Short-tailed Macaque Monkey

I am kind of very cautious, making each step forward with so much calculation and observation.

I had been chased by a short-tailed macaque before, so fiercely, just to confirm my short but powerful legs.

We both stared at each other. Its easiness was unconvincing, and my anxiety seemed unnecessary, but I rather to be fooled now than to be fooled later.

"Is it that great to photograph a monkey？"

The mushrooms followed this silent comedy.

"They only know monkeying around, but you are now Charlie Chaplin."

Golden Dusky Leaf Monkey

(We find friends from unexpected directions and moments).

And so I befriend a golden baby of a Dusky Leaf monkey,

but I am not in the spotlight as interesting things are quite handful, from the tail, fresh leaves to overlooking the new perspective of 2014 in the eyes of a baby, except me. 

2014 to a monkey?

“City Dog, Country Frog” tell stories for at least three seasons, my one-way friendship ends in a moment, when our presence was taught to be a disturbance, when the mother leaps into the new perspective, carrying together with her the golden baby.

A Detour

They are monkeys. To be precisely complicated, they become long-tailed macaques, crab-eating macaques, 长尾猕猴, 食蟹猕猴，etc.

They are as invasive as humans, or vice versa, but they can always disguise themselves as The Thinker at the same time, 

or show their disdain for the uninterested DSLR.

They are very common in Malaysia, I meet them every time I visit Cerok Tokun, and this time at Batu Caves.

"Batu Caves is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia." (Wikipedia).

We made a detour to visit this place during the last trip to Bukit Tinggi.

Surprises

A long tailed macaque fell when leaping from one tree to another.

I expected a similar happening when spotting some dusky leaf monkeys later.

I focused on one that stayed the highest. I waited. It moved from a branch of one tree to another. I waited. It stopped for some berries. I waited, but began to feel the weight of my camera very soon, so I shifted to the other one. And change to another again.

They were cool and steady, and no surprises in the end.

What I can say is, surprises are always predictable, they only catch me by surprise.

Not a Double-decker

Sorry, no double-decker please, though I am exhausted aiming at a tiny spider for far too long. In fact, I would never want to ride on a living double-decker.

Sorry, I shall not yield to your tease. I am not a real adventurer.

I am not a real adventurer, but trying to please you is another sign of mediocrity. Alice will not do the same in her Wonderland.

Eyes

"The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than imagination awake."

My pupils were dilated to see the trail under the moon. Dark moving figures, near or far, tall or short, were coming toward or going away from me. The darkness was saturated, and people kept silent. I could not hear the babblers chirping.

Only the raindrop was willing to tell layers of story through its startling bright eye, but I had the feeling those were related to a reptile. The forked tongues were hidden, though not completely.

My pupils started to contract when the moon had disappeared. There were actually more to see. And I always saw Dusky Leaf Monkey stayed very quiet atop some trees. Very tame, yet so very confused.

It must have awaken fully.

The first one or the second

It is always true that the early bird gets the worm, but only the second mouse gets the cheese. Failing to be the former, we lost the worm, but the consequence of being the first mouse is fatal, yet this unlucky one is a must in order to get the story started.

When to be the first one or the second is crucial which I need to consult the woods, or to observe the comings and goings, in the jungle.

Say Nonsense

"I like nonsense -- it wakes up the brain cells.”

I did not think the monkey thought alike. It was sure frightened by a nonsense who emerged from nowhere, and at the same time had strange equipment aiming at him. Though we were very far apart, it was still so cautious and decided to move away immediately.

I did not think this treehopper thought alike too. It seemed to me it was paralyzed by the continuous flashing. Its eye balls kept turning round and round. It should think what the hell this nonsense had done on him after recovering from the mind disruption.

How can I tell them that “it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope... and that enables you to laugh at all of life's realities"?

We are part of the Zoo

Out of sudden I saw this sardonic smile while taking pictures of the monkeys. What did this mean? Did it indicate contempt, rudeness, mockery or malice?

They were staying at the top of a tree in front of me. I thought I could defend myself by swinging my backpack if something should happen, and I saw this one grinned sardonically, so I knew I should not provoke in a same manner.I continued with my shooting carefully.

It was only this scornful tongue that I knew I was surrounded by a colony of monkeys. I must have accidentally intruded into their territories.

I backed off silently, quickly and immediately. They are monkeys.

If you think you have to take a trip to the zoo to keep up with me, I shall say no, no and no. Take a big step backward and pull your camera back, both you and me are actually living in a spherical zoo.

And today is just another Monday in this zoo.

To you, Ratty

They are with you, Ratty. Please do take all the time that you need to recover.

They are thinking of you and sending good wishes your way. They are praying for you.

They have their own way to cheer you up!!!

Have a good rest and they will do all the actions. If anything involves squirrels, just say it. They will help to iron out this simple problem.

They are sending SMS to the being that made the universe ; you will see rainbow the next moment you look at the sky.

I shall be away for two days without reading and commenting in any blogs.Hope all will be well, hope you get better by the time I am back.

By the way, are you willing to accept their hugs?

Faces (Dusky Langur)

I replayed the recorded sound of my friend the Puff-throated Babbler this morning, I thought this could train the babbler to come over whenever I am here. Unfortunately mutual understanding was not achieved, and it only responded at the far end of the canopy.

On the other way, I found that these Dusky Langur were spying at me at the same time. They must be seeing a real weird maniac.

During the process of staring back and photographing them, this one rushed up a tree, rubbed against leaves and berries, and stopped by to peek at me at its presumed safe distance.

Focus of this one was purposely aiming at blank. Both of us knew, but it would rather prefer to pretend seeing nothing.

This one lowered its head away. It was a paparazzi just now but looked like a thinker right now.

I like this one. It stayed not too far away and never bothered to make a move. It listened and was trying to locate the babbler too.

This juvenile Dusky Langur might be the only one who knew nothing about the happening. It might not know that though weird, the world is full of fun.

What Were The Monkeys Doing?

I saw only silhouettes of monkey when I got closer. Moreover, I barely heard anything at this distance. In fact, I had not found my answer yet.

But out of a sudden,

a couple of them came rushing out. This had caught me off guard. Before I could response, what they did next even put my hands in a great bustle.

"What a racket. I think the male was trying to get at the female and she wanted no part of it."

She really wanted no part of it.

This lasted less than half a minute, and they left the "crime scene" as quickly as possible into the woods by the other side of the walkway.

Why did they run one after another? And why did the one in front keep looking back?

The one in front must be a female. She tried to escape while looking back to confirm the male was not right after her.

I do not know whether my presence had helped to reduce the "crime rate" of the monkey kingdom by one case, or I should not be there at all.

By the way, it was so happen that I had witnessed their story.

Run, Run, and Run

When I arrived at the abandoned dam at Cerok Tokun, I seemed to occupy the entrance to the walkway, while the monkeys were gathering at the other side. They were blocked.

Though monkeys are fierce, my previous experience ensured me that they would never get past me in this narrow walkway. They did test my response but I continued to stand still which made them giving up finally. They came back with a leader later who repeated trying the same, but decided not to take the presumed risk.

When I saw two monkeys dashing towards me this morning, I knew somehow they would stop before me. I was armed. I was armed with a camera which might mean a pistol to them.

I did not know why the monkey running in front kept looking back. I only knew my hypothesis was right.

They had then returned to the weathered and worn control tower. I waited for a few minutes but they never come out, so I decided to get closer to have a peep.

Oh, I guessed I had the answer.

I had the answer on why the monkey kept looking back while running, and why they were running. I shall tell you in my next post. But before that, what is your guess?

A Jungle Story

I am always very playful, especially with my camera. I do believe this will always end with some unexpected discoveries, or in my term, pots of gold. What if I continue to be more playful, can I be as successful as Thomas Edison?

I saw this dead tree which looked nothing special while walking in the huge jungle, and its picture never tell me a fantastic story. But then,

I saw a flying eagle up in the blue sky. An eagle is a big bird, it did look like a little butterfly. Do you prefer to be a big eagle or a little butterfly?

This monkey seemed to think like Aristotle, our great philosopher: " Why do you call it an eagle who actually is a butterfly?"

"Liars when they speak the truth are not believed. "

Monkeys along our hiking trail

My friends, have you checked your weight after accompanying me for these few days? The roughness and exhausting hike should have successfully built a fitter you. It is rewarding, isn’t it? No matter how, I am not a good guide before being able to show you some monkeys, though this cannot be planned.

Though cannot be planned, I am feeling so glad the monkeys are over here now. Listen to the rustling and crunching of leaves, and creaking of tree branches above us, the monkeys are jumping from one tree to another. Just a word of precaution, dry twigs may break and hit our head at anytime.

This monkey comes very near to me, and I do not have intention of moving backward. I want to have close up shots, specially for you.

It looks not perfect but seems to be either a little friendly or simply ignorant with my presence, and these are sofar the nearest close up shots I have taken; thanks for your support from behind.

This second one is having a peaceful set of mind while it is scratching its head. I am at a right timing to aim at him.

The third looks like the leader who would fight against “intruders” for its people. It pull its lip the moment I am lifting my camera, along with jerking the head and shoulders forward. Let’s move away before situation getting out of control. No point to challenge back someone who is giving a clear and stern warning signal.

And no photo of the third one.

A Yellow-bellied Bulbul

Everything seemed to be quiet this morning. The sky was not as blue as before, and no breeze was whispering through the little leaves.

The only two monkeys around were too happy to enjoy their sweet moment.

As I was moving away, I spotted a Yellow-bellied Bulbul, (if I am right, but the tail looks slightly long for a Bulbul) perching at the same guide rail where a Kingfisher was seen a few weeks back.

It was then seen strolling along the rail, back and forth, like what could be seen at a circus.

And then it made an intentional dive the moment I started my continuous shooting mode. This is what we call consensus whereby no talking is required.

It landed at the side of the pathway, and started to stroll again. Flying might be too tired at one time, and walking would be more relaxing. Hmmm... I must be right. If I am able to fly, will I feel the same while flying against the gravity?

I rather prefer to stand firmly on a solid ground.

What if I pull an emergency stop during the flight? What if I get tired half way up in the sky? What if .......

The Bulbul was bored with my many what if's, it flew to another lower level, to the top of the overflow passageway. It was thirsty. It needed some drinks.

But then my story was forced to end abruptly when we saw the monitor lizard. It might be heading towards its home at the top of the dam.

And everything had returned to normal within a minute. The Bulbul flew away. The lizard was out of sight.

It seemed like nothing had happened before.

(I have these problems for quite a long time. 1. Blogger reduces the size of my pictures immediately after they have been uploaded, no way for me to edit using Edit Html. 2. they are sometimes cannot be clicked to view. If someone can help, please tell me).