A Crab Spider's Tale

Grabbie is a little crab spider. He lives in the pitcher of a pitcher plant in Tuas.



There are thousands and thousands of pitchers in the area, and Grabbie never had problem finding new homes when he wanted to.



The pitcher plants are located in a marshland covered with water, and Grabbie has lots of relatives and friends living there.



His neighbours include lots of dragonflies, and they come in many different colours and sizes.



The relatives of the dragonflies - the damselflies - also live here.



There are also many animals living in the water, including lots of foreign talents, and among them are the numerous apple snails.


But apart from the animals, there are plants too, such as the bladderwort with pretty yellow flowers.



Not far away from the marshland is a huge patch of grassland. While they look all green and brown from afar, the colours unfold as one takes a closer look.



There is the shy mimosa...



...the passionate love-in-the-mist...



...and stunning wild orchids.



On the orchids, you can sometimes find Grabbie's relatives - other crab spiders!



And here's another distant cousin...



Further away, the land is drier, but networks of sea morning glory creep all over.



There are several flowering bushes too, and the butterflies love them.



Every now and then, Grabbie and his friends are visited by some hairless apes which come in all kinds of colours.



Grabbie finds them to be rather fascinating but weird sometimes.



Today, however, Grabbie has no time for the weird visitors. He has decided that it's time to move on to the next stage of his life, as he carefully enters the home of a female spider.



She's huge! Much bigger than him. But Grabbie is prepared for this. Will Grabbie be successful in wooing the girl of his dream?

Afternote:

Unfortunately, Grabbie didn't know that whatever is the outcome of his courtship, it will be meaningless. Barely 20m away, the bulldozers are transforming his homeland into bare plots of land to be developed into racing tracks.

In probably less than a week's time, Grabbie, his family, his relatives, his friends, his neighbours, and thousands, if not millions of other wildlife in the area will go under the bulldozer and get buried alive.

While many people are shedding a tear or two for the declining population of sharks, dolphins, turtles and other bigger animals, how many felt the pain when millions of little critters sacrificed their lives for our development?

See also:
1. Cool Morning at Tuas 2nd March 08 by ST
2. Tuas Grassland by SJ

More stories on our previous trip:
1. Tuas Marshlands by SY
2. Discovery at Tuas Grasslands on 17 Feb 2008 by JL
3. Carnivorous Plants (Tuas) by ST