visitors

[miriam_e]

I've had a few old and new critters at my place recently.

Froggy has become a regular visitor to my kitchen. Actually he/she is on the outside of my kitchen window. Froggy is actually bigger than the comparison picture would make you think. My hand was on this side of the glass, froggy was on that side, and the camera's lens makes closer things appear much much bigger. To get a good idea of froggy's size, think tennis ball... that would be about right.



And spidey was frolicking in my bedroom. He (I'm pretty sure it's a 'he' considering the large pedipalps) was scampering about at amazing speeds. I think he was hungry; his abdomen is quite small. Haven't seen him since he posed so politely for these shots.

Also, this morning Mrs Wallaby was browsing just the other side of the garden with her new joey who was clowning around, hopping and leaping with feet too large. Sooo cute! It is nice to see mummy has a new baby. Last year a dead joey was found under one of the sheds. I don't know why it died -- spider bite, snake bite, local dogs... there are plenty dangers.

Comments

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Coolabine, Queensland, Australia. :)
Here...

Near the tip of my fingernail, just a tiny bit inland.

I wish they didn't print the lettering upside-down on globes. It's so inconvenient. :)

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:) Years ago I had to go interstate for a little while and when I returned my girlfriend back then was waiting at the train station for me. I was battling a heavy suitcase and had my arm out to balance it. My girlfriend told me that among the people disembarking from the train she saw my hand and immediately knew it was me.

My poor hands are starting to look a bit old now though.

Have you heard about breakthough research that uses a breath-test to check for breast cancer? It was announced on the radio here in Australia tonight. It seems to be the focus of a research group here in Western Australia. They are still doing trials, but it is looking very promising.

Wouldn't that would be great! I hate my boobs getting squashed in that damn machine -- it isn't the discomfort so much as the embarrassment I think. But the biopsy! I really don't like that. I've had that done on 2 occasions. Yeouch.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I did a quick search online about the breath test. There are a lot of articles about it. This one seems to be one of the best:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/womenfamily.html?in_article_id=183291&in_page_id=1799

It seems mammograms aren't a lot of use for younger women. After 50 your breast tissue becomes less dense. Before then it is hard for a mammogram to see much. Breast cancer also rises more dramatically with age. Unfortunately younger women are not completely free of it, but I think they're much less likely to get it. I wouldn't worry about it in your teens unless you have a strong family history of it. I don't think the risk becomes much till about your thirties or forties (though I might not have that right). But it is changing. Nowadays breast cancer rates are increasing. That is what's so good about this breath tester: totally non-invasive, 2 minute test that can be used over and over again, that should be able to fit in your pocket. Wow!

Here is a description of how the device works:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=40899
and
http://www.physorg.com/news64858897.html

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

[beyondfake-0.livejournal.com]

!! I had a pet frog like that when I was younger. His (or her) name was Ziggy. They're a White Dumpy Tree Frog, or atleast that's what they're labled as in petstores in the states. They're very neat pets.

As for spidey, he reminds me of clock spider!!

Clock Spider:
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/5/56/250px-Clock_Spider.jpg

http://x1b.xanga.com/9f6b44fa7403044885520/z30331655.jpg

(I dunno how well that second picture worked. x__x;)

[beyondfake-0.livejournal.com]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Clock+Spider

Haha here's a better site with all three pictures of the Clock Spider. (It's really a Huntsman Spider, but has grown in such horrifying fame on the internet people reffer to that paticular one as the one and only Clock Spider.) =D I wouldn't be surprised if the spider in your house was a close relative to the Clock Spider. :3 You have been blessed by the gods of the internets!! REJOICE! :D

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:) Yep, seems like an adolescent huntsman. I'm not sure if it is actually a huntsman or not. They seem to have heavier legs, are much bigger (when fully grown) and I've never seen them move as fast as this little guy. Looks like he's been in the wars a bit. I didn't notice before but he seems to be missing one of his pedipalps.

[gothxxangel.livejournal.com]

What a huge frog!! The way he/she just sticks to the glass is brilliant--gotta love suckers.

The spider gave me the willies, though. All those legs! At least you didn't squish him, because then it would rain the next day (so says my gramma). :P

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I'll try to take a picture of froggy from the other side if it visits again tonight. It is gorgeous. I think frogs look so sweet.

:) These spiders are far more scared of us than we are of them. It must have been really worried with me putting my hand and camera that close.
You mean we'd get rain if I squished it??? Well, there's the answer to our drought problems right there. :)

[gothxxangel.livejournal.com]

Frogs' eyes are so cute!

In Canada we never got frogs or spiders etc in sizes larger than "small". But then again, nothing was poinsonous either so we could catch snakes and and have them scoot up our jacket sleeves without having to worry about being bitten. My dad actually got bitten once by a garter snake and it left these really tiny cute little "teef" marks. He's a biologist and is always going on about the "they're more scared of you tha you are of them" and yeah, that's true in a logical way but unfortunately humans tend to favour the illogic. Especially with bugs and creepy-crawlies. (/rambling old story)

I don't know why the spider thing got started--maybe because they sense the rain is coming and go into hiding--often ending up inside some person's house. I never squish spiders but will not hesitate to eliminate skeeters or any other flying thing in my room. Hey, it's me versus them!! I'm just heloing Darwin along, is all. :P

[gothxxangel.livejournal.com]

*helping

aaah

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

A programmer friend visited a while back and we were talking while standing outside. He was a little freaked out by spiders and worried that a spider could run about a meter across the ground to him and run up his leg. I laughed and tried to explain how scared of us they are. I told him of how many times panicked people have got me to remove huntsman spiders from inside buildings. It is really difficult to persuade the huntsman to walk onto your arm so that you can take it outside. If the spider senses that you are a human it jumps clear and runs away. They're terrified of touching people. The trick is to get it to walk onto your sleeve, then quickly go outside before it realises its mistake.

I'm with you on killing mosquitoes. It is them or us. Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Dengue, Yellow Fever, Malaria, meningitis, Ross-River Fever... the list goes on and on. And the itch! -- it just about drives me crazy when they score a bite and I accidentally scratch it, starting off that horrid itch.

[seaofserpent.livejournal.com]

Cute frogs.

[seaofserpent.livejournal.com]

Ah, I mean frog :)

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:) Yes. I've always had a soft spot for frogs. They look so wide-eyed, with what appears to be a permanent expression of intelligent interest. Toads, so superficially similar, make me think of someone frowning in disapproval.
(We are deep in anthropomorphic territory here. heheh)

I doubt the insects trying to evade being eaten by either kind of critter have anything like these kinds of feelings about them. :)