Frog Faces

Frogs are slimy and disgusting to look at. Is that true?
Frogs might be slimy but they are interesting in their own way. They sometimes do the impossible. Take the American Bullfrog for example, they would like to participate in any challenge. They sometimes eat preys bigger than themselves. They have been observed to eat snakes too!

This dead American Bullfrog was found in west coast park. American Bullfrogs are not supposed to be found in S'pore but some inconsiderate people have released it into the wild. Why is this bad? Since American Bullfrogs eat almost anything, they are a threat to our ecosystem. We call this an introduction of an alien species.

Before I make my way home, my friend lifted up a small piece of wood. We found this cute Banded Bullfrog underneath it.

A few people said they saw black snakes, most likely the Equatorial Spitting Cobra, in west coast park. Unfortunately, we did not see any. I hope to find one on our next trip to west coast park.

Deadly Front Legs

Have you seen a praying mantis before? It might have flown into your home or you might have spotted it when you are outside. Most of the ones I have seen are green.

This little guy was spotted in my school. Its quite small. My friend spotted it and we took some pics.

This handsome one was spotted at west coast park. It is an ant-mimic praying mantis. It mimics an ant because ants most animals like birds does not want to mess with ants. Most ants have a painful bite.

Rest in Peace, Little Birdy

Some of you might have seen dead birds before.

It might be a Rock Pigeon, Common Myna, Javan Myna or a sparrow.

Well, I had recently encountered a dead bird which was most likely a female Asian Koel. It was found dead near Jurong East interchange.

I found this Asian Koel dead. I was on my way home from Jurong Bird park. There were ants surrounding it. There was a hole where the eye was supposed to be. This proved that the bird had been dead for a few hours.

My brother threw a mealworm at the ants. You might not see the mealworm in this picture...

Meet My Mink-Hooded Rat

"Eewww... A rat! Kill it!"
Sounds familiar? This is what most people say when they meet a rat close up. I know most of you think that a rat is plain dirty, spread diseases and bites people. But not all. A captive rat is one of the best pets to be kept. They come in a few different colours and they like to be cuddled. And most of all, they don't spread diseases. If you observe a captive rat, you often see them grooming themselves. They like cleanliness and sometimes are observed to drop their feaces at a spot.
I know all this because I have a pet rat at home. If you are tired of wild animals, this might brighten you up.

I bought my rat from a place called farmart. The pet shop there sells gerbils, mice, parrots, birds, rats and rabbits. Is a nice place, really. They also have a place for you to fish for prawns.
Enjoy the pictures of my rat.

My rat clinging onto my arm. Trust me, he is better now. He is now able to climb up my arm and onto my shoulder.

"What is that strange flash of light?"

"Interesting articles..."

Examining the sofa after 'reading' the newspaper.

"Oops... There is a spot on my fur. Time to groom myself."

"Is that irritating flash of light again! Wonder what that human is doing."

Ok... My rat is complaining. I will stop here.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

I kind of like Bukit Timah Nature Reserve a lot. Most of the snakes I found are from there.
I went with my father that day.

The first thing I saw was a Clouded Monitor. It was foraging for food. When it saw me, it quickly crawled into the vegetation.

I saw it moving on this twig. I took a shot of it. If you look closely, you can see its wings.

My father spotted this Golden Web Spider. This spider seems to be very common in forested and urban areas.

I was looking at two Common Treeshrews when this Greater Racket-tailed Drongo flew in front of me. Can you see the two hanging feathers at the end of the tail. This bird is sometimes seen with only one or no feathers hanging from the tail.

While taking shots of the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, this woodpecker flew onto a tree close to me. I could not get a clear picture of it as it was flying from tree to tree.

While walking, I was thinking if I would find a Malayan Whip Snake at the same spot I found one few days ago. I looked carefully around the vegetation and Bingo! I found a Malayan Whip Snake.

Take a closer look at its head. The eyes of this snake distinguishes itself from its common cousin the Oriental Whip Snake. For a picture of the Oriental Whip Snake, visit http://www.ecologyasia.com/.

I spotted this ant hill on a plant. Normally you see ant hills on the ground, but this was built on a plant, about 1m above the ground.

Before leaving Bukit Timah, my father found this Common Sun Skink on a log. A few visitors to the Bukit Timah were also looking at it.