Hush, my darling

Should you hear in the next few days about the Singapore Night Safari going up in a horrifying conflagration, please be assured that we tried to warn them. On the ``Fishing Cat Trail'', between the Rhino (eating) and the Indian Wolf (sleeping) we heard an odd noise, popping about once a second, that I quipped was the sweet sound of relays exploding. And by a building was a bright white flash, with a little red square inside, with each pop. So we told the next guide we saw, and he explained the Rhino and the Indian Wolf are along the Fishing Cat trail, back that way. Well, yes, but our concern was the popping and white flash along that way. He said somebody should know something about that, and we noticed he didn't call anyone on his walkie-talkie.

Anyway. On to the East Lodge where we tried to explain again that between the Rhino and the Indian Wolf was a popping noise and a white flash; the person again assured us that we could see the Rhino and the Indian Wolf along the Fishing Cat Trail. And we could also see giraffes, in a very nice exhibit. I'd like to think got our point across, but we're concerned.

Past that all the Safari taught me that with the wide-angle lens I could take blurry pictures of most anything at night. There were few good camera resting sites, and I should get a tripod. I think we got some respectable mousedeer, porcupine, and possibly a few good Malayan bat pictures. We tried for otters, sure, but try getting an otter to stand still for an eight-second exposure.

The giant flying squirrel allegedly in one enclosure was nowhere to be seen. If you believe the placards this squirrel can get ``as large as'' 133 centimeters, which you'd think would be impossible to miss, considering it's larger than I was in fourth grade. The golden cat smelled of melted butter; we think this might have been Lodge spillover. And we overheard at the leopard enclosure, after someone took a warned-against-at-the-entrance-and-every-exhibit flash picture, ``They don't want you taking flash pictures.'' ``My camera doesn't work without.'' ``Don't take pictures then.'' ``Animals don't care about flashes.'' Me, I behaved the whole way through. I knew my eyes were night-adapted when they hurt from the glare of my camera's LCD showing a black screen.

Trivia: When the HMS Beagle set out in 1831, it carried twenty-two chronometers. Source: Longitude, Dava Sobel.

Currently Reading: Pogo Romances Recaptured, Walt Kelly.