The Wilder Side of Life

What do butterflies eat?

Moths and butterflies (lepidopterans) are the second largest order of insects, comprised of almost 160,000 species (Monaenkova et al, 2011) and their feeding habits are as diverse as they are. Most of them feed on the nectar found in flowers, some even feed on the pollen, but they have so many more weird and wonderful ways of obtaining the nutrients they need to survive. Before we start, let me…

The last couple of Herps

Well as some of you may know, my wife and I have relocated to the UK. It was a move that I was looking forward to, but also fearing, as I knew I wouldn’t be having any herping adventures for a while.

This in mind, I made it my task to make the most of my wonderful surroundings and find as many snakes as I could in our remaining time in Thailand (not an easy task with so much to do before we…

Herping Highlights from Krabi

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for my blog, not through a lack of content but more of a lack of time. I decided that it was time to sit down and go through some of my pictures and get to writing a fresh post.

Ok so here it goes, a post about a short herping trip I had in Krabi.

I had been planning to meet up with Vern Lovic, a well known snake expert in Thailand and author…

The onset of the rainy season here has signalled the start of the snake season. Snake season you may ask; well snakes are around all year but; during the rainy season they’re easier to find because:

Food items such as frogs, lizards and other snakes are more abundant in the rainy season and therefore so are the snakes that feed on them.

The snakes are more active searching for mates and food and…

Intermediate Bow-fingered Gecko (Cyrtodactylus intermedius)

I don’t find these guys as often as I find the other species in this post but I can never walk past them without stopping for a closer look and a few photos.

Siamese Leaf-toed Gecko (Dixonius siamensis)

We often see these guys when we’re out herping but we also have quite a few of them living around our house. Having a population of these beautiful geckos right on our doorstep means there’s always a photo op. close by, and I must say they are quite patient subjects.

Asian Grass Lizard (Takydromus sexlineatus)

Walking around the rice paddies and fields near my house at night is always an exciting adventure. Seeing one of these slender lizards draped over an impossibly thin branch or grass stem is always a sight I look forward to.

Long-tailed Sun Skink (Eutropis longicaudata)

Another resident of our garden are the bronze backed long tailed sun skinks which scuttle in and out of the grass and flower beds when ever we do a bit of gardening. The adults are quick to dart into cover when they see you but I was lucky to spot this juvenile sunning itself on my lawn one day.

Left: Common Sun Skink (Eutropis multifasciata) Right: Spotted Forest Skink (Sphenomorphus maculatus).

If you’ve ever visited a national park in Thailand, chances are you’ve probably seen one of these skinks scuttling across the path or over the leaf litter. These guys aren’t confined to national parks though, you can find them in your garden too (if you live in Thailand).

  I hope you enjoyed some non-serpentine photos for a change!

Living in Thailand I thought I’d learnt to expect the unexpected but a couple of days ago I had an unexpected but welcome suprise travelling home at night. We had run out of milk so jumped in the car and headed for the nearest 7-11 (a 5 min drive from our house). Whenever I drive down the small roads near our house I always drive slowly scanning the road ahead looking for anything crossing the…

I hit the internet looking for a new wild area to visit and after scouting all the green areas on google earth I found what seemed to be a decent sized national park called Khao Sip Ha Chan National Park. The name roughly translates to ‘The hill with 15 floors/ levels’ but after a little more internet sleuthing I found out it was the hill with 15 waterfalls. I checked with Carly and we agreed that the next free weekend we’d head out to see if it was any good.

Finally we had a weekend free of work, chores or any other weekend destroyers and we headed out to the park. It was a two hour drive away but as we got closer the dry rubber trees and pineapple plantations gave way to lush green jungle the likes of which I haven’t seen since we lived in the South and I was relieved to see the drive was worth it.

As we neared the main gate we began to see signs for wild elephants and I was beginning to get excited that we could actually see some cool wildlife at the park.

We payed our entrance fee (100 baht each) and began the drive from the main gate, through the jungle, to the second car park at the foot of the trail. We presented our tickets to the ranger and he lead us to a small notice board at the start of the hike. There was a map of the path that lead up to each of the fifteen waterfalls and back in a giant loop.

Below the map there was a warning which read:

‘The hike is 6km long’ (nice walk we thought)

‘Hikers are advised to wear suitable sturdy footwear’, (common sense, Carly was in Hiking shoes and I was in comfy trainers)

‘The hike takes at least 3-4 hours’, (we’ll have a slow walk and make it back in 4 hours)

  The park ranger could not speak English so using our limited Thai we surmised that he was asking if we wanted a guide and he was telling us not to go off the paths. We told him in Thai don’t worry we don’t want a guide and set off down the path.

Not far down the path we noticed ranger was following us, must be because of the animals we thought, wouldn’t want to come too close to some wild elephants. A few minutes later there was the sound of a motorbike rattling up the rocky path and a new younger ranger joined us at the top of the first hill where the road stopped and the hiking trail began.

We introduced ourselves to our new hiking companion who was called Fang, he seemed nice enough and gave us space to explore by ourselves mostly. As we got deeper into the jungle the paths became harder to follow and Fang would have to point the paths out to us a lot of the time.

Despite having company we were enjoying the hike which was a rollercoaster of hills leading past each of the waterfalls. Soon there was no discernible path and Fang had to take the lead as we walked up the river through the jungle. Fang radioed in to his colleagues regularly at each waterfall we got to letting them know everything was ok which also let us know where we were as he’d say in Thai which level we’d reached.

Each waterfall was different and eventually we reached the 10th waterfall. I could not spot any path so I asked Fang where we were going and he simply pointed directly up at the waterfall. The confused look on my face prompted him to begin doing his best rock climbing impression. Gulp!

We climbed the right side of the waterfall with Fang in the lead doing his best to point out the best route for us and although it was quite steep we managed to make it up ok. Looking back down we were glad we wouldn’t have to come back down the slippery rocks.

So far our hike had been quite pleasant despite being almost all up and down steep hills. Unfortunately from this point on our hike began to become more, and more hellish, and here’s why…

The Path

We began to realise that not many people ventured up the waterfall this far as Fang was having to use his machete more and more to clear a path for us. The steep roller coaster paths were littered with fallen trees which created an awkward obstacle course we had to climb over or crawl under. Climbing under trees was the least of our worries though, as every waterfall after the 10th also involved climbing and each was progressively taller and more challenging than the last.

The Flora

On some of the steep hills there would be nothing to hold onto to help you up or down them. Surely there would be something to hold onto in the jungle you’d think, well you’d be right, there were lots of plants lining the path. Unfortunately some of these plants turned out to be rattan palms and snake fruit palms. If you don’t know these two plants, do me a quick favor:

Google ‘rattan plant’ or ‘snake fruit plant’ and you’ll see they are EVIL plants covered with three-inch long spikes that snap off in your skin when you bump into one or make the grave error of reaching out for something to stop you from falling.

The Fauna

Another aspect to our hike was the insects. It was too dry for leeches, instead we were swarmed by bees that were after the salt rich sweat that drenched our bodies. How they could stand the smell I have no idea, after 3 hours of hiking we were ripe!

It seemed like every branch was covered in small biting ants and what’s worse is they were on the branches on the sides of the waterfalls where you had no choice but to hang on and try to ignore them. Every time Fang cut through a dry piece of bamboo huge black ants would fall out on attack mode looking to exact their revenge on whatever they could find nearby……. usually us!

The arduous trek had taken its toll: the sole of my left shoe had detached, we had finished our water, our energy levels were waning fast and I was developing homicidal thoughts towards the incessant insect life.

Just when we were nearing breaking point we reached the penultimate waterfall and we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After this we’d be at the last waterfall and could begin the second half of the loop leading back to the head of the trail.

The 14th Waterfall was the highest yet and was 2-3 times bigger than the 10th and before we even asked I knew we’d have to scale it. I asked Fang to point out the route and this time his finger traced a zigzag up the right side of the waterfall and then through the waterfall from the right side, through the water to the taro plant  (the one with heart-shaped leaves) on the left side of the waterfall.

I spoke to Fang and he told us that after climbing the waterfall there’d be more climbing after and the return loop was definitely more taxing than the trail we had taken so far. The rocks were slick with algae and we decided that it would be foolish to push any further and instead to head back down the path.

How the hell were we going to do all the steep waterfalls in reverse? Our spirits were broken, we’d been so close to the last level and now we were going to have to go back the way we’d come.

The first few waterfalls weren’t too bad to climb down but when we reached a waterfall and Fang took out the rope from his backpack we knew then, it was going to be challenging.

I made it down the waterfall ok and then stepped out onto rock which turned out to be slick with algae and came crashing down on my elbow. The impact sent a weird involuntary moan out of my lungs which Carly still teases me about. I found myself on my back in the river with a searing pain in my elbow and a very bruised arse. I manoeuvred myself into a more dignified position and gave my self a once over. I wiggled my fingers, stretched my arm out and everything seemed to be ok. Fang had come over at this point, probably to see where the dying animal was (Carly says the moan was really that weird) and sprayed something on my elbow which numbed it and then helped me up. I had to pay more attention, I was tired, and making stupid mistakes which was not helping.

Carly was the next to take a spill and landed awkwardly on some slippery rocks in the river twisting her knee and bruising her back and bum quite severely. It looked awful but she brushed it off as she always does but I could tell it had really hurt her.

We were both now sore, bruised and thoroughly fed up but thankfully we heard Fang radio in that we were at the 5th level and now he was on his radio more and more and we wondered what was going on, we heard a child’s voice so we guessed maybe he was talking to his son we’d seen back at the checkpoint near the car park.

Finally we rounded a bend and could see the very first hill we climbed. When we reached the top we saw 5 park staff all waiting with their motorbikes. This is why Fang must have been on his radio so much, we imagined he’d radioed in something like: “these Farangs (foreigners, in Thai) are dying you better pick them up with your motorbikes.”

We must have looked like we’d been in the jungle for weeks, our clothes were filthy from sliding down steep paths and waterfalls, the sole of my shoe was barely hanging on our pace would have fit in better in the walking dead than a Thai jungle!

We thanked the staff  and tried to tell them we’d walk the last 15 minutes ourselves, we might as well finish, we’d come this far. The park staff looked at us in disbelief and insisted we get on the motorbikes. We thanked them but insisted that we’d finish the walk ourselves and began walking back down the path.

The staff passed us on the path and again offered lifts as they drove passed and we once again politely refused and they smiled at us and drove on.

We made it to the end of the trail after 6 hours of walking and we went to find Fang to thank him.  We thanked him for his time and for the first time the whole day I noticed that Fang was looking a little fatigued, his face was flushed and hot and he was quite sweaty, I felt a little less pathetic now as even the expert was a tired by the hike.

We bought a few bottles of water from the small shop in the car park and sat down at a picnic table to drink them. We couldn’t help but laugh about how our relaxing weekend had turned out and how achy we’d be at work the next day.

This was one of the most hellish hikes I have done but it was a great reminder of what my body is capable of when pushed. Believe it or not I’d like to return to this park again not to walk to the entire trail but to explore more and take some more photos. The hilly hike meant that we’d had to have our hands free and the camera spent most of its time in the bag. These three butteflies are the only wildlife shots that we got that day.

Sullied Brown Sailor (Neptis nata goononata)

Harlequin (Taxila haquinus haquinus)

Magpie Crow (Euploea radamanthus)

So in summary, we had a hellish day but it makes for one heck of a story! We sweat, bled and almost cried but the feeling at the end of it all was one of accomplishment (and pain). Thailand never ceases to surprise us and I think after eight years of being here we’ve learnt to expect the unexpected, roll with the punches and go with the flow. Our lives are certainly more interesting for it and our bond with each other grows stronger with each crazy experience. TIT (This is Thailand 🙂 )

I’ve had a small break from blogging and after my first post in a while I was over the moon to see a notification that someone had commented on my post. Yes, people are still following me! The comment was from McKenna Paulley, the author of Adventures Of A New Floridian nominating me for a Liebster Award. Firstly, thank you McKenna for the nomination, your blog is a pleasure to read and being…

The amazing thing about this park was how many of Thailand’s beautiful butterfly species you can see (we documented over 70 species from our visits).  If you’re looking for butterflies you can start your hunt around the visitors center where the vibrant red blooms of the Jungle Glory (dok khem in Thai) attract numerous species.

Female Great Mormon (Papilio memnon agenor)

Malayan Wanderer (Pareronia valeria)

Great Orange Tip (Hebomoia glaucippe)

Common Cruiser (Vindula erota)

The bushes are also home to a few Lizard species, which you can see sunbathing on top of the dense foliage or watching over their territories and performing the occasional territorial head nod.

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After checking out the wildlife around the visitor center you can head deeper into the park, down the road, through the jungle to the second parking area . You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see the sign below.

Just below the car park, the streams from the park’s two waterfalls meet and the cool clear waters are ideal places for a refreshing dip, and an even better place to get up close with some more wildlife; this time some gargantuan Soro Brook Carp (Neolissochilus soroides).

For the more adventurous types, bring your swimming goggles or snorkeling mask to get up close and personal with these gentle giants.

My father taking a dip with the fish.

After you’ve cooled off, you can follow the well-maintained path (left from the national park sign) which is only a short walk to the towering Tamnang Waterfall. The waterfall can vary  from a gentle flow (below left) in the dry season to a heavy torrent during the rainy season (below right).

After the waterfall, you can head back up the path to the car park and maybe stop at one of the small huts or picnic tables for a quick break before you head down the next trail. If you’re lucky, you may be joined by some ‘mud puddling’ butterflies (below) or a gecko or two watching from the rafters.

Blue Wings – Great Mormons(Papilio memnon)Black wings – Red Helens (Papilio helenus)

After a quick break, head right from the park sign and you’ll see a path leading through the trees, left of the toilet block.

This path leads you through the jungle to the smaller more peaceful Ton Deng Waterfall. The path is over tree roots and rocks and involves crossing the river twice, something I would not recommend during the height of the rainy season when the waters are flowing fast and high.

The trail is another great opportunity to spot some wildlife and is a popular spot with birders, and there certainly are a lot to see if you look carefully enough. If you are fortunate you might catch a glimpse of the beautiful Malayan Banded Pitta, the “King of the Forest” or a lumbering hornbill passing overhead with their characteristic ‘puffing’ flight like a steam train pulling away from the station.

Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris)

Personally, I’m not much of a bird spotter but if you’re lucky you might get to spot some of the more shy species the park has to offer, like this Tricoloured Ringneck Snake (Liopeltis tricolour) or Wall’s Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis cyanochloris) (pictured below)

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If you keep following the path, eventually you’ll reach a flight of stairs that lead down to a clearing where you’ll see the waterfall which, in the dry season, is often not much more than a trickle of water over the rocks.

Time for another dip, this time with some smaller fish and maybe even a Tire Track Eel (Mastacembelus armatus).

After you’ve cooled off, it’s time to head back towards the car park, but don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for the gibbons and langurs that call this park home. The piercing cries of the Lar Gibbons from high up in thee trees is something that I’ll always remember.

If you’re ever in Phang Nga province and you’re looking for a day trip out in the wilds of Thailand, this national park is definitely the place to be.

Sleeping Lizards and Giant Stick Insects

Carly and I recently spent a few weeks in the UK and upon our return we’ve been too busy to go out and about looking for wildlife. When we finally had a free saturday we woke up to the sound of the wind howling past our windows. All day the weather was terrible and the gusty winds  dropped the temperature and humidity right down. This is not good when you’re looking for snakes…..they’re not fans…

This year we started seaching the wild spots in our local area and so far it’s been a really fun and productive activity which has turned up many species of snake that we’d never seen before.

Here are some of my favourite finds so far (in no particular order):

Spotted Slug Snake (Pareas margaritophorus)

White-spotted Slug-eating Snake (Pareas margaritophorus)

White-spotted Slug-eating Snake (Pareas margaritophorus)

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Slug snakes are a species that I really wanted to find this year and so far we’ve been lucky enough to have spotted two species. This one was my favourite though, just because of its beautiful colouration.

Interesting Fact: These snakes feed almost exclusively on slugs and snails, and their jaws are specially adapted for this. Snakes from this family have more teeth on their right jaw than their left to allow them to extract snails from their shells.

Mock Viper (Psammodynastes pulverulentes)

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This snake was another one of the species I’d always wanted to see but what made finding it even better was how lucky we were to see it. This juvenile was tiny (only about 13cm in length) and was perched on a small brown twig just above the brown leafy forest floor. I have no idea how Carly spotted this snake, but it made seeing it even sweeter.

Interesting Fact: One of the cool things about these snakes is that they can change their pupil shape from round to vertical slits when they feel threatened, making them look more like a real viper to scare away predators.

Malayan Krait

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There’s nothing cooler than seeing the black and white stripes of this beautiful, but deadly, snake cruising along in stark contrast to the predominantly brown forest floor.

Interesting Fact:  These snakes have an extremely potent neurotoxic venom and their black and white bands serve as a highly visible warning to would be predators. Some non-venomous snake species, such as the white-banded wolf snake, (Lycodon subcinctus) mimic the krait’s colouration to ward off predators. You can read more about the Malayan Krait here.

Rainbow Water Snake (Enhydris enhydris)

Like their name suggests, these snakes are aquatic and live in bodies of freshwater and are usually not seen out in the open. Luckily for us, for a short period at the beginning of the rainy season, when they are breeding and giving birth they leave their watery homes. We’ve sometimes seen five or six in a night, on the roads between the ponds and rice paddies in our area, and then in no time at all we stopped seeing them completely.

Interesting Fact:  These guys are perfectly adapted to their aquatic habitats. Their nostrils can be closed underwater and their eyes are on the top of their head so they can see prey and potential threats when they are submerged. Their young are born live, which means that unlike other snake species, they don’t need to find a dry place to lay eggs.

Banded Kukri Snake (Oligodon fasciolatus)

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We’ve seen a few of these snakes now, and we have yet to see two with the same colouration. They have a very variable colouration but the one we spotted at night, asleep on a branch was by far the prettiest one I’d ever seen…. I might be biased though.

Interesting Fact: These snakes are named after the sharp fangs in the back of their jaws which resemble the Kukri knife used by Gurkha soldiers. These fangs are used to cut open the eggs of turtles, lizards or even other snakes which are a part of their diet.

Asian Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina)

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Recently we’ve found quite a few of these vine snakes and they are such a pleasure to handle. They are one of the calmest wild snake species I have ever interacted with.

Interesting Fact: Their arrow shaped head with its forward facing eyes and groove infront of their eyes gives these snakes excellent stereoscopic vision which allows them to accurately judge distances when they are hunting.

Red-Necked Keelback (Rhabdophis sumbminiatus)

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Although these snakes are common in Thailand and we see them quite regularly, I couldn’t resist adding them to the list. Their unique warning colouration is too bright to simply walk past without taking a quick photo or two.

Interesting Fact: These snakes are one of a few snake species worldwide that are capable of producing both venom and poison which they sequester from the poisonous toads that they eat. You can read more about these amazing snakes here

Below is a list of the snake species we’ve spotted so far this year my goal is to get to 25 species by Christmas.

Rainbow Water Snake (Enhydris enhydris)

Red-necked Keelback (Rhabdophis subminiatus)                                                                            Green Keelback (Rhabdophis nigrocinctus)                                                                                  Yellow-spotted Keelback (Xenochropis flavipuntus)

Oriental Rat Snake (Pytas Mucosa)                                                                                              Javanese Rat Snake (Pytas Korros)                                                                                          Radiated Rat Snake (Coelognathus radiatus)

Laotian Wolf Snake (Lycodon laoensis)                                                                                    White Banded Wolf Snake (lycodon subcinctus)

Mock Viper (Psammodynastes pulverulentus)

Green Cat Snake (Boiga cyanea)

Painted Bronzeback (Dendralaphis pictus)

Bridle Snake (Dryocalamus davisonii)

White Spotted Slug Snake (Pareas margaritophorus)                                                          Keeled Slug Snake (Pareas carinatus)

Banded Kukri Snake (Oligodon fasciolatus)

Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus)

It hadn’t even been a week since we had relocated Bob when I received another message from the same people who found Bob saying there was another python that needed to be relocated and that he also had another snake to be released too. We were coming home from shopping so we met on the way home and collected the two snakes from him. He told me that the first sack had the python in it and the…

One thing about being snake mad is that eventually other people start to catch on. I am by no means an expert herpatologist, but at work I have become the person who is called when there’s a snake or when someone has a question about a snake. More recently though, people have begun to ask if I could relocate snakes that they have found in or around their homes, which I am always more than happy…

A friend of ours, Linnea, had been asking  if she could accompany us on one of our herping trips and what better excuse for us to check out our favourite herping spot again (as if we needed an excuse!) Linnea wanted to see some snakes and as we headed up the trail I assured her that we’d see a snake, and that we’d never been to this location and NOT seen a snake. We started the night by checking…

Check out these cool stripy animals!

After seeing seven snakes on the last visit to our herping spot we were pretty sure we wouldn’t see as much wildlife on our latest visit, but once again our spot suprised us. Not long into our walk we almost stumbled upon this Malayan Banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon subcintus), literally. It was right on the path and didn’t move until we were right by it. Once it did move though it didn’t stop which…

Its been super busy at work at the moment and finally all the work was finished and we had a long weekend coming up. It had been raining most of the week and finally there was a little bit of sun on thursday and Carly said the magical words to me “do you want to go and look for snakes tonight?”. After only 5-10mins I spotted a red-necked keelback sleeping on a bush very close to the start of the…

The Fastest Insect in the World

Most people will be able to tell you that the cheetah is the fastest land animal or that Usain bolt is the fastest sprinter in the world.  But, there’s a smaller and faster group of creatures that are often overlooked……….the insects. Usain Bolt has a top speed of 44.2 kmph which equates to 6 body lengths per second (bl/s). A cheetah, the fastest land mammal can reach speeds of 110 – 120 km/h…