The Digger and The Waver. Also the Cutter...?

The digger and the waver I'm refering to is the crustacean that can be found on our mudflats of the mangroves forest. Most crustaceans are diggers. They dig into the mud to make tunnels while aerating the soil at the same time. What about the waver? Ever wonder which crustacean family that does the waving? Fiddler crab (Family: ocypodidae, Genus: uca). Particularly the male that has only one abnormally enlarged claw. A female doesn't have the large one. Depending on the waving action, it may be a display of courtship or even a territory defense.

So, what about being a cutter? If you are curious to find out, click on this link (please be patient with lots of shaking at the beginning and is not a HD movie. I'm aiming to buy a camera with a HD video...soon) :

What you had just watched was a uca vocan cutting a piece of mud to close the burrow when the tide was rising up. Once the burrow closed, the fiddler crab did some patching work so it helped to seal it from water. As a result, the air will be trapped within the tunnel and the fiddler crab will be able to survive till next low tide.

With the right timing, some patience and then a perfect cut. I wonder how he did it without having to measure. Wow, nature is awesome!

I wonder why homosapiens claim themselves as superior and clever...? Where did that come from, huh?

Here is an information posted on how a fiddler eyes work. Click :

http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2009/10/eye-of-fiddler.html

And here is another information on how a female fiddler crab has the ability to defend her territory how-do-girl-fiddler-crabs-defend.

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Question that A Layman Asks

It was one of those dreadful mornings when I had to attend this sort of irrelevant morning briefings. One of the issues brought up was the cleanliness of the resort's beach. As usual, normal garbage and lots of logs.

So, this boss asked me loudly, "So, where those logs came from?" All eyes turned to me.

As this is just being me, I can be plain blunt and direct, so I replied, "Trees". Everyone burst into laughter. I heard the boss mumbled, "... a stupid answer for a stupid question..." . Yup, who is being silly here. If a person would realise that rubbish on the beach will eventually return to the sea at high tide and float to another beach. Then such person would not have asked such question. How will I know where the logs would come from when they are not tagged and monitored by a GPS? They obviously came from tress. There are trees on the limestone hills and next to the hills will be the sea.

I didn't mean to tease him. Well, a straight forward answer for a straight forward question. Point blank. I knew he didn't like it. There goes my bonus this year.

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Waiting for a star to fall... la,la,la,la,la...

Langkawi experienced the wettest week of the year (forth week of August). Continous rainfall for two to three days has resulted in severe flood at Pantai Cenang, Nyior Cabang and also Bon Ton Resort. Some roads were flooded. A couple of cars were swept away to the drain by the strong current. My mechanic has towed two cars from Cenang. Aida has to fix two new car registration plates within the same week because they broke from her car pushing against the current of the flood.

Even the island's paddy fields in Ulu Melaka were devastated by the flood. More pricey rice next year? According to the locals, this has never happened before or maybe for a long time. Could this be the effect of climate change?

So far, I yet to hear any lost of lives or huge damage.

However, these images here caught my attention since months ago. These pictures were taken at the junction of the highway to Padang Matsirat and Kedawang as at 31st August 2009. Since months ago till today, it has been almost the same.

This picture was taken on one side of the highway.


This was taken on the opposite side of the highway.

When zoomed in, you can see huge boulders were exposed and a tree standing solo in the center.

At this moment, the hill is still intact. Strange how the slope was cut and there is no sign of further development? Or the owner is selling the soil from his land? If that's true, why do the relevant authorities allow it to be done in such a risky manner? For how long can the slope holds?

The image shown here that there is no safety measures done on the slope or even below to prevent an incident to happen. Is a matter of time, isn't it? If Langkawi experiences another heavy rainfall and even worse than those days, wha-lah... you can imagine what will happen..

My well wishes to those people living in the houses below.

Malaysian style, i guess. Action will be taken only after an incident happens. Just like the Highland Towers incident. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Towers_collapse

They don't learn, do they?

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Odonata Expert In Langkawi

Someone that I know here who is so crazy about odonata goes "hunting" for them where ever she is and whenever she has the opportunities to do so.

Want to know more about odonatas particularly the species in Langkawi?

What is odonata?

What is so special about odonata?

If you want the answers to the above questions, simply click on this link:

http://mandysmlee.multiply.com/

I personally like the species Rhyothemis phyllis as shown in the Mandy's pictures gallery. It looked like a mutation of a butterfly to an odonata or vice versa...?

Hey Mandy, can you help id this odonata too? This pretty odonata in red skirt was taken in Templer's Park, Selangor. Lady in red or maybe is a male :)

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Over here... Kitty, Kitty

What in the world is that animal doing here inLangkawi? I couldn't believe it until M showed me the images she has taken. One of our favourite hobbies is to "slither" away into nice looking trails to take pictures or simply to explore. The famous proverb "Curiosity kills the cat" but M's curiosity found a cat! And is not some ordinary cat!

The cat was hidden behind some bushes on the trail. She managed to sneak quietly behind the bushes and caught the images. M's first thought when she noticed the chain was "Oh Shit.."

The interesting part was it has a short metal chain around it's neck. Attached to the short metal chain was a thin piece of nylon looking rope. Nylon looking rope! Can that hold such super strength tiger?? And the best part was the tiger was not in the cage!

What if that thin rope snapped? Whooaaahhahhhaa... tourists for dinner? Is next to Telaga Tujuh anyway and is peak season now. Sorry, I cannot review the exact location here. Because only M knows.

These questions came into our mind. Who brought the tiger here? How did it pass through the Jabatan Kastam? Any permit to allow that? And why that permit was allowed? How long has it been there!?

M made a call to Perhilitan today and was told that this tiger has a permit to be here and CAGED! What? Why? Why? Well, they said they will check.

The island is not capable to have a zoo to house this poor little tiger! Why allowed such permit? Bloody irresponsible "tong-tong people"!

First was the little Jumbo at the Langkawi cable car Oriental Village and now a huge Kitty next to the Oriental Village. What in the world these "tong-tong brain" people are thinking? Money sucking into their pockets, of course! What if the tiger escapes and starts preying into the kampungs for the cows? Also, what the tourists would think of us when Malaysia preached about tiger conservation.

Anyone wants to bet which park this tiger is going to next? How can we send this tiger back to where it belongs - into the wild?

Thank you very much to M for sharing her images.

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Little Budgerigar - RIP

I went back to the breakfast area today to look for this little birdie.

Please look at this link for picture:

http://wchinner.blogspot.com/2009/07/odd-among-common.html

The server told me that this little Budgerigar was found dead about couple of weeks ago in the guest restroom. Such a pity. It was always the attraction for the guests at the breakfast area. Wonder if it was happier being in the cage where there are bountiful of food, warm and comfort? There is always a price to pay for freedom. Nothing is free in this world.

Having said that, I'm reflecting on this to myself. Yes, I was in a fantastic comfort zone while I was still in the IT banking sector before switching to this industry. Yes, there is freedom. Freedom to pursue my passion and yes, I have to pay a price for it. Huge paycut, smaller perks and less budget for travelling. Thankfully, unlike the little Budgerigar which was meant to be a caged bird and I wasn't destined to be "caged". Yet, I'm still searching for that specific freedom...

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