Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

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Ruxs
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Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

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This trip had been a long time in the making, but on July the 8th, after watching Brazil take a 7-1 battering from Germany in the semi-finals of the World Cup, my very cheerful German friend Moritz and I went to sleep in the knowledge that it would be our last night in England for a while. So, the next morning, we headed to Heathrow airport and boarded the first Qatar airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur. It felt great to be back in Malaysia, where for Asiatic standards the rainforest is very well preserved, but then again homosexuality is a punishable offence, so we occasionally had to hide Moritz in the trunk of the car. Joking, but that little bit of banter summed up the atmosphere of the trip for the most part, although in this write-up I'll try to stick to the serpents and story as much as possible.

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After one night of city life, it was time to pick up the third and final member of the crew, Rich Browning, and hit the road. The point of this trip was essentially to have a great time and photograph some cool snakes, but I knew that a fair amount of time would be spent taking notes and creating theories on a project I'm working on, currently titled 'Why there are more fossorial snakes closer to the equator.' I planned to be looking particularly at the genus Calamaria, a little known one (consisting of many rare species) that's always fascinated me, particularly how the density of species in this genus increases the closer to the equator you get. Furthermore, I'd be analysing soil, temperature, humidity, prey and other geological factors to try and piece together the puzzle. However, we felt like we'd hit an obstacle as soon as the trip started: the dry! Until our very last day in Malaysia, it literally didn't rain once - a bad sign for fossorials. However, hard work and determination payed off as always, particularly at our first destination, Bukit Fraser.
(En-route)
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Fraser's Hill is a station/village situated amongst sub-montane rainforest at 1,250m above see level. Extremely popular with bird watchers, it's also my favourite herping destination in the world. Amazing mountain temperatures, great roads and great jungle trails with an intense biodiversity including all those rare mountain dwelling species as well as a few less uncommon ones. Not to mention my friend and shop owner, Siva, always lets us rent a luxurious holiday apartment for less than the cheapest hotel going. Yeah, it's a good life. (Dammed lake at the base of the hill):Image
The three of us were all extremely excited and eager to get herping, maybe too eager as we decided we should stop at every waterfall on the way up the hill. This usually would have been a good idea, but at this point neither Rich or I had anticipated the wrath of Moritz's terrible driving, and at the very first waterfall he reversed the car right onto some boulders... yep, the adventure had begun already! At first we thought we were safe, but then someone noticed a unnervingly consistent flow of oil coming from beneath the car. There was no way it could be considered a good idea to stop where we were, it was up or nothing. So, each equally nervous, we powered up the hill, only briefly stopping for a DOR Boiga cynodon and very fresh Orthriophis t. ridleyi. The loss of gearbox oil was resulting in some very unpleasant sounds in the last leg, but with great relief, we pulled up to our apartment complex and parked. However, our celebrations were quickly halted by an extremely chubby and angry Malay who insisted we couldn't park where we did and that there was no way we could be staying in the complex. It was somewhat satisfying to watch him fume as we showed that we couldn't start our car anymore and it would have to be stuck there for a while - serves him right for not letting us in. On the down side, we had to do a lot of walking that evening.

That was okay though, because evenings at Bukit Fraser are beautiful. They start with the steady rolling in of clouds and mist which engulf the treetops and peaks. On this particular evening, the clouds decided to turn purple, casting an eerie light over the colonial british buildings and ruins scattered amongst the unforgiving forest, slowly swallowing them. Image

Having told stories of great grandeur non-stop to Moritz and Rich on the way to Bukit Fraser, I was extremely nervous that the lack of rain or just bad luck would leave us with nothing in the way of snakes, but I didn't have to worry for long as, literally 1 minute into the first trail, we found our first snake of the trip which was, surprisingly, a new one for me!

Mirkwood Forest Slug Snake (Asthenodipsas lasgalenensis), described in 2013 by Loredo, Wood, Quah, Anuar, Ahmad and Grismer. Similar to Asthenodipsas vertebralis, this species lacks the vertebral stripe and banding on the flanks, as well as being genetically different. Image

One thing that changed in the time that I spent away from Asia was my appreciation for in-situ shots, which I took at every available opportunity during this trip, except when we road cruised or had to make a hasty grab for a snake. I insisted that this one be shot in-situ, which led to a lot of crawling about in the dirt and bushes, especially for my above shot. You can see why here:Image

Due to my new in-situ shot interest, I kept the 18-200 zoom lens equipped at almost all times during this trip, which led to me being able to photograph lots of snakes I'd usually have to catch in order to get a shot of. For example, when I saw this familiar and very welcome sight, high up on a bank, I was able to get a picture for once.

Peninsular Pit-Viper (Trimeresurus fucata):Image
Since it was the first the boys had seen, I fished it down with my new hook (courtesy of Tom Charlton of Eco-Animal Encounters) and we got a closer look.Image

Checking the banks of the Jeriau waterfall road and taking walks up streams which cross underneath the road yielded one more snake I was able to shoot in-situ thanks to my 18-200 lens.

Oriental Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina):Image

And finally, along a stream we turned up an amazing species of mountain agamid which I'd never seen before: Bell's Anglehead (Gonocephalus belli)Image
Again, due to 18-200mm lens, I was able to photograph many cool lizards, frogs and mammals in-situ. However, were I to include them in this post, the size of it would be simply ridiculous, so I'll only include the ones with the upmost significance to me personally.

Anyway, with aching legs from about 16km of walking that evening, we returned to our apartment with the intention to relish in the first night's success and sleep in the next morning.

Lounge area of our apartment (Rich's Photo):Image

When the next day arrived, we spent the majority of the day sorting out finance, the car and other things we'd put off doing for the sake of herping the previous day. Then, come nightfall, the car rental company brought us our new vehicle - considerably better! Not that we needed it on this particular occasion though, as I had arranged to meet Malaysian herper Steven Wong for a night of hunting around the hill in his car. I didn’t really know what to expect from Steven, but he turned out to be an extremely friendly and humorous dude who seemed to enjoy all our banter and all my stories of herping in Malaysia, as did I appreciate his. Despite it being a full moon night, we encountered a couple snakes on the road, the first being one of the most significant and rare finds of the trip. Steven got out and looked at it first, and called out ‘Cylindrophis!’. I heard this, stopped, took a look around at the ferns and dipterocarp trees which dominate submontane forests and immediately knew that something wasn’t right. Sure enough, as I walked over to take a close look, I recognised it as a member of one genus I really didn’t expect to see…well…ever. We tentatively identified it as Anomochilis leonardi, but since this is a significant herpetological discovery, I can't go into any more detail until the paper is published.

Is it a Pipe Snake or is it a Blind Snake? The Genus Anomochilis has two common names, the Giant Blind Snakes or the Dwarf Pipe Snakes, so obviously nobody can make up their mind on the matter...
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This strange genus of snake (consisting of three species) appears to have two common names, the Giant Blind Snakes or the Dwarf Pipe Snakes, and you can see why right?!

Not too long after, my experienced road cruising eyes came into play and I spotted a worm sized snake cruising down the centre of the road. Nobody else saw it, but luckily we straddled it so I quickly jumped out and detained a cute Calamria schlegelli. This species is quite common up at the hill, but nobody except me had seen one before so we were all pleased, for me mainly because of its significance to the project on fossorial snakes.Image

Atmospheric shot of the guys (from left to right: Steven, Moritz, Rich) admiring the snake beneath the car headlights:Image

Again, the last find of the night was a Ahaetulla prasina, this time nice and large, which we found sleeping by the hill's iconic abandoned golf clubhouse. Image

So, despite the full moon conditions, the first two nights turned out to be pretty damn productive. The next morning rolled around so we had photographed the Anomochilis in a better area than the road from the night before and said goodbye to Steven. With lots of time to kill in the daylight, Moritz, Rich and I spent our time out walking the roads, trails, and abandoned houses, one of the most interesting finds being the endemic skink to Fraser's Hill which had escaped last time I found it.
Sphenomorphus bukitensis:Image

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During these daytime walks at Fraser's, we'd also occasionally encounter these pretty cool Blotched Forest Skinks (Sphenomorphus praesignis), a montane species considered uncommon. They weren't particularly hard to find, but were extremely skittish and I only once managed to get a good photo before it shot back into its burrow.Image

Eventually, in the late afternoon, Rich spotted a lovely Peninsular Pit-Viper (Trimeresurus fucata) deep in a drainage pit. Quite an intimidating snake to get in such a tight space with, but it hardly reacted to our presence.Image

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It was a great day of long walks but we'd encountered a serious problem with dying torches and were restricted to driving that night. However, whether it was to do with jet-lag or the amount of walking done during the day (probably both), we found ourselves practically falling asleep in the car by 11pm and wrapped up soon after, actually getting skunked for snakes! Now, three nights into the trip and running out of time at my favourite location, I couldn't handle getting skunked so I forced myself up at 7:30 the next morning and set out into the mist as my companions slept.
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This was the first time I'd walked Fraser's in the early morning since my first trip there where I got skunked by night a couple times; morning walks had been flawless at turning up snakes then, but after walking about 4km down the hill, I wasn't feeling so optimistic. However, one of my better attributes when it comes to herping is I don't give up until my legs start to die or I'm successful, so, about another kilometre downhill, I spotted something move in the leaf litter piled on the bank of the road. I could see the colours but honestly didn't believe it until I got closer and it burst out of the leaves and began ploughing up the bank. Even when I was hooking the snake I didn't quite believe what I had found. It just seemed to perfect that my hard work and perseverance would turn up my number one target for not just this location, but the entire trip. Finally, when I had tired it out a bit, I accepted what I had found.

Blue Coral Snake (Calliophis bivirgata flaviceps):Image

Shortly after taking a few vouchers like the shot above, I bagged it and practically ran the 6km back up to the apartment where I woke the lads up by saying that I'd brought them an early birthday and christmas present. I don't even need to talk about the colours, do I? Image

This was almost certainly the most significant find of the trip to me - one I'll certainly never forget.Image

I also caught this cute little reed snake, Macrocalamus chanardi, while out walking in the morning by myself.Image

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This adorable little snake concluded our serpentine finds from Bukit Fraser, and we were more than chuffed. So, later that day, we began the seven hour journey to the very north of Malaysia where we planned to stay a couple nights at Kuala Nerang, a location that had been extremely prolific the last time I was there.
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Unfortunately, this time, things were nowhere near as active and on the first night it seemed like mammals were, hilariously, completely trumping the herps. First we walked up on this one-eyed Slow Loris:Image

Then we encountered this crazy Pangolin (Manis javanica) which simply refused to ball up. It was great to see another Pangolin at this location, considering it's conservational status has recently been updated to Critically Endanged.Image

In the end, whilst Rich and I hiked up a small stream with only one working torch between us, we walked up on a pretty unmissable snake, cruising amongst some rocks on the stream bank. Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus):Image

This particular species is agonisingly difficult to photograph and considering all three of us wanted good pictures, this had potential to be quite a long shoot. Luckily, having three people also means more hands to help pose. Funnily enough, I shot my favourite photo while it was on the move: Image

Despite the lack of snakes (I only saw one Ptyas sp. shooting away during the day), Kuala Nerang/Tasik Pedu is a beautiful place. Here are a few photos I shot by the lake where we would herp by night:Image

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And here's a couple photos of the stream area which we would walk by night. We figured it would be the most prolific place due to the lack of rain, as well as being the place we'd most likely find our way back, unlike the trails! Image

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After the sun set on our final night, we encountered a snake which remained extremely popular with the crew throughout the trip.

Dog-Toothed Cat Snake (Boiga cynodon): Image

Although slow and gentle, this snake is one of the world's largest nocturnal snakes and often reaches over 2 meters in length. The name also derives from the size of its teeth, which I haven't yet experienced the wrath of despite handling close to 20 of these during my time out east. It's size as well as it's seemingly curious deposition lead this snake to being very popular with the crew - this specimen was about 180-200cm in length. Image

Our only plans for the next day was to drive to Penang Island, meet my herpetologist friend Evan Quah for dinner, and get some good sleep as we needed to be up at 4am the next day in order to catch our flight, so that was supposed to wrap up our somehow short lived time in Peninsular Malaysia. However, once we sat down at a lovely suburban food court and got talking about herping together, we thought we might as well head out for a quick walk at a herping spot Evan knew.

My facial expression reflecting the pre-herping buzz of anticipation and expectation (Moritz's Photo): Image

We managed to turn up nice Island Wolf Snake (Lycodon capucintus) as well as some introduced Indo-Chinese Water Dragons (Physignathus cocincinus) and Penang Bent-Toed Geckos (Cyrtodactylus pulchellus) - the true pulchellus in the complex which was recently split into several different species.

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Inevitably, these finds weren't enough so we decided to head over to another part of the island to hunt the stinking, mosquito infested mud flats and mangroves interspersed with abandoned jetties and other structures, what they once were concealed by the mud which slowly engulfed the wood and concrete, well aware that this meant we wouldn't be sleeping much longer that 2 hours that night. Still, it was totally worth it as I found a fascinating species a snake which I'd never seen before.

Crab-Eating Mangrove Snake (Fordonia leucobalia):Image

My favourite aspect of this encounter was when we poured some bottled water over the snake to clean it of mud, it immediately began drinking and didn't stop for over a minute. This was just another reminder of how dry it had been in Malaysia and also how this species has no contact with fresh water unless it rains. Drinking:Image

A very happy Rich, Evan and I with the two specimens we managed to acquire (Moritz's photo):Image

Alas, that ended our time in Peninsular Malaysia but no way had we got enough herping done with Evan so we scheduled a second meeting on our return to Penang, and set off at 4am that morning (2 hours after Evan dropped us off at our hotel) for two weeks in Borneo!

Why sleep when you can herp?
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Thanks a lot for reading, part 2 (Borneo) coming soon...
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LouB747
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by LouB747 »

Blue Coral, enough said.
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LouB747
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by LouB747 »

Seriously, what a great trip. Congrats on the Blue Coral. They are such amazing snakes. You describing it coming out of the leaf litter is a familiar sight to me. A sight that will never get old. I'm back in Blue Coral country Oct 22nd, can't wait!

All the best,

Lou
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krisbell
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by krisbell »

Great, witty, informative post as usual Rupert. You did well at Bukit Fraser. I have only been there once for 3 nights but I have never had to work so hard to find so few snakes in my entire life.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

krisbell wrote:Great, witty, informative post as usual Rupert.
Yes! Congrats on your blue coral - I learned how you longed for it from your previous posts, so that surely must have been great.
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fickle-minder
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by fickle-minder »

Killer post! You finally found C. bivirgatus flaviceps. I already have a rough idea of how part 2's gonna be like, but I'm pretty sure you've got much more in store. So surprise me!

Also. Very interesting L. capucinus you got there. Most of them found elsewhere are very blotchy and speckled. Very embarrassing, cos' it's supposed to be a common snake in Singapore. But.... I haven't even seen one for myself, let alone photograph one. :oops:
dendrelaphis
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by dendrelaphis »

Absolutely wonderful stuff, it makes me want to leave right away. Realy looking forward to the Borneo part!
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Bravissimo!
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Curtis Hart
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Curtis Hart »

Excellent trip. That pangolin would be the highlight for me. Great job!!
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Martti Niskanen
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Martti Niskanen »

Very nice. Pretty intense for two weeks. Looking forward to the second post.
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Ruxs
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Ruxs »

Martti Niskanen wrote:Very nice. Pretty intense for two weeks. Looking forward to the second post.
It was actually only 8 nights, and I didn't feel we turned up anywhere near as much as we could have! haha. Still, it was quality over quantity in my opinion - I'd trade the Anomochilus and the Blue Coral for 50+ other snakes anyway...
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JEDDLV
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by JEDDLV »

I always look forward to your posts Rupert. Can't wait to see what you come up with next time.
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orionmystery
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by orionmystery »

Very ncie, Rupert. Blue Coral, Anomochilus and pangolins...grrr....where's that awesome shot of blue coral on mossy trunk?

Any update on the Anomochilus? Which species?
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Ruxs
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Ruxs »

orionmystery wrote:Very ncie, Rupert. Blue Coral, Anomochilus and pangolins...grrr....where's that awesome shot of blue coral on mossy trunk?

Any update on the Anomochilus? Which species?
Thanks Kurt,

The Anomochilus is with Evan who's wrapping up his PHD right now, he should be able to give me an update soon.
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Azemiops
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Azemiops »

Good to see you finally got this up! Great read and i'm looking forward to part 2.
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Ruxs
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Ruxs »

Azemiops wrote:Good to see you finally got this up! Great read and i'm looking forward to part 2.
Cheers Tom, part 2 is in the works!
dendrelaphis
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by dendrelaphis »

Love the red Coral snake. I myself have never found one in spite of spending a total of one year in SE Asia )-:

Seems that you are working on a very interesting Calamaria-issue. Besides fysical factors, will you look at biotic factors (e.g. absence of certain competitors which may be present in areas where calamaria is less speciose)?
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Ruxs
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by Ruxs »

dendrelaphis wrote:Love the red Coral snake. I myself have never found one in spite of spending a total of one year in SE Asia )-:

Seems that you are working on a very interesting Calamaria-issue. Besides fysical factors, will you look at biotic factors (e.g. absence of certain competitors which may be present in areas where calamaria is less speciose)?
Don't feel bad, it also took me over a 12 months worth of trips to SE Asia to get this one.

I haven't gone in-depth for competitors specifically yet, but biotic factors such as competitors and trophic links were both crucial to how we determined the answer.
dendrelaphis
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Re: Asia Adventure 2014 Part 1: West Malaysia

Post by dendrelaphis »

Well, I'm looking forward to seeing your paper
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