Nature

Goshawk · May 28, 2015

^ haven't been in Phuket for a good few year now . . . but one encounter that i vaguely remember was at Laem Prom Thep, a guy with a couple of huge birds of prey perched on the back of his pick up hawking (no pun intended) for tourist photo opp $£$£.... Can't remember exactly what they were . . . possibly eagles, could've been kite's, maybe buzzards.

Are those guys still touting around there ?

sunshine51 · May 29, 2015

Pekka...the pic is really nice but the subject matter is horrible. Hence no like from me.

These folks who sell loris and any other wild animal to tourists or get tourists to pose

with the animal should be detained by relevant authorities and taught another

"profession"...as the least punishment. The loris is nocturnal by nature and most

likely scared shitless being shown around on the beach in daylight. And they have

a toxic bite which is a reason their front teeth are usually cut or pulled before being

sold or allowed to interact with tourista's.

Scum of the earth that loris vendor.

The Loris sellers used to be all over Jakarta & Bali & other places tourista's flocked

to in Indonesia. Then the givernment had a crackdown which only made the sellers

disappear for some time. In other words...a failure.

What you did by making the report was a good thing...Bravo!

Edited May 29, 2015 by sunshine51

Mousehound · May 30, 2015

Crawling up the toilet wall one afternoon at Mae Wong National Park

c piller mw.JPG

Next morning it had morphed into this.

c piller mw. next.JPG

We left that day so didn't see where, or what, to from there.

This may be a rare sighting indeed. A are butterfly: Acrea issoria sordice. The Yellow Coster. They have, as far as I know only been recorded in Northern Thailand but are known in Laos and Northern India. They have the longest larval stage of any known butterfly in Thailand - 5-6 months.

I recognise it from the Butterfly farm in Chiang Mai where they breed them. They are, I am told, only now regularly found on Doi Suthep.

So you may have made an important find!

shaggy1969 · June 2, 2015

Safe in Mothers arms.

AjarnNorth · June 4, 2015

One of four reticulated pythons I have caught and relocated from my house/yard in Bangsaen, Chonburi to a safer and more hospitable environment. This one i didn't get until the a day or two after these shots were taken.

Robby nz · June 4, 2015

Crawling up the toilet wall one afternoon at Mae Wong National Park

c piller mw.JPG

Next morning it had morphed into this.

c piller mw. next.JPG

We left that day so didn't see where, or what, to from there.

This may be a rare sighting indeed. A are butterfly: Acrea issoria sordice. The Yellow Coster. They have, as far as I know only been recorded in Northern Thailand but are known in Laos and Northern India. They have the longest larval stage of any known butterfly in Thailand - 5-6 months.

I recognise it from the Butterfly farm in Chiang Mai where they breed them. They are, I am told, only now regularly found on Doi Suthep.

So you may have made an important find!

There were several of the same caterpillar around in the same place so not that uncommon there.

Robby nz · June 4, 2015

Almost hidden in the dead leaves.

Until it opened its wings.

Indian Oakleaf.

AjarnNorth · June 6, 2015

Here are some of the many snakes (and one monitor) I've caught and relocated from our yard here in Chonburi to local forest areas and etc. Reticulated pythons - this one ate a kitten we had recently adopted (or rather just showed up one day and we took it in) - King Cobra (one of a few) - Copperhead Racer (also one of a few) - and a water monitor.

June 6, 2015

@ajarnnorth Those pythons are pretty. Is there a danger to try to catch one with bare hand? I understood that pythons can bite, but they don't have any venom.

I have had couple of encounters with king cobra and those scare the power out of my legs. I'm not sure if I would try to catch them, even with a long pole.

AjarnNorth · June 6, 2015

@ajarnnorth Those pythons are pretty. Is there a danger to try to catch one with bare hand? I understood that pythons can bite, but they don't have any venom.

I have had couple of encounters with king cobra and those scare the power out of my legs. I'm not sure if I would try to catch them, even with a long pole.

The pythons will bite and it will hurt - not poisonous but most that I have caught were big enough that I would not recommend it. In one case I had to ice one down for over an hour before it would let go of the beam it had wrapped around. I already had it roped around the neck but it would not let go and I was not strong enough to peel it off so I would not want that around my neck. I always keep a large knife nearby just in case.The Copperhead Racers are also not venomous but very aggressive and will bite. The cobras will kill you. I'm lucky in that one of my 2 dogs is very good at finding snakes on the property and letting me know where they are. Attached fuzzy jpeg is of me putting the ice under the snake.