Animal invasion!

**ChiangMai noon** · 24-05-2006, 11:17 PM

nahh, not the same thing at all.

**Curious George** · 25-05-2006, 02:30 AM

^ CMn is correct. There are over one thousand species of Gecko. The cute one you referred to is probably, as you said, the common Asian House Gecko. The Tokay Gecko referred to earlier is Gekko gecko, and the Asian House Gecko is Hemidactylus frenatus.

Asian House Gecko

If you have any interest, you can check out this great database with photos.

**mrsquirrel** · 25-05-2006, 06:08 AM

Slipped on it a few times heading for the bathroom late at night.

You killed it then?

**stroller** · 25-05-2006, 08:55 PM

Meanwhile, I've got another mouth to feed...
A neighbour presented me with this bird which was abandoned by its mother (I'm known to be fond of animals).
It's got beautiful blue wings and is a carnivore. It feeds on certain larger insects, and raw pork as I found out trying to shut it up for a bit (I'm no good at hunting grasshoppers):

**ChiangMai noon** · 25-05-2006, 08:57 PM

it's some sort of a Thai type of jay isn't it?

**Dougal** · 26-05-2006, 02:36 AM

Its not a great picture Stroller. How big is it? - Say compared to a crow.

What part of the country are you in and was the bird found in open country or in the trees?

If it is a juvenile it will probably not be in adult plumage but I would take a preliminary stab at an Asian Fairy Bluebird.

**Sir Burr** · 27-05-2006, 10:39 AM

Have had a few of the house geckos die, yet, in death, they still cling to the wall. Weird!.
By the way. The gecko shit that is brown with the white tip. The brown is shit and the white is urea (equivalent of piss). Pretty neat eh?

**Little Chuchok** · 27-05-2006, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by Sir Burr

Have had a few of the house geckos die, yet, in death, they still cling to the wall. Weird!.
By the way. The gecko shit that is brown with the white tip. The brown is shit and the white is urea (equivalent of piss). Pretty neat eh?

Nice!

**Whiteshiva** · 30-05-2006, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by Curious George

Originally Posted by Dougal

Looks like it might be this one.
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/sna...tree-snake.htm

From stroller's great photos, you've got that one correct.
It's Chrysopelea ornata ornatissima (The Golden Tree Snake). In Thai: ngoo kio pra in

They're a beautiful animal, can reach about 150 cm in length, and are not in the least venomous. They may feign to bite though, if aggravated.

According to my sources, it is mildly venomous, but rear fanged, so unless you ram a finger down its throat, you should be OK. A fairly agressive snake and very quick. I have spottet one in my garden a few times, but it is very difficult to catch and strikes freely at whatever you poke it with, so I have decided to leave it alone, and not tell the wife about it. It is wonderfully camouflaged as well, and real difficult to see when it is lying still in a bush or a tree.

**Ken May** · 01-06-2006, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by Curious George

Originally Posted by mrsquirrel

...(it was a bit bigger than a gecko)

Just thought I'd mention that a Tokay is a Gecko. They can inflict a nasty bite, if you let them.

My cat killed one of those yesterday. He ate the tail off and some of its guts. My bartender says that they taste just like chicken. But this one was already filled with maggots so I didn't eat it. In repect for my cat I left it on the ground all day. It deserves bragging rites for the hunt. Maybe I'll scrape it up tomorrow and throw it into the river, but it sort of looks cool watching rot for awhile.

My cat has also killed two mice and a bird. If anyone wants I could post a few photos.

**RandomChances** · 01-06-2006, 03:55 PM

My dogs regulary kill lizards, mice, rats, even fish. Its prrobably cos we only feed them whatever leftovers there are and the big dog does'nt let any of the others have any.

**Curious George** · 01-06-2006, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by Whiteshiva

According to my sources, it is mildly venomous, but rear fanged,...

I own this lovely and expensive collection of reptile references. I guess I should just trash them, because they are wrong.

I just contacted a Herpetologist and good friend, who wrote a reference book on the snakes of Vietnam. He corroborates your finding. The Golden Tree Snake is indeed rear fanged and mildly venomous. The only thing to add is that the venom seems to have little if any affect on humans.

Thank-you for the correction. Would you like to witness the book burning?

**friscofrankie** · 04-06-2006, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by Curious George

Thank-you for the correction. Would you like to witness the book burning?

Fuck that, just sell 'em Some of the stuff gotta be right..

**stroller** · 29-07-2006, 04:29 PM

Here another pic of that bird, it's gone now, flew away while taken out to hunt for insects:

Here a rare butterfly which found its way to my front-gate:

**dirtydog** · 29-07-2006, 05:43 PM

Thats an atlas moth isn't it? great big beasty, I have a dead one of them.

**dirtydog** · 29-07-2006, 05:53 PM

Here is a sparrow that comes to visit me everyday, him and his family have a nest in the mains electric cables downstairs.

**friscofrankie** · 29-07-2006, 05:53 PM

Went up inthe hills couple a weeks ago. Stopped to climb some stairs take sme shot of the "temple" thurned out toe be a half-finished chedi. Coming back down this guy was runnin about two steps ahead. Guess he got tired:

Then he got pissed (upset more than somewhat to you brits)

With the ol' lady screamin' the folks aheads of us freakin out he had no where to go. Picked him up with a broom and tossed him over the snake rail. Ol' lady said we had to leave or he'd bring his family back. Thais are weird sometimes.

**dirtydog** · 29-07-2006, 08:41 PM

I think I will stick to the daily visits of the sparrows, they seem a lot less dangerous, here is the picture of strollers dead moth

**Curious George** · 30-07-2006, 10:04 AM

Frankie - Nice couple of photos of the rat snake. It's the Asian Copperhead, or Copperhead Rat Snake (Elaphe radiata), and therefore harmless.

Apparently, some showmen in Phuket dupe the tourists into thinking they are venomous, and kiss them.

They're great around the house to take care of pesky rats.

**friscofrankie** · 30-07-2006, 09:11 PM

^That's him allright. i'll tell the ol' lady you said we could keep 'im. I'm sure she'll be pleased...

**stroller** · 30-07-2006, 09:23 PM

Actually, after reading here, I suggested to get one of these, since we have mice in the house but no cats to catch them.
I thought this was a reasonable proposal, but....

Still, can one buy these snakes somewhere, I do like to keep one.

**Sir Burr** · 30-07-2006, 09:57 PM

I've been through my bird field guide twice and cannot ID the bird. It must be a chick with different colouring to the adult. It's driving me mad!
Can anyone identify the bird?

**stroller** · 30-07-2006, 10:10 PM

It's called "Nok Ga-Tap" in Thai, and eats insects as well as the raw pork I fed it. I was told it doesn't change colouring and won't grow much bigger.

**Curious George** · 31-07-2006, 12:18 AM

^ Well, it's obviously a Blue Flycatcher of the species Cyornis. Yours is not in adult feather, so I cannot guess which subspecies. Being rather plain in color, accept for the blue on the primary flight feathers, I would guess it to be female.

Here's an example of one of the male Cynoris subspecies, probably not yours.

**stroller** · 31-07-2006, 12:26 AM

Not sure. That one looks different and too small.
Beak, eye socket, body don't match - just an observation from someone who doesn't know what to look for.

It didn't catch flies, it was preying on larger insects in the hedges.

Thread: Animal invasion!

Thread Tools

Display

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Posting Permissions