Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

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Ruxs
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Ruxs »

Azemiops wrote:
Ruxs wrote:I'm curious, did you ID that 'little reed snake' then Tom? I just arrived in Bukit Fraser, I found it hilarious that this Indian guy in the shop mentioned you guys when I told him we were here for snakes!
The herping conditions are less than optimal but we'll see if we can turn something up. Did you walk the roads or did you use a car?
I briefly looked into it, and although a 100% positive, i'm quite sure it is a very young variable reed snake, Calamaria lumbricoidea.

The Indian guy who owns the shop always seemed very interested in what we were finding each time we visited Bukit Fraser, although he wife was never quite so friendly!

Whats the weather like up there at the moment? We had little to no rain, and very cool evenings during our time there. We didn't have a car, and spent much of our time trekking along the many tracks through the rainforest, and a bit of time on the roads.
Ahh, I thought they were a mimic of the Blue Coral when young? And yeah, the Indian guy always asked to see the pics of what we found and told us he used to catch snakes when he was young, awesome! I really laughed when you mentioned the Chinese wife...not the most cheerful soul... :lol:
Weather wise, the first night was cold, wet and didn't yield sh!t. However the next two days it cleared up nicely and I walked a couple snakes on the main road down. Next night yielded nothing but fresh DORs but on the last night we cruised a cool P. Fucata. Due to a lorry blocking the road we might stay one more night and get the target Calliophis birvigata flaviceps. Although this is supposed to be the slow time of year and I ain't even seen a DOR C. B. Flaviceps :(
Did you find any snakes on the trails? We walk them during the day and never see anything.
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Nshepard
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Nshepard »

Damn! Outstanding post. Rarely does a post on here capture my attention as this one did! Very cool. Okay, its on my map of places to go.

Your photography is outstanding as well.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Yes, the editing function seems to have vanished. Why?
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Azemiops
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Ruxs wrote:
Azemiops wrote:
Ruxs wrote:I'm curious, did you ID that 'little reed snake' then Tom? I just arrived in Bukit Fraser, I found it hilarious that this Indian guy in the shop mentioned you guys when I told him we were here for snakes!
The herping conditions are less than optimal but we'll see if we can turn something up. Did you walk the roads or did you use a car?
I briefly looked into it, and although a 100% positive, i'm quite sure it is a very young variable reed snake, Calamaria lumbricoidea.

The Indian guy who owns the shop always seemed very interested in what we were finding each time we visited Bukit Fraser, although he wife was never quite so friendly!

Whats the weather like up there at the moment? We had little to no rain, and very cool evenings during our time there. We didn't have a car, and spent much of our time trekking along the many tracks through the rainforest, and a bit of time on the roads.
Ahh, I thought they were a mimic of the Blue Coral when young? And yeah, the Indian guy always asked to see the pics of what we found and told us he used to catch snakes when he was young, awesome! I really laughed when you mentioned the Chinese wife...not the most cheerful soul... :lol:
Weather wise, the first night was cold, wet and didn't yield sh!t. However the next two days it cleared up nicely and I walked a couple snakes on the main road down. Next night yielded nothing but fresh DORs but on the last night we cruised a cool P. Fucata. Due to a lorry blocking the road we might stay one more night and get the target Calliophis birvigata flaviceps. Although this is supposed to be the slow time of year and I ain't even seen a DOR C. B. Flaviceps :(
Did you find any snakes on the trails? We walk them during the day and never see anything.
You're right, it was actually Calamaria pavimentata we had discussed as an ID, and even that is doubtful. Unfortunately I didn't get many shots that would aid in doing a scale count, so a positive ID is unlikely.

We picked up several snakes along the trails, but always at night. The blue coral snakes were found on the edges of the roads - we found three live corals and one DOR - the live ones were always found on the edge of the road and I doubt they would have been spotted if we were in a car, so walking is the best option. Try the road that leads down to Jeriau waterfall at night, as there will be a lot less cars moving up and down that road than the main roads in and out of Bukit Fraser.
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Ruxs
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Ruxs »

Azemiops wrote:
You're right, it was actually Calamaria pavimentata we had discussed as an ID, and even that is doubtful. Unfortunately I didn't get many shots that would aid in doing a scale count, so a positive ID is unlikely.

We picked up several snakes along the trails, but always at night. The blue coral snakes were found on the edges of the roads - we found three live corals and one DOR - the live ones were always found on the edge of the road and I doubt they would have been spotted if we were in a car, so walking is the best option. Try the road that leads down to Jeriau waterfall at night, as there will be a lot less cars moving up and down that road than the main roads in and out of Bukit Fraser.
I was hoping I might find the same reed snake so I could scale count and so forth, however, no such luck. I wish I could herp with people like you, my dad does well for his age but there is no way he could hike trails and roads at night, I do a fair bit alone but that is always risky and difficult. We have unfortunately left now but will definitely make a trip back for the missed Blue Coral. Despite that, we found and saw some cool (and tragic) things so I'll hopefully get the post up soon.
Cheers for the advice anyway,
Rupert.
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Roki
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Roki »

Incredible trip and amazing posts! I thoroughly enjoyed you sharing. I am hoping to make it down there in the next year or two. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Dr. Dark
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Dr. Dark »

EPIC doesn't even BEGIN to cover this post Tom!!! I am literally stunned (and SO jealous)!
steve
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by steve »

WOW!!! That is all
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krisbell
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by krisbell »

Azemiops wrote:I believe this was the first time I have ever seen one actually travelling up the road as appose to across!

Thanks,

Tom
I too have almost never seen a snake travelling up/along a road rather than across. Likewise the vast majority of snakes I see are in transit when crossing a road. These two things for me pretty much rubbish the well known mantra that snakes like to sit on roads at night and warm from the road's residual heat.
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TravisK
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by TravisK »

krisbell wrote:
Azemiops wrote:I believe this was the first time I have ever seen one actually travelling up the road as appose to across!

Thanks,

Tom
I too have almost never seen a snake travelling up/along a road rather than across. Likewise the vast majority of snakes I see are in transit when crossing a road. These two things for me pretty much rubbish the well known mantra that snakes like to sit on roads at night and warm from the road's residual heat.

You guys are are making the cogs in my head start to spin. I will have to try and remember to stay back a ways on road cruised snake and just observe for a while. In Washington State many road cruised snake species are often stopped on the road having a pancake appearance like they are 'trying' to absorb stored radiant energy form the blacktop. Thinking back though, all those that looked like they were gleaning heat were perpendicular to the road direction.

Does anyone know of any studies done on this kind of behavior? It would be an interesting read and maybe help with behavior models in the field.
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chrish
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by chrish »

Epic post for sure...although this line had me scratching my head....
Ridely's cave racer, Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi, found late one morning inside an abandoned golf club.
DAMN! That must have been a skinny snake. I've never thought about looking for snakes in a golf club. With a club, yes,...but not in.
I figured it out eventually. :lol:
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