A Night Walk with MNS Herp Group - Feb 2022

One of the most interesting things you will find from a night walk is the chance to see those nocturnal creatures or animals which you can hardly see them during daytime. Recently I joined a night walk with the MNS Herping Group into a tropical rainforest in Selangor. There were 17 of us of mostly men and a few young children who came with their parents. There were also three 'boh kiah see' ladies I believe who have joined us as well.  (Note: participants were advised to show their Covid-19 test is negative a day before event).

After a short briefing by our team leader, off we step into the darkness.

We started around 8.00pm and the entire walk took us about 3.5 hours.

We search and look for everything that came across our path.  

The first creature we saw was not a ghost but an owl.

This is a "Barred Eagle Owl". 

This owl is not rare but it is seldom seen.

Then came along this squirrel.

Someone in the group must have had the eyes of an owl to spot this Red Giant Flying Squirrel.

Not a pontianak ! but the same squirrel looking inquisitively at us. 

This is the only frog I was able to photographed in the entire walk. 

Black-eyed Litter Frog (Leptobrachium nigrops)

It appear near a small stream and after photographing it we let it back into its domain.

Another variation of the Black-eyed Litter Frog

Along the way, we saw many 'Huntsman Spiders'

There were many of them crawling just beside the trails.

Some of them might not even have been described by science.

These spiders don't wait for prey - they hunt them !

Oh yes - we also came across this warbler. Probably an Arctic Warbler.

Sorry we disturb your sleep, mate.

After about an hour of walking, we finally came across a significant discovery.

Any tarantula which are discovered here creates an aura of excitement, more so if the ones seen is very rare and can only be found in Malaysia. The above tarantula is called 'Psednocnemis jeremyhuffi'.

I think there are no common names yet for this creature.

What is also interesting about this tarantula is that it was only been named recently in 2010.

This tarantula was probably one of the highlights of the evening.

After having taken a few photos we set if free to roam the jungle again.

Of course no herp trip is considered complete without seeing a snake.

This is a male Wagler's Pitviper (Tropidolaemus wagleri). Locally it's called "Ular Tokong".

Those participants who were seeing this viper for the very first time were of course jubilant.

We also saw the big fat female above our head. Luckily she was 'resting' high up in the canopy.

Although this snake is mainly arboreal but sometimes they can come down to eye level as well.

Taking the photo of the viper from a distance because it can strike a third of its length according to our group leader.

The second snake species we came across in this trip is a rather tame one.

Here, our group leader and sifu, Steven Wong is holding a 'Dwarf Reed Snake' - Pseudorabdion longiceps (Cantor, 1847).

This snake is non-venomous and not rare as well.

You can see its iridescence scales illustrating here.

Its mouth is so tiny that I think its diet is probably some earthworms or small lizards.

A photo within a photo. 

The snake is also very tame to allow close shots like this one.

Overall the trip was quite exhausting but fun.

SEE YA THE NEXT TIME !