Animal Paradise

New Blog

2011-06-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

I'll be posting on a new blog... Do come and visit! :) Wildlife Wonders.

Asian Medicinal Leech (Hirudinaria manillensis)

2010-02-03T07:54:00.000-08:00

"Yuck a leech!"

That is what almost everyone say when they see these annelids attached to their leg, enjoying a buffet with free flow. But did you know that leeches have been used for medical purposes? Yup, you can have doctors placing a leech on your arm.

Before looking at the picture, lets learn a bit more about our slimy friends, shall we?

Leeches are annelids comprising the subclass Hirudinea. There are fresh water, terrestrial, and marine leeches. Like their near relatives, the Oligochaeta, they share the presence of a clitellum. Like earthworms, leeches are hermaphrodites. There are 650 known species of leeches. The Hirudo leech has three jaws with 100 teeth on each jaw - making 300 teeth in all.Thats a lot of teeth biting into you. The Medicinal Leech(Hirudo medicinalis) which is native to Europe, and its congeners have been used for clinical bloodletting for thousands of years.

Medicinal leeches are any of a group of several species of leeches but most commonly European Medical Leech(Hirudo medicinalis). Other species sometimes referred to as Medical Leeches include: Hirudo verbana, Macrobdella decora (North American Medical Leech), Hirudo troctina, Hirudo orientalis and Hirudinaria manillensis (Asian Medicinal Leech).

Today, doctors use leeches for treating abscesses, painful joints, glaucoma, myasthenia, and to heal venous diseases and thrombosis. Medical leeches are used in plastic surgery, for improving blood circulation and for curing infertility. The secret of all this leech miracles lies in the leech saliva.

Ok then, after reading the long, wordy text above about the Medicinal Leech, you might be keen to see some pictures. If you have a phobia of leeches, its alright, you can read the other posts and give this a miss.

The Asian Medicinal Leech (Hirudinaria manillensis)

You can almost see the teeth.

"Yummy blood!"

Trip to Bukit Timah Hill(12/11)

2009-11-18T01:57:00.000-08:00

Note: Just enjoy the pics if you do not wish to read the texts or if you do not know how to read.

During this trip to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, my friend and I spotted many interesting creatures.

We were walking along Taban Loop, when suddenly my friend shouted, "Stick insect!" I had never seen a stick insect in the wild before, so I was really excited when my friend spotted it. It was really well camouflaged, and would need a pair of very good eyes to spot it. You would never believe how well it mimicked a broken stick. We moved on after we took some shots of it.

We came out of Taban Loop and moved on to Jungle Fall Path. There, another surprise awaited us. My friend spotted a Earless Agamid. Take a guess why is it called Earless Agamid? Well, not because it has no ears, for every lizard does not have one, but because its tympanum(ear opening) is hidden. Agamid mainly means lizard, so no questions on that one.

We took a few shots of the agamid, and exited the Jungle Fall Path. While we were walking down the main path, a man told us about a green snake he spotted near the visitor centre. He led us down to where he spotted it. On our way down, we resisted the urge to run. When we reached the place, the snake was no longer at its usual place. Both of us knew that the snake could not have gone far, and decided to look for it. This time, I spotted it. It was a Malayan Whip Snake. It was resting at the base of a small plant. This was the second or third snake we spotted this day. Second or third? Yup, we saw a Spotted Keelback during our hike in the Jungle Fall Path. Then isn't the green snake the second snake? Well, when the Spotted Keelback slithered into the vegetation, another one slithered out. We were not sure whether it was the same snake or not. However, we could not take any pictures as the snakes were moving too fast. Anyway, back to the Malayan Whip Snake. It tried to slither away but we managed to bring it onto a stick so we could take more pictures of it. After that, we let it go.

Reticulated Python

2009-10-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

A stroll in a park can lead to exciting discoveries.

When you enter a park, what do you see? Trees? Obviously. Mosquitoes? Lots of them. Maybe a few birds? Yes. Anything interesting? Not really.

Why not look up at a tree, like the one above, shot in West Coast Park? What do you see? Leaves? Duh. What else?

The sky... and... wait a minute... What is that thing in the middle of the picture?

Lets move to a different angle shall we?

Hmm... Still not clear enough? Ok then. Lets stop torturing your eyes on the above picture and look at the shot below.

Yikes! A snake! Not just any old snake, its the Reticulated Python. Also known as Python reticulatus. The world's longest snake and obviously, also the longest of all reptiles, reaching up to about 8.7 m long. However, they are relatively slim for their length and are certainly not the most heavily built.
The colour pattern is a complex geometric pattern that incorporates different colours. The back typically has a series of irregular diamond shapes which are flanked by smaller markings with light centers. In this species' wide range, much variation of size, colour, and markings commonly occurs.
In zoo exhibits the colour pattern may seem garish, but in a shadowy jungle environment amid fallen leaves and debris it allows them to virtually disappear. Called a disruptive colouration, it protects them from predators and helps them to catch their prey.
This nocturnal snake is both terrestrial and arboreal, catching small mammals and birds, and strangling them before swallowing them whole.
Reticulated Pythons can be found in most habitats from forest to mangroves, and often near human habitation.
They are capable of overpowering a person, so my advice to you is not to go near one if you ever meet one.

Dragons of the Insect Kingdom

2009-06-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dragonflies are a well known and fascinating order of insects.
They have strong biting mouthparts and are active and aggressive carnivores, preying mostly on other insects. Dragonflies are also the closest thing the natural world has got to a helicopter. The insects do not simply flap their wings, but twist them back and forth to create a little vortex that lifts the insect.

These dragonfly pictures are taken in my school. All of them are called the Slender Skimmer.

Check out its compound eyes.

These eyes may each contain as many as 30 000 individual lenses. Because of this, dragonflies have exceptionally good eyesight and have been known to respond to movements from more than 40 feet away.

Colourful Snake

2009-06-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

You might have seen this snake before.

The snake you are staring at now is called the Paradise Tree Snake. I found this beauty along the entrance of Sungei Buloh, chewing on a yummy gecko. If you want to see it without travelling far, you can look for it in your garden. This creature can be found everywhere in Singapore, even in urban gardens. It is mildly venomous and feeds mainly on lizards and small birds, and is also capable of gliding. Some individuals, like this one, have red 'flower' pattern along the middle of the back.

Spidey Spider

2009-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

Tarantulas are a group of hairy and often very large spiders belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Tarantulas hunt prey in both trees and on the ground. All tarantulas can emit silk; while arboreal species will typically reside in a silken "tube web", terrestrial species will line their burrows or lairs with web to catch wandering prey. They mainly eat insects and other arthropods, using ambush as their primary method. The biggest tarantulas can kill animals as large as lizards, mice, or birds. Most tarantulas are harmless to humans, and some species are popular in the exotic pet trade while others are eaten as food. These spiders are found in tropical and desert regions around the world.

In Singapore, there is a spider, at around 20 mm, is lurking in your garden. Though the Singapore Tarantula has a 'tarantula' in its name, it does not grow to gigantic sizes. It is common around leaf litters and under rocks and pieces of wood.

I have found a few around my block but they were too fast. Once you lift up a rock, it will immediately crawl into a hiding place.

This Singapore Tarantula was shot at West Coast Park. If you observe closely, you can see the tiny hairs on its body. You can see that it has lined its lair with web.

Frog Faces

2009-01-30T05:37:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-30T05:15:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-21T05:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

"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

2009-01-03T23:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Day at Upper Pierce Reservoir

2008-12-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

I am writing this today but the trip happened yesterday. I went with my father by taxi to the Old Upper Thompson road and went into the reservoir by the main gate.

The first thing i saw was two wild dogs. I only manage to take a picture of one of them as the other one ran into the woods.

I expect this dog was sniffing for food when I saw it. It quickly ran into the woods after seeing me approaching it.

A Long-tailed Macaque in the middle of the road. The macaques found around the reservoir were all afraid of humans, unlike the ones in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. This is a good sign. It showed that no one fed the macaques that lived around the reservoir.

Can you spot the yellow dragonfly in this picture? I saw it flying around and grabbed the chance to take a photo of it resting.

The dragonfly on this tree bark was well camouflaged. Can you spot it?

This spider jumped in front of me. At first I thought it was an ant. After examining it, I realised that it was a spider. I do not know the name of this spider as I did not see it or read about it before. This was my first time seeing it.

I heard a cicada singing on a tree branch. When I approached the cicada, it suddenly flew and landed among the grass(circled). Can you spot it? Find for the red circle. (You might not be able to spot the circle too.)

My father spotted this tiny creature on a stone table. It looked like a spider but my book does not say anything about it. It might also be a pseudoscorpion.

An orange cicada. Spotted it flying. Its abdomen was a beautiful red in colour. It landed on this leaf and I managed to take a photo before it flew away.

A brown praying mantis among the leaf litter. Saw it hopping around. It might be a Dead Leaf Mantis. I expect it hopped around for lunch before going back into hiding.

While on my way out of the reservoir, I spotted a Green Crested Lizard. This creature used to be a common tree lizard in urban gardens, but lost competition to the Changeable Lizard. Now it can only be found in wooded areas.

The lizard saw me and ran into the vegetation. It turned brown. Can you spot it?

We did not see any snakes that day. We were lucky that a taxi came in or we would have to walk all the way out to the main road.

Pulau Ubin

2008-12-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

Yup, as stated above, I went to Pulau Ubin today. I sat a boat to that island. It cost my father $7.50. The ride is $2.50 per person. Just in case you are wondering who I went with, I went with my brother and of course my father. We rented 3 bicycles and started out to look for animals. We headed for a place called the Chek Jawa Wetlands.

The first thing I saw hopping along was a Banded Bull Frog. This nocturnal insectivore is common even in urban areas.

We continued our way to the Mangrove Broadwalk and saw these mudskippers together. Some even rolled over in puddles of water. Cute!

This little crab was about to hide into a hole dug by itself. Look at the pincers. There is a big difference in size.

A whole gang of crabs.

A Nipah plant.

This little crab digs holes too. According to someone, this is a Sand Bubble Crab. Quite small in size.

The spider which made this web is a good web artist.

Can you spot the camouflaged mudskipper?

This Mud Crab is the biggest crab I have seen today.

This crab has beautiful colours. This is the nicest crab I have seen today.

Another crab with different size pincers.

A Malayan Water Monitor. This creature is among the largest lizard in the world. It can climb trees and is also an expert swimmer and diver. It feeds on small animals and fish.

A shot of a Yellow-lined Epeus. This spider can grow around 9mm. It can be found in heavily wooded gardens or mangrove swamps.

Can you spot the grasshopper in this picture? The actual size is about 6cm.

A crab pulling a leaf. Wonder what is it going to do with the leaf. Eat it? Or is it going to lay its eggs on it so the young can feed on it?

After we reached the end of the broadwalk, we cycled back to the shophouses and ate chilli crabs. Does anyone like them? I like it. I also ate black pepper lobster. This is the end of the trip. I did heard someone say he saw an Oriental Whip Snake but I did not see any though.

Volunteer in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

2008-12-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday went to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve again. This time is for an orientation program for volunteers. I attended a talk on the common animals found in the reserve. These animals include the Plantain Squirrel, the Long-tailed Macaque, the Oriental Whip Snake, the Elegant Bronzeback and the Four-ridged Toad. At around 4.30, I went for a guided walk.
These was what I saw:

Can you spot the Colugo(circled)?

Zoomed in version of the Colugo. I apologise that the picture is blur. My camera just could not sense it. Its quite far away from me. For a better picture of it, go to this website: http://www.ecologyasia.com/

A strange, colourful and beautiful insect.

For the rest of the guiding, the guide just talked about plants. After 5, the guiding ends. I went out with my father to get some things for christmas.

Trip to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve(again)

2008-12-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve again. Shawn had to wait for someone so I went there first. These was what I saw:

Can you spot the Clouded Monitor in this picture?

The lizard in this picture might be a Sun Skink.

This snake is either the Elegant Bronzeback or the Blue Bronzeback. After seeking help from an animal expert called Nick Baker, I found out its a Blue Bronzeback.

Shawn came right after I saw the snake. We took some pictures of the snake and move on with our journey. These was what we saw:

A type of flower. Anyone knows what is it?

A nice little cricket.

Yap. Two snakes that day. This beautiful snake is either the Oriental Whip Snake or the Malayan Whip Snake. Through further examinations, I say it is the Malayan Whip Snake.

This poor colourful caterpillar had been killed by ants.

Has anyone seen this type of grasshopper before? I have not.

This spider is a female Golden Web Spider. I like its colours. It can grow about 5 cm measuring from the head to the tip of its abdomen.

A treehopper. Cute isn't it? Hmm... Maybe I should buy a book on insects. This way I can identify the insects I saw.

The second and the third caterpillars of the day. Colourful and hairy. Hmm... Maybe I should buy a book on caterpillars too.

This Clouded Monitor is digging for food. It feeds mainly on small animals which it often find digging in the substrate.

This spider is most likely to be the Common Housefly Catcher. It had caught a moth. This picture proves that spiders sometimes catch preys bigger than themselves.

Hunting Trips

2008-11-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

An apology for not posting for a long time. I could not find time for it. Lets start from the first day.

I found a Praying Mantis that flew into my home. Sorry if the picture is too blur. In school, my friend and i found an Asian Toad, a hanging spider most likely a Common Big-jawed Spider, a few caterpillars and a Changeable Lizard. The picture will be shown below.

On the second day of my hunting, I found two Asian Toad. One of them is in a drain and the other in a field. If you are interested in flowers, I also took a picture of a white flower. Anyone have any ideas what flower is that? I also found a Changeable Lizard. All these are found near my house.
The next hunting trip is in MacRitchie Reservoir. I spotted two Plantain Squirrel, a bee hive, a Long-tailed Macaque and a Red-eared Slider.

The next one is with my friend in Boon Lay. We first went to a small pond which is like a small swamp. After long hours of finding, we spotted nothing. Just as we are about to leave, we saw something jumped among the grass. It was a Field Frog. This nocturnal insectivore was what we were finding for the last few months but could not as they were well camouflaged. On a small tree near my friend's block, I found a grasshopper.

This is the end.

Today's Trip to Sentosa

2008-11-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

Woke up in the morning at about 9:15 and found my grandmother sitting in the living room. My grandmother came from China. We are going to tour around Sentosa today.

We sat a taxi to the cable-car station and sat on a cable-car. When we reached Sentosa, I decided to go to the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom first. When i enter, i saw lots of information on butterflies. We saw 2 snakes in the Insect Kingdom. One is the Oriental Whip Snake, the other is the Reticulated Python. Then i saw a turtle with a long neck. Not sure what its name was. I was allowed to carry to scorpions, most likely the Asian Forest Scorpion. They were quite tame.
I saw a leaf insect too. After that, i went to see a parrot show shown in the Butterfly Park. All the parrots were very clever in performing tricks. I saw a Malayan Box Turtle in the pond.

Afterwards, we went to watch a 4D show. Wow! I like the effects. After the show, we went to the Underwater World. There were many fishes to be seen. My favourite part is the Jellyfish section.

Then, we headed to the animal show called multi-animal encounters. There were the Pig-tailed Macaque, White-bellied Eagle, Malayan Water Moniter and an Albino Burmese Rock Python.
Night came and we went to watch the Songs of the Sea. The effects are breath taking. After watching the show, our trip ended. We sat a cable-car, went back to the station and sat a taxi home.

Yet Another Trip to B.T.N.R

2008-11-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

Today morning went for my cca, which was doing nothing. How boring, taking up my time for hunting.

I and my friend,Shawn, managed to reach Bukit Timah Nature Reserve by 2:45. Went to the Kampong Trail first. We spotted a Common Sun Skink. Got a close up shot of it. ( To tell the truth, it was my friend who took the picture. He is pro in photo taking)

Walked further down and saw a strange moth. Then a sound surprised me. It was caused by a Clouded Monitor. It ran, more like crawled into the undergrowth.

We went back to the visitor centre and went up the main road to see if the Wagler's Pit Viper is still there. It was said that the viper would sometimes stay at a spot for days. We did not see it. While walking back to get ourselves a drink, we saw a spider and a type of cricket. Not really sure what they were.

That was the end of our trip, but our journey have not ended. We will go back some day to look for more animals.

Another Trip to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

2008-10-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yo people. Its quite long since i posted anything.

I went to B.T.N.R with my friend again today. At first, i thought we would not find anything as usual. But my hopes rose when i saw a gliding lizard, most likely a Black-bearded Gliding lizard. We saw a strange insect too

Then we went to the summit, where we found a type of caterpillar. We walked down the hill by the other road. We saw a 'squirrel' but at closer look, it was actually a Common Tree Shrew. Then, along the path, we saw..... a snake! It was a type of keelback and after research, concluded the it was a Spotted Keelback. It was eating a frog! Most likely the Dark-sided Chorus Frog.

On our way down, we spotted a juvenile Wagler's Pit Viper. Wow! 2 snakes in a row.

Today was a complete success.

Trip to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

2008-10-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

Today released the Malayan Water Monitor into West Coast Park, Marshland. Took picture of it before leaving.

Took a bus to Jurong East interchange and took bus 66 to BTNR(Bukit Timah Nature Reserve) . We missed the stop and end up walking one round before taking bus 170 to BTNR.

Started our journey instantly. Found a few spiders, a weird moth, a Giant Forest ant and a cicada. My friend saw a tail that might belong to a rat but did not see the whole body and it ran away.

We went a long way before ending our journey. We were dead tired and could barely stand. I bought myself a drink and my friend an ice-cream.

Then we walked around Hindhede Nature Park before leaving.

A Surprise

2008-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today went to school...

During recess, my friend and i found a baby Malayan Water monitor, a common asian water monitor lizard, in between a narrow hole. Surprised why its in our school. Tried to get it out but failed... Not enough time.

Could not wat for the deeparaya concert to end.

At last, after 3h of waiting, the concert ends. We went to the place and found the monitor in another narrow hole. We tried to get it out but could not.

A few cleaners saw us and help us get it out. Wow! The guy even dare to hold the monitor.

We brought it home and put it into a tank. Fed it some frogs.

Will be releasing it soon.

Today's "Crop"

2008-10-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Today went to school, enjoyed some post-exam activities.

After school, stayed back for a while to do some research on animals in the computer...

Then my friend and i went to do some hunting(looking for animals). The only excitement was when i found a snake skin near a tree. Suspected a common wolf snake.

We search frantically for the snake. Found it!

After that went to tuition......

Feel free to look at the picture of the snake i've taken.