[Otaku]

Regarding the motion detector, there may be some of the Spider's fuzz blocking the sensor. Turn off the power, then hunt around for the sensor on the Spider's face. Pull or trim the fuzz so that the sensor is well-exposed. The light sensor actually works pretty good in a well-lighted area, but lousy in the dark (naturally). I used a 2-stage timer with a PIR to trigger my Spider.
Mine did make some clicking sounds at first, but these went away after a few deployments. If yours keeps doing it, I'd do a return. The Spider doesn't come with the footpad, you gotta pony up another $10 if you want one.

 

[Otaku]

Yeah, that delay before the Spider jumps is one reason why I went with a PIR controller. I didn't want the TOTs to walk past the Spider before it popped up. The other was that I had the Spider in a really dark area. I positioned a small LED spot to be shining right where the Spider's head would be after it jumped. Got 'em every time.