Monkey Love & Babies in the Wild

This weekend, we had a very wet start to our forest rambling. Braving the rain in our raincoats, we calculated that it would ease up by the end of our hike. Enough to observe more Nature & allow me to shoot candid moments with my trusty G1.

Just as we hoped, there was a troupe of long-tailed macaques breakfasting on leaves, insects & tasty fruits in the trees & underbrush.

Love was literally in the air as you can see in this spontaneous kiss between 2 acrobatic young monkeys. At the same time, we spied 2 young mothers with their scrawny infants. Hovering around protectively was the group's alpha male. He was sporting a stump of a tail, presumably the result of previous monkey fights.

Beware the colour Red in Paradise

Last weekend, we took a side trail to MacRitchie Reservoir itself for a change. While looping back from Prunus Trail, a rare venomous Blue Coral Snake crossed my path!

Usually it is shy & nocturnal in habit but it was about to rain so everyone, & I suspect the snake too was hurrying home. Notice its dark blue body, light blue strips & Red underbelly, tail & head. Beautiful but deadly.

As usual, I had my G1 in hand to capture the shocking moment. Somehow, hiking heightens all your senses unlike driving along a scenic country road. Even jogging doesn't allow you to observe as much.

Meeting a Blue Coral was a somber reminder that besides the usual bugs in Nature & Paradise, danger may slither in unexpectedly. Keep alert & stay alive.