My Week of Snake Skin

Another discarded snake skin found this morning in Tanjung Rhu Mangroves of Langkawi. This must be my week of discarded snake skins.

Our boat was closing into the foliage of the mangroves and our skipper slowed down and started to reverse. Then suddenly, one of my guests shouted, "A snake!". My eyes were looking everywhere on the lowest branches of the trees. Feeling a bit embarrassed to ask, my mind was asking "Where? Where?". I looked at my skipper for a clue and then he said in Malay, "Kulit ular" (snake skin). I saw the discarded skin dangling on the leaves. However, my guests were still focusing on a different spot. And then shortly, I saw that snake hanging on the limbs.  Even my skipper who has good eyes didn't even spot it first... hahahhaha...

Everyone took their turn to snap pictures of the snake with the new skin. Because of that and all the excitement on the boat, I literally forgot to take a picture of the discarded skin. Bah!! That snake had a very beautiful shining skin and it looked "brand new" indeed. Unfortunately the discarded skin was incomplete. The head has gone.  

Someone asked me the species of that snake. "It is a Mangrove Pit viper!" Upon hearing that word "viper", the boat tilted to one side because most of them moved across away from that snake. 

The picture above was taken in November 2009. Mangrove Pit Vipers (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus) are commonly found in mangroves of Langkawi and spotting one can be a challenge. They can be spotted hanging on the limbs of the trees between a meter to 3 meters above the water.  

One of my encounter with a mangrove pit viper was when I was pointing my finger to the mudflat while talking and looking at my group. As I looked down to where I was pointing, a juvenile pit viper was less than a meter away and ready to strike. Phew!

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A Snake Resident

Two days ago, I was feeling lazy and I had to push myself to do a few laps in the swimming pool of an apartment. This was because I didn't feel like doing a bike ride in the hot and sunny mid-morning. 

After my swim, I was out of the pool to dry myself. Not knowing what made me turned to the bushes below me, I noticed something white and slightly shiny under the reflection of the afternoon sun.

It was longish. I observed how that thing stretched itself, made sharp turns and rubbing on a thin branch to another. Ouch... I imagined it must be quite a painful process having to stretch itself out of that. It was already dried.

The black arrows are pointing at the turning points of each branch.

I have yet to see and feel a complete discarded snake skin with its head still intact. 

The head showing its eye caps

What did I do with it? I took it home, of course. With Mandy's help, we measured the discarded skin.

The discarded skin is about the length of 125cm from the tip of the head to the tip of the tail

My guess for this species of snake from its discarded skin may be a cobra from the family Elapidae (elapids).

This is interesting. 

Ecdysis is a process of skin shedding for reptiles, arthropods, insects, etc. A healthy snake usually will shed its skin in one entire piece with little or no difficulty at all. While sick snakes, those suffering from malnutrition will tend to shed their skins in pieces and this is known as Dysecdysis. 

A snake will be inactive for a period of 1-2 weeks and the eyes will turn dull and cloudy.  The duration of inactivity varies for different species. During this period, the snake's vision is impaired resulting in unpredictable and aggressive behavior. The underlying new skin is soft and vulnerable to damage. 

The snake will make use of any rough surfaces within its enclosure to shed the skin. The skin of the head will start first. 

Once the snake has shed its skin successfully, it usually defecate and will look for lots of water to drink. Hmmm... no wonder this discarded skin was found in the bush by the swimming pool. Oops!!

Another interesting fact, a discarded skin is not a reliable measure of its true length!

The above is a closed up picture of the discarded skin. What a beauty! No wonder homo sapiens love to make bags out of snake skins. Psst... by the way... there is a resort here that sells ladies' bags made out of cobras, pythons and water snakes. 

This discarded skin is now sitting in a glass jar together with silica gels  to absorb extra moisture. Thanks to the Tips on How to Preserve a Shed Snake Skin

References: http://www.talktothevet.com/ARTICLES/REPTILES/snakeshedding.HTM; http://www.dfs-pet-blog.com/2009/11/snake-skin-shedding/; http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=17+1831&aid=1648

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Smoke Above Kilim

Dry season here means open burning!?

Hey Langkawians! Did anyone of you spot this?

I did. With my guests. We were on the coast by boat at 3pm yesterday and I spotted this smoke coming from Kilim area.

Burning of land to clear for development? or for agriculture? Someone chucked a cigarette butt over dried vegetation?
Whatever the reasons, this sighting is disturbing not only to me and also to my guests aka tourists...

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West Coast Mangroves Is Now Half a Desert!!

From my last blog about our mangroves planting on 31st May 2009 at Langkawi's west coast, we were a bit disappointed with the results. On that day, we watched the waves and swells coming into the mudflat area. I  imagined the hundreds of seeds planted previously were washed away by the strong currents.

This is our planting site, which is located along Jalan Kuala Muda next to the fishermen's kampung cafe Warung Pais.

Map zoomed in

On 13th September 2009, I took Chiew from FRIM to inspect the site. She suggested that the best family to be planted as front liners would be the Avicennia spp. This was the condition of the young vegetation on that day:

As advised by some friends, planting on that site requires right timing and so we stopped the planting for awhile until the season of Western wind is over. Like now. Western wind brings rough sea with big swells and it is not advisable to sail along the west coast starting from the month of May till early October.

Eastern wind is now back in this dry season and the sea condition in our planting site is much calmer. We returned for the next planting and we were shocked to see the condition of the planting site on 13th December 2009.

It is now a desert!

Aida and I went ahead and planted 10 young Rhizophora Apiculata into the desert-like plot just to test them out.

Aida planting a pole in as a marker

Sunset at Kuala Melaka

I returned on 18th January 2010 to check if there is any improvement. The highest tide on this day was 2.0m.

Our marker pole is still standing

I found some young Avicennia spp. struggling on dried mud cakes.

                              

Salt crystal on a leaf of Avicennia spp 

Notice the highest tide. The line of rubbish will tell...

Our young Rhizophora Apiculata planted on 13th Dec 2009 are drying out

With such a desert-like condition, it is impossible to plant anything right now until the period returns with a higher tide level. Compare the current condition with the picture below when we had the planting in May 2009.

Meanwhile, my seedlings will continue to sit in the plastic bottles.

Read more on our previous planting stories: Langkawi West Mangroves Planting

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Ugly Side of Langkawi Mangrove Tours Part II - How to Make Monkeys Swim

I mentioned in the first part of this topic, mangrove excursions here are so popular that operators would do anything to earn more even to the extend of exploiting the wildlife.

Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) are common predators in our mangroves. They are sociable mammals, comical and at times can be quite aggressive. These monkeys move in groups as they forage in the mangroves for young seedlings, mangroves vegetation, crabs and snails. In the mangroves, hunting time for such animals very often depends on the tide condition. Macaques are mostly active searching for food during low tides where they are able to reach further to the mudflats and hunt for their favourite crustaceans.

Most people love monkeys particularly the tourists. It is very common that they would ask to see these cute primates prior to hopping onto such nature excursions.

Macaques usually move about in the mangroves in search of food. There are days when they are around and there are days that they are not.  Therefore, to please these tourists, the unethical operators/guides have resorted to unhealthy practice of feeding the macaques to ensure that they are always around in the same area.

Here is the exciting part. MACAQUES CAN SWIM! “What? Are you sure? How?” a tourist asked in disbelief.

The unethical operators/guides would demonstrate how you can make macaques swim. Chuck the food in the water and see what they will do. 

In addition, here is their "bullying" way to see the macaques swim for a distance. Invite one or two on your boat by luring them with food.

Then the boat will move away from the shore for a distance. Then you can force it to jump into the water like a pirate pushing the victim off the ship. 

Man Overboard! or "Macaque Overboard"!

You can be one of the merciless spectators enjoying the act of the macaque dog paddling to the shore. And while you are at it, you might as well video the whole scene too!

What a cunning way to earn more tips from the tourists! The monkeys get a dunking to get some food, the tourists are happy and the unethical operators or guides are surely happy and spurred to keep up this ruthless practice to pocket extra ringgits.

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News from Singapore on Dolphin Project in Awana Porto Malai

This dolphin project news was highlighted to Ria of Wild Shores of Singapore blog and indeed this news is not new at all. 

In December 2008, Eleven Solomon dolphins were reported to be sent to Resorts World Sentosa Island of Singapore and more are coming. Prior to arriving to Singapore, these dolphins were sent to Philippines to undergo trainings. Wonderfully, there are activist groups who are strongly against this dolphin trade and the battle is still on. 

Read more on Ria's reports on dolphins in Resort World at this link.

I must admit that the source I received with regards to this project came from a worker at site. When he mentioned the dolphins are coming from America, I was doubtful. After reading some of the reports, this has led me to wonder:

1) If those dolphins were really from America or Solomon Islands, why bother bringing these dolphins all the way up north to Langkawi?? It is a huge distance!

2) Resorts World Sentosa and Awana Porto Malai are both under the same umbrella ie. Genting Groups of Malaysia. Now you see the link! Probably the waters in Langkawi is more conducive than the waters near Sentosa Island to perform the acclimatisation program?

3) Will some of these dolphins go to Langkawi's Underwater World too?? I hope not!

This is an old debate about of having wild dolphins in captivity for educational purpose and seeing them in the wild. Education is important and this is why homo sapiens set up zoos. Where do we draw the line? What I really despise most is when dolphins are exploited for entertainment purpose! Just like our long-tailed macaques in our mangroves!

It is best to see them in the wild like this: Langkawi's Indo-Pacific dolphins Caught in video

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