21 Jan, 2008

Noises in the leaf litter often give away the presence of creatures like this battled-scarred reptile.

Today I went back to exploring some of the streams that flow through the forest in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. I followed one for some way and came across elephant and bear tracks. Many small skinks scuttled into the leaf litter and small blue butterflies were all around but never settled long enough to film.

When I’m exploring this kind of place I’m listening more than looking and I can often find snakes or other creatures from the sound of their movement in the leaf litter.

This morning I heard some rustling and went over to discover a rice-field terrapin (Malayemys subtrijuga) attempting to tuck itself under some fallen leaves.

This species is readily identifiable from the three ridges on the carapace and yellow patterning on the head. They hide on land during the day and enter water at night to feed on water snails and shrimps.

This one had several notches around its shell which looked as though something had tried biting it open in the past. After I finished filming I turned it over to check the underside and there were several holes that looked like teeth marks.

This one is probably a male, as full-grown females are more than twice this size. I was hoping for some movement but the most it managed for a long time was closing its eyes. Eventually, as the sun rose higher, it made a terrapin-style dash for cover.

– by Darryl Sweetland, Earth-Touch crew © Earth-Touch

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