An unfortunate incident - I'm really not sure just how
much I should reveal about what occurred last Friday but I can't write my
weekly blog without mentioning it. I have always allowed visitors to call and
by the very nature of my business some of these people have looked a little
'different'. I have no problem with tattoos, piercings and strange coloured
hair, individuality is good as long as people are genuine. In my experience people
who like animals are the sort of people I like! But I came a cropper last
Friday and have been unable to just move on so I have now reported the incident
to the police, I am telling my blog followers and then I shall try to forget it
and get back to normal.
The basic facts are that a young man arranged to call via
Facebook, told me that he worked for a zoo and that he had cash to pay with. He
took up two hours of my precious time
and made me pack a very large number of my best tarantulas. He then started
coughing and asked for a glass of water. He was very excitable and told me lots
of tall tales but I assumed he was just young and enthusiastic. I believed that
he ran animal handling workshops at a zoo that I am familiar with but I was not
at ease so instead of leaving him alone I lead him into the kitchen to get the
water. When we returned to the bug room he said he would have to go to the bank
to get money. By this time it had pretty much dawned on me that he would not be
returning. He left in a hurry and was never seen again, the phone number he
gave was false, the zoo have never heard of him and he refused to answer my
messages to him. At first I wanted to believe that he just got carried away
with his lies and was simply going to run off but piecing things together I sadly
have to admit that I think he was planning to run off with a large amount of my
stock. I was left feeling very stupid and upset. I will continue to accept
visitors but I will 'try' to be more careful. I could go on and on, there was a
lot more to it, I did consider putting his details out on Facebook but I think
it would just cause more hassle. I have informed people but only on a 'need to
know basis'.
Moving on, it is Halloween in just a couple of weeks, I
love it! All the creepy crawly displays in the shops are great and we will be
having a big family party. I am continuing to try hard with Facebook and
yesterday I had my 'social media expert' come over and give me another lesson
on Facebook and Instagram. Actually he is a long standing customer and a very
nice guy so he went away with an adult Cobalt Blue spider as a thank you gift.
You never know I might get into Twitter and Pinterest next? (unlikely) I have
now ordered my new Apple Mac computer, it cost a fortune but like my recent
website upgrade it is needed to keep my business going in the modern world. I
am far more comfortable with the bugs but I don't get an income from looking
after my menagerie, I have to sell them to generate an income and these days it
is all online. I am really grateful to my many loyal customers for your
continued support (I am happy with new customers too!).
This week has seen the start of the colder weather and I
have now begun putting heat packs in most of my parcels and certainly in those
going across to Europe. I haven't had any problems reported and Special
Delivery is a very good service. Almost every single parcel that I send arrives
the next day. This hasn't always been the case, at one time I estimated that as
many as one in every twenty parcels took two days to arrive but these days it
only once in a blue moon that something goes wrong and a parcel takes an extra
day to arrive.
Thanks to Julie for the blog comment last week but there
is no need to change my favourite cockroach's name as I have established that
Brutus is a male. I have a little group of Rhinoceros cockroaches now, I look
forward to seeing how large the females grow. I may have some time to wait as
the babies that I bought recently are actually already two years old. I'm not
sure how long they take to mature but I think we are talking years rather than
months!
Must get a move on as I am off to take part in the
filming of a new panel show on tomorrow. I am providing a scorpion and will be
acting as handler. When I say acting I am hoping to just be behind the scenes
but there is some talk of me being 'in shot' eek, I hope not. It is a long time
since I was on the telly. I do look back with affection at Channel Four's Big
Breakfast show where I was the resident insect lady and had some great times.
Chris Evans was such fun, it was like going to a party but very early in the
morning! This show is only a pilot, that means if all goes well it may become a
series but if not it may never be shown.
Please feel free to comment on this blog, I couldn't work
out how to read the comment last week but I've got it now! I can see from the
admin section of my website that this blog is read by a large number of people so
please feel free to contribute x
