Thursday, July 28, 2016

Critter spottings in Balik Pulau, Penang

What are you looking at? ;b
 
A dragonfly of a different color from the blue 
and gold ones I usually see in Hong Kong 
 
There are many reasons why I love the hiking I've done in Hong Kong.  Something I really appreciate is how it looks to have honed my senses and made me more observant about the natural life around me when I venture into the countryside; with one sure way in which I can gauge this augmented awareness being the increased critter spottings I've been able to make over the years -- not only in Hong Kong but on visits to other territories, including my recent trip back to Penang
 
Probably the most notable of the critter spottings I made during my most recent week back in the Malaysian state where I was born involved my seeing a snake curled up on a branch of a tree of the farm in Balik Pulau where my mother, two friends and I had feasted on durian.  What with Penang being home to an actual Snake Temple, that green eyed creature was far from the first member of that particular branch of the reptile family I had ever seen in that part of the world.  Rather amazingly though, it happened to be my second consecutive snake-on-a-tree spotting -- after the one I saw at the Daio Wasabi Farm in Hokata on my recent May trip to Japan -- and, actually, also only my second snake-on-a-tree spotting ever!
 
Then while waiting for my food to arrive on the table over at RB Mama Mee Udang on my second Balik Pulau excursion of the trip, I went for a short stroll by the riverside nearby -- and saw a number of creatures (but thankfully not another snake!) about there.  And even while it could be argued that the bright colors of some of the pretty dragonflies and butterflies in the vicinity render them hard to miss, who's to say that in previous years, I'd have thought that there might be some interesting sights to catch over by the riverside and consequently ventured over there for a look? ;)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

Ugh..... That looks like a big snake. Is it a python? Anyway, if python is concerned, a friend once mentioned those bigger ones had a peculiar way to hunt for preys: They perch on branches and would drop onto preys (as dead weight, thus mostly stunning them before the struggle started) when something interesting passing under them.

Interesting but scary.

T

YTSL said...

Hi T --

That snake wasn't tiny but it wasn't all that big either -- and definitely wasn't a python! And yikes re your story: I was already scared at the thought that there are pythons in Hong Kong even before your discussion of their method of hunting their prey... ;S