Collecting Critters in Gunung Mulu National Park

 

*This post is especially meant for my nephew and niece, and for my friends’ children as well.  It also applies to all of us grownups who still have a child-like enthusiasm inside of us.

 

It’s time once again to do some critter spotting!  This time we are at Gunung Mulu National Park in Borneo.  Before we begin our expedition, we first need to organize our gear.  First, a location check.  Compass, map, and good investigation skills are a must.  We need to find out where Gunung Mulu is located.  Do a Google search or ask Mom and Dad to help you.  Look for Borneo.  Found it?  Good.  Now look closer and find Gunung Mulu National Park.      Spotted it?  Excellent.

 

All sorts of tiny creatures exist here in the rainforest!  We need to make sure we are prepared to find them though.  Since it is a rainforest, I bet it rains here often.  So we need to make sure we pack a good raincoat.  But it is also steamy hot here so we need to make sure the raincoat is lightweight and cool.  Next on our list, some sunscreen.  If it isn’t raining, an intense sun is shining down.  However, did you realize that the sun almost never reaches the ground in a rainforest because all the big trees spread out their limbs and leaves in order to grab as much sun as possible?  They are selfish, aren’t they?  But don’t worry, the rest of the trees and plants (and animals!) in the rainforest have learned to adapt to this selfishness and have figured out ways to get sun (and water too!).

 

We also need a good pair of walking shoes, some insect repellent, and our detective skills.  These insects blend right into their surroundings so they are tough to find!  It takes a keen eye and very thorough searching in order to spot some of these secretive creatures.  I don’t think they are shy, I just think they are scared of being eaten.  It isn’t fun to worry all day and all night about being someone’s lunch, is it?  So these critters have developed tons of awesome ways to either hide or show their predators that they might be DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!

 

Since we are doing a day walk and not a night walk, we don’t need a flashlight.  But we do need to carry some drinking water since it gets so hot.  Finally, we need to give ourselves a name.  I think I will go with “Cretin the Critter Collector”.  What’s yours?  Think about it, and when you are ready, let’s set off on this wild trek to collect all the critters we can manage to find here at Gunung Mulu National Park!

 

Look at this white caterpiller!  All that white hair all over its body will sting someone if they touch it, so we must be careful!  The other creatures in the forest know that lots of spiky hair like this means bad news.  Danger, indeed.

 

 

Wow!  It is a pit viper, just hanging out in the canopy!  What is the canopy of the rainforest?  Good question.  Ask Mom or Dad or do a Google search to find out.  Then come back and let me know too!  As fellow critter collectors, we need to share our knowledge of the rainforest and its inhabitants.  I know some things, but not all, so once you figure out what a canopy is and why it might be useful or why most animals hang out there, let me know too.

Look how this pit viper blends into the tree.  It waits in that one spot and doesn’t move until food comes close and then…BAM!  Dinner is served.

 

 

What is this armored insect?  I have no idea!  It looks like a grasshopper, but not like the ones I have seen.  Maybe it is a cricket.  Those spikes sure look sharp.  I bet they tell other insects to STAY AWAY!

 

 

Wow!  A snail almost entirely out of its shell!  Look at all that slimy stuff that makes the shell cling to the wood.  This snail is hanging upside down on the wooden railing of our boardwalk trail.  The slimy mucus that the snail produces allows the shell to stick to the wood, and it can have a good look around at its surroundings.  Check out the snail’s colors too!  Black and gold – I think there is a team in Iowa that has those colors too.  Do you know which one?

 

 

Look at all those spikes!  This caterpillar means business.  It doesn’t mess around when it tells others that it is DANGEROUS!  Those spikes sting, I bet.  We better leave it be and continue our critter search here at Gunung Mulu National Park!

 

 

What have we come across here?  It appears that this tiny little caterpillar is stuck in a spider’s web!  All we can see is a single strand of web on the left and if we look real hard, we can see a single strand on the right.  This poor guy is definitely having a bad day.  The rainforest is a dangerous place, and not all critters are lucky.  One critter’s misfortune is another critter’s lucky day.  Let’s continue down the trail and see what else we can find…

 

 

Another caterpillar!  There are so many different varieties of caterpillar here in Gunung Mulu.  And each one of these bright guys (and gals) turns into a different type of butterfly.  That’s A LOT of butterflies!  I wonder how many different types of butterflies exist in Gunung Mulu?  Put your investigative skills to the test and see if you can find out for me!

 

 

Whoa!  What are these crazy critters with huge noses?  I think they are called lantern bugs.  Wow, they look pretty cool to me, what do you think?  Look closely.  They seem to be clinging to a tree.  Now that we know that, let’s find out how many different ways these lantern bugs resemble the tree.  By blending in, they can avoid detection by their unwanted predators.  If you don’t look scary, another tactic is to hide, blend in, or seemingly disappear and a lot of insects here at Gunung Mulu have learned how to do just that!  It really is amazing, isn’t it?

 

I wonder if these two lantern bugs are siblings.  Maybe a brother and sister?  Or maybe a husband and wife?  Let’s keep moving on, and hope they remain undetected from their enemies.

 

 

It’s a lantern bug, but this one is white, not green and brown!  I wonder why that is?  Can you tell me?  Put your investigative skills to work again and let’s find out why there is a white lantern bug.  When you have found out, come back and let me know!  Then we can log it in our critter guide book so that the rest of the world will know too.  I bet there are lots of other types of lantern bugs that exist here in Borneo, too!

 

 

I wonder if this butterfly was that black and white caterpillar we spotted at the beginning of our trek?  What do you think?  There are so many varieties here at the park, it is hard to tell.

 

 

Wow!  Those wings are so cool!  Those green tips look like the tips of plants, don’t they?  They even seem to glow in the dark!  I bet these butterflies have developed these types of wings so that they can blend right in when they land on a plant or tree.  I am logging this butterfly in my critter guide book as my favorite butterfly of all time.  What do you think?  Is it your favorite too?

 

 

This beetle looks like it has armor on!  I bet those orange tips signal danger to other critters, too.  We will have to log this guy as unknown in our critter guidebook for now, but I bet we will find out soon what it is.  When we do, we will have to come back here and make sure we record its name.

 

 

Another grasshopper/cricket insect!  Those antennae are super long too!  I wonder if she uses those antennae as a way to “see” other things around her.  If so, I bet that is really useful.  It looks like she is ready to spring into action, so we will let her be in peace as we continue on our walk.

 

 

It’s a centipede!  This one looks particularly dangerous with it’s orange, red, and black colors.  Do you know what the difference is between a centipede and a millipede?  I don’t, so I think this is a good time for my investigative partner (that would be you!) to do some research and find out.  Then we both will know!  I think centipedes might be venomous while millipedes are poisonous.  Is there a difference between venomous and poisonous animals?  Yes!

 

 

Ugh.  Spiders.  I hate spiders.  They creep me out.  Here at Gunung Mulu there are thought to be hundreds if not thousands of different species of spiders.  While I was at the park there was also a team of researchers leading an expedition to find out just how many different species of spiders exist in the park.  Maybe we can help them out by showing them pictures of the spiders we have found!  But yuck, I still don’t like to look at spiders.

 

 

Here is another spider we can show the research team.  It looks scary to me, too.  I don’t know about you, but I just don’t like the idea of doing spider research.  Did you know that most of these spiders were hanging out on the boardwalk trail when I was walking along it?  They don’t want to be squashed though, so they quickly get out of your way when you are walking.  Still, it is a good idea we decided to wear good shows and not sandals, right?

 

 

Hey!  I know this insect!  It is a praying mantis and we have them in Iowa where I am from.  Do you have them where you are from too?  Look at how his arms are folded, like he is praying.  I bet that is how he got his name, don’t you think?  When some food comes along, he extends those arms quickly to catch the prey.  It’s a good and effective tactic.  When I walked by he extended his arms to try to catch me.  But I’m way too big!  No chance catching me, little guy!  Good luck next time.

 

 

Well, that’s it!  Our critter collection is complete.  I hope you had as good of a time as I did and I hope we both learned a lot about the rainforest, its inhabitants, and how they coexist.  Plus we learned about geography, too.  Now we know where in the world Gunung Mulu National Park is!  Plus we now have experience for the next time we want to go out and do some critter collecting.  It can happen a world away or just outside your own front door…

 

Until next time, Cretin the Critter Collector signing out!