Photo Courtesy: Tan SijieYes, a snake....
Dog-faced Watersnake - Cerberus Rynchops
Tan Sijie, a NTU student is doing a research on this particular species of water-snakes. They are quite prolific on this island. Collecting data for his work is one big task that is accomplished only with some active field work in the swampy areas of Singapore. So last night and the night before (19th and 20th Feb) we visited the wet lands in Pasir Ris to hunt for these dogs during their feeding time. I ha d volunteered to be a part of the Hunter team (Thanks to Guru for forwarding that mail)
These dogs are nocturnal snakes that mainly feed on fish. And as Sijie's research work was centered around their feeding habits we had to venture out during night time in the small window of low tide. The low water levels give good chances of capturing them while feeding. Ascertaining these nights when we could go hunting was purely based on statistical data of the tide levels. Sijie did a meticulous analysis of the Tides' data sheet he had acquired from the Govt office to decide the hunting nights. So considering the time of the day, tide level, and chances of capturing the snakes he had 4 days in Feb and 4/5 days in mid March. Quite a short time to collect data I feel. He is to arrive at some conclusion about the feeding habits of the snakes. We are to capture snakes right when they are swallowing a fish. And by swallowing I mean really swallowing. I was not impressed by their lack of judgment on the size of the fish they can squeeze into their slender body. Well you have that ability to widen your mouth to an extent of ones amazement but afterall you have cannot swallow each and every fish, damnit! :). We are to catch a snake that has almost or completely swallowed its prey and log it in Sijie's log book there. The next day he would take the snakes to his lab and take the measurements of their weight, length and other parameters. Am sure he knows what all he needs from the specimen :)
Night 1 - 19th Feb
We were to meet at the Pasir Ris MRT at 6:45PM which is the last stop of the EW Line starting from our boarding station, Boon Lay - the first station on that line. So going from one end to the other in exactly 60 mins flat. Yes, Singapore is just so small. :). Sijie and his friend "Fish" were already there. Singaporeans - very punctual rather, Amol - always late.
Got into our shorts and 'booties', sprayed anti-mosquito liquid on the open parts and there we were at he banks of the canal in the swampy area. Thankfully its more of a rocky shore than a swampy one so not much of foot-mud-munching and no fear of something creepy getting into your shoes. Sijie got the first sight and showed me how it looks.
From whatever I had read about the Dog
1. It's grayish in color
2. It's nocturnal and the very reason for our night time hunting.
3. It's non-venomous - a very important fact.
4. It's not very aggressive - another important fact.
5. Mostly feeds on fish - thats what we were to wait for it to do.
These dogs are nocturnal snakes that mainly feed on fish. And as Sijie's research work was centered around their feeding habits we had to venture out during night time in the small window of low tide. The low water levels give good chances of capturing them while feeding. Ascertaining these nights when we could go hunting was purely based on statistical data of the tide levels. Sijie did a meticulous analysis of the Tides' data sheet he had acquired from the Govt office to decide the hunting nights. So considering the time of the day, tide level, and chances of capturing the snakes he had 4 days in Feb and 4/5 days in mid March. Quite a short time to collect data I feel. He is to arrive at some conclusion about the feeding habits of the snakes. We are to capture snakes right when they are swallowing a fish. And by swallowing I mean really swallowing. I was not impressed by their lack of judgment on the size of the fish they can squeeze into their slender body. Well you have that ability to widen your mouth to an extent of ones amazement but afterall you have cannot swallow each and every fish, damnit! :). We are to catch a snake that has almost or completely swallowed its prey and log it in Sijie's log book there. The next day he would take the snakes to his lab and take the measurements of their weight, length and other parameters. Am sure he knows what all he needs from the specimen :)
Night 1 - 19th Feb
We were to meet at the Pasir Ris MRT at 6:45PM which is the last stop of the EW Line starting from our boarding station, Boon Lay - the first station on that line. So going from one end to the other in exactly 60 mins flat. Yes, Singapore is just so small. :). Sijie and his friend "Fish" were already there. Singaporeans - very punctual rather, Amol - always late.
Got into our shorts and 'booties', sprayed anti-mosquito liquid on the open parts and there we were at he banks of the canal in the swampy area. Thankfully its more of a rocky shore than a swampy one so not much of foot-mud-munching and no fear of something creepy getting into your shoes. Sijie got the first sight and showed me how it looks.
From whatever I had read about the Dog
1. It's grayish in color
2. It's nocturnal and the very reason for our night time hunting.
3. It's non-venomous - a very important fact.
4. It's not very aggressive - another important fact.
5. Mostly feeds on fish - thats what we were to wait for it to do.
And yes...it was grayish and seemed not very aggressive but it was to be confirmed when I got my hand on the first snake that night. Not much luck in catching a feeding but spotted a few that helped Sijie capture it and add to his collection.At the end of the time window we had we bagged around four Dogs with fish inside. Not bad haan!! Packed up and headed back to the MRT and back to Boon Lay to luckily get the last bus to NTU
Some more fotos ....from the same night.
My foot and a juvenile...just to give an idea of its size.
Another juvenile finding its way thru a gap under my shoe
An adult swallowing a fish.....
An overly ambitious juvenile trying to swallow
more than it can chew
Night 2 - 20th Feb
Same place but a little late. We were only two of us as the other volunteers were running late. Anyways started with our hunt. Had a good start at sighting but had to wait for a while before a good swallowing was in hands. In another hour the two later comers joined in and we four continued under our head lamps. Eventually we had a better catch this night. 6 in all. All feeding. In between had a small drizzle but thankfully did not pour beyond that and beyond 10mins and it kept the session quite enjoyable. Being in a swampy area with pouring like that of Singapore is not a comfortable situation to be in.
After quite a successful hunting session headed back to the MRT and back to Boonlay to catch the last bus to NTU. On the way I tried to understand some Chinese and Singaporean intricacies. The Chinese names have always befuddled me and the 1 hr train journey gave a good chance to try and understand how they are coined in the first place. Sijie and his other friend (Singaporean, I forgot his name. I am so dumb at remembering these Chinese names, Ufff! It just slips out of my brain the very next minute) were quite good in explaining the things. For the first time I understood some bit of the complicated names and Language intricacies of China. And yes also about guessing the gender of persons by their names. Now that I found is difficult without any knowledge of a good number of Chinese words:D
Overall, this activity was a nice experience, specially because it took me to the wild and so close to its habitants. Not that it was my first time......those days with Vaibhav back in India at Chirner, Panvel were closer and wilder than this one...but it game a good feeling to be around in the Nature. As is every instance of snake handling this added my liking towards these reptiles. At the canal whenever a Dog would swim pass me I would simply watch it with a smile while it wandered around between rocks. I felt genuinely good simply watching their graceful swimming. They ARE beautiful creatures. And such zillions of small members in the bigger picture, that is Nature, ought to make it beautiful.
After quite a successful hunting session headed back to the MRT and back to Boonlay to catch the last bus to NTU. On the way I tried to understand some Chinese and Singaporean intricacies. The Chinese names have always befuddled me and the 1 hr train journey gave a good chance to try and understand how they are coined in the first place. Sijie and his other friend (Singaporean, I forgot his name. I am so dumb at remembering these Chinese names, Ufff! It just slips out of my brain the very next minute) were quite good in explaining the things. For the first time I understood some bit of the complicated names and Language intricacies of China. And yes also about guessing the gender of persons by their names. Now that I found is difficult without any knowledge of a good number of Chinese words:D
Overall, this activity was a nice experience, specially because it took me to the wild and so close to its habitants. Not that it was my first time......those days with Vaibhav back in India at Chirner, Panvel were closer and wilder than this one...but it game a good feeling to be around in the Nature. As is every instance of snake handling this added my liking towards these reptiles. At the canal whenever a Dog would swim pass me I would simply watch it with a smile while it wandered around between rocks. I felt genuinely good simply watching their graceful swimming. They ARE beautiful creatures. And such zillions of small members in the bigger picture, that is Nature, ought to make it beautiful.
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