Last Night’s Herp – February 22

Last Night’s Herp – February 22
Just a quick rundown of last night’s herping activity here in Southern Thailand – Krabi province. I walked around for two hours last night between 8 pm. and 10 pm. and found quite a lot of wildlife active. The weather has been dry and hot (33°C max during daylight, and around 29°C at night at this time). No wind, and dry air – maybe 50% humidity.

This is the typical weather situation we have in February in southern Thailand. Dry air, hopefully, no wind, but there are plenty of windy days. Lots of kids fly kites in February here. Usually, February starts the hot days – 31C and hotter.

Found:

1. Malayan pit viper (C. rhodostoma) – male, 50 cm, on the move, actively hunting prey.
2. Malayan whip snake (A. mycterizans) – very light green 80 cm, sleeping on large leaves at 2 meters off ground.
3. Oriental whip snake (A. prasina) – light brown, sleeping on large leaves at 1 meter off ground.
4. 5 Slow lorises – all in trees and ranging from 4 meters off the ground to 30 meters or more.
5. 30+ Lizards – most or all were Forest crested lizards (C. emma), though one or two I couldn’t see well could have been A. mystaceous).
6. Stick Insect – about 4 inches long. Love these.
7. Tiny green bird shaped like a sphere – not bigger than a golf ball. Sleeping on a large-leafed plant 1 meter off the ground on a sloping hill with 30% grade. I think Nenad (from Serbia) calls these ‘ball birds.’
8. Numerous Spiders, Millipedes, Centipedes, Forest Scorpions mostly, but including one very small and a thin scorpion I believe from the genus Heterometrus.
9. 2 Nightjars – these are birds of prey which feed on insects in the air or on the ground – grasshoppers, mosquitos, beetles, etc. I also saw a number of them flying around overhead.

I don’t typically take people herping in February, but there are exceptional days and weeks where we find a lot in spite of the typically slow season. Give me an email if you’re interested in going and I’ll let you know whether it’s worth it to book a tour, or not.