Things I Find in the Woods Part Three

When I was with the monkeys one day, I noticed a tiny movement out of the corner of my eye and got out my binoculars to scope out a nearby tree. I almost dropped the binoculars when I realized that the movement was a snake in a tree- a female pit viper to be more exact. The snake was so far away that I couldn't believe that I had noticed it, and I was bummed that no one was around to witness my amazing feat of wildlife-spotting. I ended up crashing through the underbrush to get a picture of the snake, but I couldn't get very close. I love how the snake is totally comfortable on its precarious perch.

A couple of caterpillars...
Some strange sort of larvae...
I saw this millipede on the path, and later I left Bukit Timah and went to NTU (a trip involving two buses and an MRT ride). I was sitting in the lab, and I looked down and saw the millipede on the floor! Apparently he hitched a ride on my boot.Bryan met up with me at the end of the day one day to see the monkeys, and we found a huge snail.I know I've posted pictures of colugos (aka "flying lemurs") previously, but I love them so much that I'll share a couple more. I still get really excited every time I get lucky enough to find one of these extremely well-camouflaged creatures. The first picture didn't turn out very well because I was trying to take it in the rain, but I'm going to post it anyway, because it's a baby colugo AND a baby macaque!! It was total adorable overload- the baby macaque was romping around in the tree, and ended up almost on top of the colugo before the little macaque noticed it, went wide-eyed, and then scampered off to find its mother.Colugos move in a bizarre way, even when they're not gliding from tree to tree. Here's a video of one climbing a tree.


An atlas moth isn't as awesome as a colugo, but it's still pretty cool in its own right.It's been awhile since I posted a picture of a monitor. I see them so much at Bukit Timah that they're becoming like squirrels to me- I rarely take photos of them anymore. But occasionally I think one of them looks extra interesting. I like the way the one in the top photo looks totally relaxed with his legs kicked back like a mellowed-out dog. He kind of blends in with the pavement too.
And of course there are the monkeys, but I think they deserve their own separate post, so I'm working on another blog post to update everyone on my adventures with the macaques! There's never a dull moment, that's for sure. Here's a little preview- my buddy Punk, looking like he's posing for his photo.