the yard. I think he cast a shadow over the scorps face. Maybe touch or tap a claw. Not sure. It was just enough to divert the attention for a moment so he could grab the other end.
Scorp after scorp, all dispensed with in this casual easy going way. No gloves, bare feet in sandals. Knowing the animals, giving due respect, and the little flying lesson.
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