I ran into some interesting wildlife today...
Pak Kadek and I drove out to west Bali in order to help one of our coworkers install a submersible pump. The install went well, and a community of about 75 people now has access to water. The most interesting part of the day was when Pak Kadek, who was telling a story about something, bolted mid-sentence up a hill. He grabbed a stick as he was running and pinned something to the ground. We all followed. Half confused, half curious.
He had seen a black scorpion cross a path and wanted to catch it. Usually scorpions in Bali tend to be small, but this one was relatively large (about 5 inches long). On our island, the bigger the scorpion, the less you have to worry. The word on the street is that the big ones don't really hurt if they sting you. It's the small ones that have a dangerous sting.
About 30 minutes later, I was telling a story about something, and I saw a brownish blur fly past me, from left to right. My eyes tried to follow it, but it was a small 'landing' sound that drew my attention to a nearby tree. It was a lizard! He scurried up the tree and out of sight. I had heard of flying lizards but had never seen one. I was a bit embarrassed to even suggest to my friends that I 'thought' I saw a lizard fly past me (Living in a different culture tends to bring on plenty of ridicule, so I try to avoid intentionally sounding like an idiot).
But I had to ask... turns out there are plenty of gliding lizards in that part of Bali. I got home later in the day, told Jaiden and Kenan about it, and then we looked up this video that tells a little more about the 'Draco' lizards.
