Tag: animals

These Things Make A Lot of Noise – Siam Summer

a monkey from Khoa Yai National Park

Thailand has a lot of wildlife. It is everywhere I go, and now that the rainy season has started, it has come out of the forest and is not as afraid to show that it is out there. I have seen a lot of wildlife on this little road trip and I am expecting to see more as I go along.

crabs can be found anywhere from the beaches to the mountains of Thailand

The beaches have been filled with crabs scurrying all over the sand and through the clear water on the beaches of Koh Samet, a snorkeler can see schools of fish and even large clams hiding among the rocks.

a turtle I came across after a heavy rain in my neighborhood

I have seen rugby ball sized turtles just strolling down the sidewalks in my neighborhood, and after any rain a cacophony of frogs sings their serenade to anybody that gets too close to them. I have seen a couple of snakes, and a few monitor lizards with the longest one being about six feet from the tip of it tail to its tooth, but they are hard to get picture of because I really do not want to get too close to them.

one of the geckos that didn’t make it in our room in Rayong

But it took until this little road trip that I learned more about these little critters, geckos. These guys are pretty much all over the place. We’ve always had two or three of them living in our house that I have know about, and there have probably been a couple others that are a little bit better at hiding in the corners not frequented as much. They do a lot more than just try to sell me car insurance. I have been told that they eat a lot of the bugs that you do not wish to have in your house, and for this reason, we usually end up leaving them alone.

It was a nice surprise when I was greeted by a couple bigger ones in our last two hotel rooms. I waved at them and then let them crawl behind the curtains. What I did not know is that when they get a little bigger, they like to make noise to let people know about their presence. I know many of you are trying to think about what noise a gecko makes right now, and I would have been in the same category a couple of days ago. It was when I was woken up by one of them the first night of this trip that I realized what they sounded like. At first, I did not think it was a gecko that was making the noise. It sounded like a bird had somehow gotten trapped in our room, but it wasn’t persistent like a bird would be. They only chirped for a couple of seconds and then they were quiet for the next hour or so. But it was a little annoying to be woken up every hour as they moved from one place in the room to another spot.

I have since learned how to sleep with the chirp, but it alarmed me the first evening. In fact, I have come to enjoy the noise because I know that they are keeping me safe from all of those mosquitoes looking to suck my blood. It just adds to the cycle of life that happen is Thailand during the rainy season.

Another Word about Black Butte Ranch – The Move Day 23

Black Butte Ranch in Central Oregon is a strange blend of a lot of things that combined together make for an amazing vacation place. There are houses and cabins that are for rent, each one unique and comfortable in their own way. There are many things to do away from the commercialism that some vacation spots tend to throw in your face. And there is this harmony on the ranch with animals of all kinds. I believe that it is these animals that make the ranch a unique place to spend time at, no matter what season you decide to come here.

Underneath the shadow of the looming Black Butte in the middle of the ranch is a huge working field where workers move them around to make sure the fields are not destroyed by their grazing. There is a bike path that runs through the field that allows you to get closer to these animals and watch them as they go about their lazy day. The horses are also used to go on rides through the forests that surround the ranch, and during weddings, they will let them out in the fields giving photographers the perfect picture of the horses running free after the ceremony has taken place.

But the animals that inhabit this corner of the state are not always domesticated. There are a lot of wild animals that make their way through the grounds. Besides the squirrels, chipmunks, and various types of birds, I have heard coyotes howls in the middle of the nights, and have spotted so many deer that it become commonplace. Just yesterday, as I left the place I was staying, I saw a deer grazing on the wild grass in the front yard. It quickly bounded away when he saw that I was there, but they have also found shade underneath decks, and I came across this one off of the bike path near one of the gold courses, just enjoying an early afternoon munch.

But the animals are also brought in by the residents of the ranch. Early in the evening, you can always see people out walking their dogs and there are even more lounging on the decks that overlook the various bike trails. Some of them have even become staples of the people that come to visit on a regular basis. They are probably the most friendly of the residents of the ranch and are always willing to get to know a stranger a little better.

Overall, it is the animals of the ranch that transform the place from a mere vacation spot to a place of fun and surprises. It is one of the main reasons that I love this place so much.