Funny strip and a good safety lesson as well, and some good real world experiences to learn from in the posts here too 
I wonder how a ladybug could get in, isn't that what the cover is for? Or did it crawl in bewteen the time it was taken off and the plane was started?
Frank
Not all pilots use pitot covers---I only use one if the A/C is so equipped---many are not.
My plane has the little flip up pitot cover that opens as soon as the plane starts moving? I always flip it up during my preflight and take a peek. Once, there were a bunch of little legs in there
So I tapped the side of the pitot and a little spider dropped out!
Some how he'd wiggled his way past the cover.
I've also re-written my preflight check list, goes something like this:
1. dip tanks (not going anywhere without fuel after all)
2. Check sumps.
3. Remove Covers (winter only)
4. Remove tiedowns
5. remove chocks
I've found I forget things far less this way because removing, untieing etc doesn't break up the flow of my preflight that way. I should also mention that I once forgot to remove the insulated cowling cover untill I looked out to clear the prop with my hand on the starter!
I was in the habit of leaving it on till right before I climbed in the cockpit to keep the engine as warm as possible. Now I remove it with the rest of the covers, the engine's not going to cool that much in the couple min. it take to do the rest of the pre-flight.
Phil
