edited 10/06/07
Nature
The stem attached to fallen durian
The last two days, around 4.00am in the morning, there was a heavy downpour causing durians to fall. I was very sad to see many durians on the ground when I entered the orchard at 6.45 in the morning that day.
Monkeys
At the top of the hill, there are many trees. These trees create a path for the monkeys to swing their way to the orchard. The monkeys start to pluck the durians and some of them use the durians as leverage to swing from one tree to another. In the olden days, my Uncle has got a license for a shot gun and after a few rounds of warning shots, the monkeys would start to run off into the jungle. We have stopped using the warning shots since they are back in bigger groups and not scared at all. A few years ago, when I was searching for my snorkel in a game shop in Penang road, I came across a bow and arrow hanging on the wall and I asked the salegirls on its usage and the regulations for buying it. Well, the answer was that I had to join the Archery Club to do so. At that moment, an old lady beside me started to talk to me and she mentioned that it was very effective for shooting at monkeys. The way she expressed it told me that it was very good. I went back home after buying the snorkel. I did not buy it but an old story flashed through my mind then.It was Ah Huat, my father's sincere helper who told the story. It happened one day that a very stubborn monkey heard the warning shot but did not run away. We shot it and the monkey died immediately. Unfortunately one of its hands still hanged on the tree. My uncle took aim and after a second shot at the other arm the monkey came falling down on to the ground. I was thinking what would happen if the same incident happens when I use the bow and arrow. I am not a sharp shooter and to bring it down with that bow and arrow would be ridiculous. So I left the shop without further buying the bow and arrow.
Squirrels
:Pong Chu Chiak Durians
Durians eaten by squirrels
Squirrels love to eat durians and there is a saying that if these durians are eaten by them, then these durians should be very good or tasty. Well, for this particular durian tree the durians are partly eaten by squirrels. During my round searching for fallen durians, I threw away a few of them and one day out curiosity I decided to pick one of this type and opened it in the house. Wah Lah!, the other chambers that are not eaten by the squirrels are very very tasty. I quickly went back to the orchard and collected all of them back. At home I packed the balance of these fruits into a tupperware and put them into the fridge. Ha! hopefully my wife did not give these to relatives, "Sea liao"(die lah) " Pi Say"
Wild Boar
There are many wild boars in this orchard and I even showed my sons the foot prints of these animals. They are not dangerous except when in a herd. I had an experience last year when one baby wild boar was still playing in the river when I arrived. I had the shock of my life but it quickly went into the wild undergrowth. Other animals like snakes and caveat cats were also present in the early hours and not hiding in their hide-out.They were surprised to see me too.
Well, I quickly shooed them away and scolded them for being so daring !!!
Wild boars would use their their legs to smash the tip of the durian and then suck all the durians out. I will take a shot if I see one and post in the blog in future.
Tigers
Thank God that there are no tigers in this orchard. I was informed by my ex staff, Ah Huat that when a tiger eats the durian, it would assemble the durian properly back into one full piece. So when you see one such durian then you know instantly that it must have been eaten by a tiger. This is true because when Ah Huat was a small boy, he was staying in a very remote village and one day his father found a baby tiger which was left by its dead mother. His father took it back and reared it until it was reasonably large. Ah Huat mentioned that it was quite tame and one day he saw how the tiger ate the durian. His father eventually left the tiger back into the jungle. This peculiar way of eating the durian by the tiger was also narrated to me by other people who stayed in Raub, a town in Pahang.
Well, I hope that I will not pick one durian like this type in the Orchard. I will "lau jeao" (urinate) definitely.
Dog on Surveillance
Finding her way around
One day I took my dogs to the orchard and instead of happily following me around they got very curious because they could detect there many animal smell in the place . Rav. kept going into the undergrowth and later came out through another outlet. I was very worried for him because he was not good when handling snakes
Snow,(Baby) was very obedient and was always either beside me or at a distance where I could see her. I hope that he could lead me to the ripe durians one day. He is a guide dog and maybe one day he will perform his role.
With him around I felt very secure.
The Smartest Thief, ( The Human Being)
On one of our rounds picking the durians at the orchard at 6.30am. we were surprised to see the shadow of a human being walking slowly in the back part of the orchard. I was scared at first but after flashing my torchlight at him, he started to walk very fast into the back forest which led to the granite factory, Teik Granite. We started to take home all the durians that he had collected.
Another incident happened when I went into the Orchard at around 12.15pm. ( during my lunch break ) I saw a young man walking in the orchard. I knew that he was working with my former caretaker and I told him that I knew he was there and I decided to show him my PDA. I told him not to come again. He went back with some durians in his hand. There is an old Chinese saying, DO NOT LET YOUR GUESTS GO BACK EMPTY HANDED, "PI SAY" (shy lah)
The next incident was a dangerous one. This happened on the first year I had taken over the orchard. I was on my round in the orchard when I come across two Indonesians walking and searching for durians. I walked over to them and when I looked at one of them, I found that he had placed his hand behind a tree and was hiding something. My suspicion was correct - he was hiding a parang . Well , I politely asked one of them their background and they mentioned a person's name.They told me that they were helping their boss to trim the weeds in his orchard. I told them that their boss was not tendering the orchard that year and hence not to come again. Very happily they showed me how it was done yearly and as usual I gave them some good durians to take back home. Sad to say, I could not employ them part time at all.
For this season, I hope that I would not meet these people again. One good news that was told by my father's good friend during the lunch break was that the thief who stole the durians that time was captured and put in prison for taking drugs. I told him that there are also some who have gone into the orchard with motorcycles. He mentioned only these words, " Ah Ni Tua Tar" (So daring).
