The vampire gets stung

Things to do in Iraq (Part I)

Not the right desert (Part II)

Americans happy to sleep with bugs (Part III)

Building the future: brick-by-brick (Part IV)

Don’t worry, they won’t shoot! (Part V)

Scorpions are something to remember service in Iraq by. Everybody gladly takes home a dried out scorpion as a souvenir. The problem is there are not too many decent-sized scorpions on Delta, only tiny ones. Usually they’re very small insects, about 3 cm long, yellowish-white, and only the claws and the famous tail with the sting give them away. Nevertheless, at night you can often see flashlights searching the area by the barracks as soldier are hunt these insects as it’s about this time that scorpions come out looking for food.

Their proximity to Iraq’s fauna inspires our guys to conduct some scientific research. Back in Ukraine they could only do stuff like that in a zoo. Soldiers bring all kinds of creatures to the camp to study their discoveries. For example, not too long ago, they caught a bat. Although it wasn’t very big, it was quite aggressive. The scouts happened to bring in a huge black scorpion at the time - not very peaceful either. Naturally, they just had to find out which is stronger? In order to resolve the burning issue, they put the creatures in a jar.

Apparently, at first the scorpion did not realise what it was dealing with, and kept trying to stay safe. The bat got all excited, flapping its wings and trying to get at the enemy. But as soon as the bat dropped its guard, scorpion’s deadly sting cut right through its throat. The audience enjoyed the show, although it was over quickly, which left them somewhat disappointed.

Our soldiers have some peaceful neighbour as well - wild rabbits are everywhere. At sunset these tiny things start running around the camp. It’s hard to catch them, even though they are not very fast. Rabbits are quite smart and stroll between the rows of barbed wire along the edge of the camp, knowing that no one can get to them there. Once in their safe zone, they even let people come close to them.

Death of the mantis

Every night a lizard appears and then freezes on the lamp right above the entrance to the officers’ dorm. The light is its bait for all the insects that fly here. Everybody is used to this innocent creature, and if for some reason it does not come one night, it feels like something is missing. Also by the entrance every once in a while you can run into a mantis. It’s not afraid of people who come out for a smoke, and sometimes it climbs the wall pretending to be a twig. If you touch it or just put a finger close to its head, it starts to ‘butt’ and fight with its legs, which is very funny. It is also everybody’s pet.

Sometimes in the evening huge spiders are attracted by the light of the smoking area. These arachnids are not welcome here. They always try to get inside, but any encounter with them may lead to very painful burns and bites. The guys just cut kill them with knives.

The newcomers from Team Seven had probably heard many stories about the deadly fauna of Iraq long before coming here. We come out for a smoke one night and see the following: a soldier on duty is angrily treading the mantis. The poor insect is in agony, having been introduced to the soldier’s heavy boot. Then the soldier decides to take a closer look at his victim. The Sub-Colonel from Team Six tells him in a sad voice, pointing at the lizard above the entrance:

”Hey, kid, do you see the creature over there? Don’t kill it, it’s a good animal. It won’t do you any harm.”

A Polish guy comes out (there are soldiers from the Polish contingency living in the dorm as well), looks at the mantis’s leg, which is still shaking, and says:

”Not a chance.”

Sad…

Story and photos courtesy of Dmitri Timchuk

Every soldier’s fundamental – messing (Part VII)

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