Snake hunting

Went to help out with snake sampling Thursday night. Signed up with the project at the beginning of the year but kept putting it off due to various committments. Until this email came down stating in plain terms that yes the permit was applied and when am I going to show up?
So I decided, against every protest coming from every inch of my sleep deprived body, to go down no matter what.

So I did. After an ardous day where I have only half an hour break, witnessing my first mental blank out in one of my favorite classes (they were kind enough not to chew me up) and changing into mangrove wear, grabbing an early lunch and rushing off to the reserve to meet up with the rest of the group.

Realised that I am sometimes quite a linear person. There is this track of thought which I move along in class, hard to adjust to any jumps in the thought process. Shall blame it to lack of sleep for the moment.

So I nodded off while talking to my friend lunchtime, nodded off on the train while standing and nodded off while waiting for the rest at Kranji station.

We started walking down to the sampling site at nightfall, with the sky overcast due to an earlier shower, all was wet and cold. Yet as I walked, I find myself getting more alert. The smells of the plants of mangrove and the act of shining my torch into the vegetation to look for interesting animals seemed to waken another self. A person not so long ago, trudging in mud, forest, senses awake, just being present in the moment.

Arrived at the hut after 20 minutes of walking and collecting a mass of cobwebs on the face. Went down the mud and after a short while, found the first snake, Cerberus rynchops, laying in a small puddle amidst the mud. Then the world became very simple, just youself, the beam from your headlamp illuminating the area in front and your senses looking for the next snake. Before long caught 12 of them, fewest catch in the group (we totalled 60 snakes amongst the 4 of us).But the experience was really good.

Miss this kind of activity alot. Where things are so much simpler. Well shall savor them when I have the chance.


What happens to all my posts here I wonder. I have about 200 plus of them now. Anyone knows how to retrieve and do a backup from blogger?