A Skink that got Stuck

Found this pretty red-tailed skink scurrying beneath a door mat, trying to get out. This isn't the more common Dussemier's Litter Skink.

I helped it out soon after.

There's a Skink in the Smokehouse

A scream alerted me while I was watching the television inside my house. I easily recognised it as my sister's scream, and it was coming from behind. I rushed to the smokehouse and my sister was backing off in shock. My hopes rose, could it be a snake? But when I went in, I didn't see any creature. Until, a sharp face sitting on the wood greeted me with a nod. Wow, that's a big skink, I thought. I greeted back with a smile and it jumped off to the wall. Surprisingly, it could hold on and stand vertically on the wall!

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Apparently, the skink did not move away and just held on firmly to the wall, without moving a little. I managed to get pretty close to get a few close-up shots.

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These skinks are pretty common here, especially during the November to December period. It's just that you don't get to photograph them that often. Anyway, the skink made its way out of the smokehouse and hid underneath a large rock a few metres away. I tried my best to lift the rock but it was too heavy, but managed to take a shot through a small hole below.

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A Skink That Went for a Swim

A little Dussemier's Litter Skink had somehow ended up in the tank below when I looked down. Suprised how it ended up there, I went down with me camera to photograph the poor little guy. He couldn't run off anywhere and was hence standing on a floating tapioca leaf that fell into the water.

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However, the skink did try to swim off when I came close with the cmaera.

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In the end I had to catch him with my bare hands, wipe him dry and then release him away from the tank. I don't want to be rescueing them all the time, unless its a rare animal that'll give me a chance to photograph it.

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Peeking Out Of A Tree Hole

Walked all the way to the summit without finding much animals. After a quick rest under the summit hut, we decided to take the steps back to the main road. But suddenly I noticed a small movement on a tree and moved closer to check out. A skink was peeking out of a hole in the tree.

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It was a Brown Tree Skink, a species not that commonly seen. I tried taking more shots but as I moved closer to it, it became aware of my presence and slowly moved deeper into the hole.

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I got as close as possible and all I could see was the tip of the head. The hole was pretty high so I could not really get any superb shots. However, I noticed that there was a mosquito on its nose and faster snapped a shot before it retreated its head into the hole.

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Sunbathing Lizards

Found several lizards basking under the hot sun in Sunei Buloh. This sun skink was happily tanning when I spotted it. Apparently I was actually wondering at the very moment where all the skinks had gone to this time.

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Then it was an adult male Changeable Lizard who was basking on a log at the water's edge.

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Back to Bukit Timah

As you should have seen, I'm posting photos that I took very long ago, around the time during June this year. I had to rush through all my posts, so. Very well, here I continue. It was the June Holidays and I was back to Bukit Timah to go hunting there till I travel to India once again to hunt there! So get ready for a series of posts, all from Bukit Timah. I decided to post a random Image for this post. A sun skink that I recently shot in Bukit Timah.

Sungei Buloh's Sun Skinks

It was the third trip to Sungei Buloh this year and once again, we were going to guide about the fauna and flora of Sungei Buloh. I happened to meet up with a number of Common Sun Skinks that particular day. Just by the Visitor Centre, there was one of these skinks resting near the Mangrove Broadwalk.

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It was the first time the new students were seeing such an animal, and hence everyone started to crowd around the area for some shots. I knew that if they were to make so much of noise and crowd around so badly, the skink would most probably move away. So i took another shot of it before making my way out of the crowd.

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Soon after all the students had taken their own photographs, the skink had already moved a few metres away from where it originally was.

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A few minutes after we started the mangrove broadwalk, a student said he saw something moving in the leaf litter. After moving in closer for a good look, the animal was also another Common Sun Skink. I did not use flash for this shot.

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And just as we finished the mangrove broadwalk, another individual was spotted basking on a rock near the T-Junction of the broadwalk. This skink had the orange sides, unlike most of them we had encountered.

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Finally, there's something in my Traps

I was back to home after another 8 hour drive on car. The night was so cold that I remeber catching a cold after facing all the wind in the car. Well we reached at night, so the next morning I immediately went over to the frontyard to check out my traps. Well, apart from some spiders, beetles and ants, I spotted a Dussemier's Litter Skink helplessly trying to crawl out of the bucket. It seemed to have a different colouration though. It was the best catch I made after all, so I got my camera out and took some shots of it.

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As I tried my best to catch it out and release it, he ran away from my hand and tried to 'hide' under an abandoned spiderweb.

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Finally with the help of my enthusiastic young cousin, we managed to get him out of the bucket and into the leaf litter. What a dash he made into the undergrowth when he sensed freedom. Well this would most probably be what we will do when we are released from some giant creature!

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I met him Again

I decided to go and see if the big Skink I saw the previous day was back basking again. It took me five minutes to convince my dad that I'll be back soon from my neighbours house, because thats where I saw the skink the last time. Well I reached the place fast and got my cousin (he's my neighbour) with me. And we went to the same old place. And yeah... the skink was back. But this skink was bigger and, had its whole body visible. A very nice position to photograph it. And yes, I got a couple of shots, the distance from the skink to the camera in decreasing order. But the biggest photograph is the best, so thats why I have it in Large Size, and the rest in Small Size.

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Photographs taken as I moved closer and closer to the skink.
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And as I went back I passed by two Dussemier's Litter Skinks too.

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Unidentified Skinks

I have 2 skinks that I have not managed to identify yet. They both look similar to some species that I know, but I am just not 100% sure. The first Skink in here, the much smaller one, looks similar to the Dussemier's Litter Skink, but the colour of the body and tail seems different. The raised part of the eye shows that it is a different colour of the Litter Skink.

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The second one that I can't identify is much bigger. It was found basking on a rock at the base of a tree far behind one of my neighbour's backyard. It looks similar to the Sun Skink that can be seen in Singapore, but it is surely not one of that. Anyway, after spotting the skink with my cousin, I went nearby to photograph it. Yes, I did get a picture, but for the next shot, I slowly went much closer to photograph it. And yes, I was in a good position. But, when my camera's flash hit it, the Skink thought that I was about to do something nasty and he ran into the bushes. Gosh! Look what I got in my second picture! A picture of it running away! If he was a bit slower, I could have gotten the whole body. Including its head. But thats what is missing in the picture here.

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It's the Litter Skinks again

The Dussemier's Litter Skink is very common species in the areas around us. They were the first thing I saw after the Gecko that morning.
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I first saw this cute one near the backyard. These skinks can be found almost everywhere. But pity the people here, they actually think that they are poisonous, due to their Red Tail. But I told them not to be afraid. There are only 2 Venomous Lizards in this World.

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And in between the stored dry wood of my neighbour was another one crawling away.

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The Red Tailed and the Changeable

Here are 2 Lizards That I spotted in the first day. The first one was a skink with a red tail, the Dussemier's Litter Skink. it is a very common species of skink found in our area. It sometimes happens to enter houses too. I first saw one resting on a rock in the backyard. I managed to get 2 good shots of it, but at the third, it sensed me approaching and ran into the grass.

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But still I got two more shots of it within the long grass.

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I went back home for tea and on my way, I found this small Changeable Lizard sunning itself. It clinged on tightly to the plant and dropped when it saw me.

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Close up Shots

This was our 5th trip to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. This time we did not really spot anything much, but I managed to get close to a Common Sun Skink and photograph it just a few inches from the camera.

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I also went quite close to this Clouded Monitor to get a photograph.

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*Images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FS3.*

Happily Basking in the Sunlight

We were walking along the Hiking Trail when something small ahead of us moved through the leaf litter. We later realized that it was a Sun Skink. It was initially basking on the pavement and fleed when it saw us approach.

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It seems true that Skinks like to stay near water. There was a small stream beside, and we had actually found a number of Skinks. I did not take any shots of them as they were very common.