Just gorgeous!

Today just outside our house in Bangkok we were taking a stroll. This is what I noticed in a bush. At a quick glance I thought it was just a harmless whip snake but on closer inspection, it had all the markings of a white lipped pit viper. She was just beautiful and allowed me to get within 7 inches of her for this photo. Taken with a low quality digital camera that is inside my Sony Ericson's mobile phone.

Top view 

Been trying to get this guy for weeks, definately the biggest butterfly I have seen. Just to give you an example the flower itself is 4 inches wide 

Rescued this friendly skink from the claws of my cat 

Pretty colour for a moth 

Looked to me, like a Great Horned Owl. 

This guy had an eye on my breakfast 

Down the river 

A 6 inch spider 

Rugged country 

Nice pic of stalactites
 

Exploring a long water filled cave 

Found this beautiful Temple 

Nope not a Tokay Gecko but it is the second large of the Gecko family. Found this fella in a cave. 

About the size and same colour of a Parrot but this is a nector eating bird. Sleeping on a branch. 

The biggest Crested Lizard I have seen. The flash unfortunately takes away from it's stunning green colour. 

I wish I would have got his face..this frog was a as big as my hand and was gorgeous. I forgot to mention that these pics are all in the dark of the night with a flash light and that is why I had a hard time with the focus. 

Looked like a cat snake but not sure....Not being sure I kept my distance 

Sorry the picture is not very clear...It's a Whip snake....I had him but he squirmed and got me on the finger......He did not want to let go!! 

These snakes are beautiful. Venomous but I never let my guard down to give her a chance. 

I took a canoe ride with a local and I caught a reticulated Python and a Mangrove snake 

Mangrove snake up in the tree 

Cool flower 

a refreshing waterfall 

some farm land below 

wild bananas 

nice view from this mountain 

Green Damselfly 

Bullfrog 

skink type lizard 

I have been in the Jungle for a week.....Here are some pics of my adventure......Oh and I did take a bite from a snake......luckily it was non venomous. A little blood nothing more... 

For all of you folks more into the less scary creepy crawlies 

Aaaaah The Praying Mantis! Do you suppose he is saying "What are you looking at?" Here are some interesting facts about the Mantis...The praying mantis is sometimes called the dragon because it is a fierce hunter.
There are about 1,700 varieties of praying mantis.
The two forward legs of the mantis have sharp spines like a jack knife.
The mantis uses its two front legs to attack it's prey.
The mantis females are the among biggest insects.
The latin name of the praying mantis is Tenodera Sinensis.
The female mantis lays up to 300 eggs.
Most mantis live in warm climates.
The mantis will attack butterflies, bees, beetles, frogs, spiders, mice, lizards, and small birds.
The female sometimes eats the male after mating.
The mantis has very good eyesight.
The female mantis can not fly due to all of the eggs in her abdomen.
Mantis nymphs march single file.
When nymphs hunt they eat leafhoppers, aphids, and very small flies.
The mantis sheds its skin twelve times before it is full grown.
The female mantis lays her eggs in the fall.
The mantis nymph is tiny like a mosquito.
The front legs of the nymph have claws for holding their prey.
Praying mantises bite the back of their victim's neck to paralyze it.
 

Happy Birthday Mom

Five years ago now.....time sure goes by fast.  You are always in my thoughts...Miss and love you mom.

 

Your Son

Sad Day!

Hello all

 

I just got back from yet another visa run and this time I went to the union of Myanmar.  After a long 12 hour trip and being peddled and hassled by young boys to purchase cigarettes and Viagra etc, I am glad to be back at home.

 

I have some pics below for you and I will explain why it was a sad drive home.  Two cars ahead of me a large snake was run over by one tire.  The car in front of me missed it entirely as it curled up in a ball. Thank goodness it went between the axles.  I stopped and examined it.  It had an 8 inch wide portion of vertebrae fractured and was hurt critically. (sad)  It was so beautiful. It was alive and suffering at the moment but I figured it had moments left so I made the call not to put it out of it's misery.  After she passed on, I bagged her up and brought her home.  Now what I am about to show you and tell you may gross you out!  Hey that's cool.  I decided that instead of letting her get endlessly run over by other vehicles until she is part of the asphalt, I would make use of her.  I cooked her!  It would have been a waste of good meat.  I was able to get about the same amount as a decent chicken.  Those of you that are hurling about now I should explain that I tried to give her to the locals first, figuring they would cook her as they do most snakes especialy cobras. So in the end my Thai girlfriend at the time said lets eat it and feed are dogs as well. I have eaten many things during my stay in Asia and the Middle East.  To list a few.....Large winged termites ( my favorite by the way...I cook them often and eat them while I watch a good movie), silk worms, many different types of locust, crickets and grasshoppers, Giant water bugs, Scorpions (delicious too)...That should give you an idea.  <<side note>>  Bugs offer you a 90% plus protein intake as opposed to a measly 40 some percent for the meats were mostly used too. 

 

Back to more of why I was sad......While prepping her for cooking, she had 8 large eggs inside.  The loss of her life and then a potential 8 others.  SOB.

Copperhead racers are rear fanged and to humans her venom is mild no more hurtful then a bumble bee sting.  That is if you are not allergic.  They like to be aggressive and show their teeth.  They are a good snake to have as a pet, once they get use to you.  This one was at full maturity and massive.

 

So to end my sad story on a good note.  I shared this delicious offering with Dangmo, KoJow and Kiejiow.  Enjoy the pictures

Copperhead racer or is also called a Radiated Rat Snake. She was over 6 feet long and at least 6 inches around. Beautiful 

8 eggs....Sad they were super premature but at the same time I was relieved that there was no formation inside and they were just like inside the chicken eggs we eat
 

Cooking 

The final product and to be honnest you missed out. Taste just like a great chicken! 

Sorry about the delay!

Been really busy lately so when I get a good chance to write I am all yours.  I did see the fantastic four recently and yes entertaining....I enjoyed it.  Will blog soon     PROMISE

I just had to put this in here..... A dear friend of mine whom I have so much respect for. Shawnee has accomplished so much. Her most recent one is winning gold at the world police and firefighter games in Quebec City in the bench press competition. She is well respected by other fellow firefighters around the country. Way to go Shawnee....We love you! 

Remember the pics of the baby birds about a week ago? Here is one of them, before his first flight....He flew, I was amazed! 

A small but deadly little fella!  

Snakes etc.

Now the next few post that you see here will involve some of the most recent photos of the reptiles I have encountered.

I will stress that you should never try and catch snakes or reptiles if you are not 100% sure of the consequences of being bitten by it.  I have done endless hours of studying before attempting to apprehend these critters. 

I am mostly fascinated by their beauty and will always let them go after observing them.  I started catching snakes when I was just a young boy.  I was bit by a garder snake in New Brunswick, Canada.  I ran home an cried to my mom because it was painful indeed.  Much like a sting from a wasp.  Needless to say, I have never grabbed a snake by the tail again.  My dad taught me lots about snakes and taught me to be friendly and nice to them as they never ever bother us.  My mom was petrified of them.  The following snakes are just the ones that I caught around the house.  I plan on doing some hikes through the jungle soon and getting the pictures of the deadly Pit vipers. 

In this region alone there are over 100 species of snakes.  Identifying them is interesting and involves much more then just seeing their colors.

Mom Tokay! Fierce if cornered. They can bite hard.....Blood you ask? Oh yeah 

Momma Tokay Gecko with her eggs
 

Can you guess what this is?

Can you guess what this is? 

I don't like spiders to much! 

Harliquin Monitor- Can get very big...He was my friend and I was getting closer day by day with some hamburger. Unfortunately some local people decided to end his life for a meal. Sad 

At first glance, you may think this is a small hummingbird. It is a sphinx moth 

Python- Harmless when small, very pretty and can get huge 20 feet plus 

Looks like a leaf? 

This is a Ginka(Thai). He is really a Garden Fence Lizard. They like to bite and can change colors rapidly. Hard to catch 

Golden tree snake again. These guys are considered harmless but man they just keep biting and striking.
 

Golden tree snake in my yard 

This Cobra got scared and hid from me. I waited and he played peek a boo with me. It has a pretty chevron on it's neck. 

Spotted Coral Snake….. Really pretty! With a good pair of gloves on he could not get a hold of me. This is an Elapid species (Proteroglyphs) has fixed front fangs and produces a powerful neurotoxin venom. 47 cm 

Well it's brown!! Took me five hours to catch her. Looks very identical to 3 deadly snakes the Boomslang, Taipan and the Common brown Snake found in Australia. Did not take any chances with this one....She's rear fanged 

Mild venom-Harmless! He his beautiful and able to jump from tree to tree. Considered a flying snake. 130 cm 

The first snake I caught in Thailand...the Red-necked (Asian) Keelback. He is considered venomous and dangerous....130 cm. 

Here is where I live! I have both houses and a great ocean view. Almost an acre of fenced in land for my dogs and a great place to relax! 

I don't know if my cat is likin the laptop or my dog 

Jump Ubu Jump! 

This was just two minutes ago.....I was sitting at my laptop and out the window, a graceful angel of flight landed. I quickly ran out and took the shot. Can anyone tell me his name? If the gorgeous one I sighted last week comes by again, I will definitely get the pic and post it....It would make this one look kind of boring...
 

OMG

Wow that was hardcore!  I have spent hours on end to get the amazing Thailand picture I made up where I wanted it.  I tried doing it with HTML but hey I am just not that up to par with it like you guys.  Give me a few months..lol...

Enduring the aches

I have been sitting at my computer all day. Although I took a couple of breaks to show some people the house I will be renting next door, it finally caught up to me.  My back, my legs, they are all cramped up.  Not complaining though.....I played and played and learned some more about HTML today....the do's and don'ts! 

It was pretty hot here today, we have been having some cool weather lately from the rainy season being upon us.  I will have to go get myself a Thai massage soon.  I will get some pics of that for sure.  Two hours of relaxation for less then 10 bucks.  Gota love that eh! 

 

I had another eye opener today in talking with some UK folks living here for a while.  They tell me of all the taxes etc.  Just to cross London there is a 5 pound charge.  I read on the news last week that the government plans on installing GPS type trackers on all vehicles and charge 3 dollars\Km.  YIKES!!  This supposedly is to curtail the rising amount of road traffic they face.  Gas now is what?  Almost a buck a litre in Canada, now maybe more in some spots.  The UK pays about 12 dollars to a gallon for fuel.  Do the math, I think that's a lot.

 

All this to say that my god the world is getting expensive.  I won't even touch on the rising cost of power.  Fuel here is about half.....most things are half.  Although if I want to run down to the shopping centre where they carry foods much like we eat in Canada, I would be paying much more.  Imagine paying over $ 11.00 CDN for a box of cornflakes two times smaller then you're used to purchasing back home.  Exactly....you guessed it, I eat more rice then a warehouse rat.  I like spicy foods and will eat with the best of them here but it has to be controlled for me.  Bung you up for a month, if you know what I mean!!

 

Now I love McDonalds and yes I did see the movie "Supersize Me"  (Great movie\Documentary) but it is so dam yummy!  I will mention though that a supersize here is about the same size if not smaller then a small order in Canada.  For a number 8 meal (double cheeseburger combo meal), it is 108 baht.  That is...ummm with a 33 cent exchange=$ 3.27.

 

I am do to hit them up this week..I make it a point to go when I take in a movie..Batman Begins.....Crazy in anticipation..........

The view out the back of where I live.......Oh I should post some pics of my house. 

Hungry fellas 

But as I took a closer look where the bird that attacked me came from, this is what I saw 

Today I had the crap scared out of me as I walked by a bush on my property........ 

Some more Aftermath 

Here you have it people! The day after that Christmas party! A clear sunny day, and out of no where a portal opened up and out came a taste of hell.
 

Blogging is fun!

Hey Blogging is fun! You know, I have never kept a diary, or for that matter any kind of a record of my life’s events on paper. I have had so many experiences (haven’t we all) ….Ummmm a hell of a lot, and no album except some photos and what is in my head.

This could get addictive! How am I doing? So far so good?

I just felt I had to post some pics of Xmas and then lead into some of my Tsunami photos.....It's never to late right? Memories are nice to have whether they are good or bad...I made some close friends here, but will never replace my dear friend back in Canada. 

Christmas party at the lighthouse, Chalong Bay 2004 

My pet photos 

My pets

I woke up this morning like I always do! An old guy and I mean old....pushing 7o maybe looking like 102. Well he's a driving his honda 110 cc motorbike with an antique of a side car up past my house. The white dog KohJow (means steamed rice in Thai) lacks some memory as I forcefully tell her everyday to button it, but she just barks until I can't hack it anymore. The old fella stops and gracefully picks some of the weeds off of the side of the road for breakfast. Meanwhile my best friend is sleeping quite well on the bed in my spot. The brown dog (Dang Mo) which means Watermello in Thai has become the most wonderfull pet over the past 8 months. My cat, well it has lots of character and loves to sleep close to where my computer vents. Gets cold I guess?? Her name is KeiJiow (Omlet).

In my next post I will introduce you to lots of the wonderfull lizards and snakes and stuff that I catch around here. Some of them are even highly venomous and I have had to do a lot of studying. Until then enjoy the pictures.

Never imagined using a blog

They always say, I guess you have to start somewhere!

That’s where I am, I have never been a blogger before and I barely know how to use this service. I guess my intentions are to give it a good shot and post many of my pics while I continue my world travels. For the moment I live in Thailand and as we get rolling with this blog thingy, I will have the opportunity to share some of this interesting adventure.

Cross your fingers that I get this figured out.