Jungle pictures; An interesting walk around the jungle with Sox

I am obsessed with Terap tree!

We have put together some jungle pictures from two of our separate walks with Sox around a jungle area near Kuala Lumpur. There are lots to see and photograph around the area, especially early in the morning.

One can never say for sure what one will encounter in the jungle. I have walked the jungles of Sarawak, thinking that there would be more wildlife but found almost nothing (probably because I am too tired to look anyway). Besides Sox’s Island , I am beginning to think that bringing Sox for jungle walks seems to bring me more luck with seeing wildlife.

We went for walks with Sox on a few occasions. We make it a point to start early. As early as 7am to avoid the traffic as well as to hopefully catch some of the jungle’s residents wake up from slumber. With Meun on Sox’s leash, I can concentrate on taking loads of jungle pictures.

Terap tree is easy to identify, just look out for these leaves

I always look out for Terap tree wherever I go. Their stipule leaves make them easy to spot. We brought Sox along (on a leash of course) and Meun got really busy making sure Sox doesn’t chase after every single moving thing she sees.

The walk was relatively easy. Only certain parts are steeper and rather slippery and muddy. The foliage is good and thick. Though a majority of the area has been cultivated with rubber trees, we still manage to find some interesting critters.

Is this a grasshopper?

We saw quite a number of grasshoppers. I only manage to come close to this one. To be honest, I don’t have a close whether it is a grasshopper or not. Notice the object that looks like another piece of grasshopper leg on the leaf? I wonder where that came from.

As we walked up a small hill, we came to a clearing with sandy ground. Sox was sniffing at something on the ground…which turns out to be a dead scorpion. And it is one of the biggest scorpions I have seen ever! It’s a shame that it is dead.

The biggest jungle scorpion I have seen, it’s a shame that it is dead

We decided to pick it up and left it on a piece of log before Sox decides to have it for lunch. Interesting creature that is and I bet it’s sting would really pack a punch.

We then came across a rather interesting creature. It  is a pretty weird looking creature I would say. I swear I have seen it in some comic/ cartoon character. But I just can’t recall it. It was moving steadily on a piece of leaf. It’s (almost) white body gave it away. A few times when handling it, it actually played dead. I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it looked when it played dead. So fake!

It’s so funny when it plays dead

I was taking them photos when through my camera’s viewfinder, I saw some small movements on a leaf nearby. I decided to check it out. At this point, Sox was already getting very impatient and Meun had to hold her leash tight.

It turns out to be a bug feeding on another bug. The bug on the right seems to be ‘sucking’ the life off the other bug. I watched as the victim bug struggles initially but lay motionless just after a few seconds being ‘sucked’.

The bug battle

The bug on the right seems to ‘suck’ the life of the other bug

One thing is for sure. There’s plenty of bamboo in this area.

The bamboo plants here are quite big

This part of the walk especially is filled with bamboo

We arrived at a small river and decided that perhaps this is as far as we would go for today. It is obvious that Sox was extremely thrilled with the walk and the river. She splashed, dived and skipped all over the place. What planned to be a morning tea break turned out to be a tug of war with Sox. Sox just couldn’t stop exploring the river. She was thrilled…totally!

Sox checking out every nook and corner of the river!

Well, it was about 2 hours into our walk and we soon were not the only ones on the trail. There were a few mountain bikers and land owners on their bike into their farms. Though none of them made any comments about Sox being there, we thought its best that we scoot. We will definitely come back one day!