Sunday, November 20, 2016

Butterfly Farm (蝴蝶昆蟲乐园) - Including Reptiles, Insects, Poultry & Flowers @ Cameron Highlands [Malaysia]

Judging from the dark clouds in the sky, i am guessing that the rain would likely fall for a while more; hence, it would be most preferred to have a sheltered attraction where we can continue to make full use of our time.

Well, it's the butterfly farm ahead of us and even though i had visited (and even blogged) before, it's at least the best of the lot given the limited options.

Entering after purchasing the tickets which were priced at RM 7.00 which was quite a spike in terms of percentage as they used to cost only RM 5.00. I am not complaining as Singapore dollar has been strengthening against the Malaysian ringgit recently.

Walking stick insect enclosure - i would have loved to bring the kids here as they would be more interested. Between me and Alex, it's just a matter of competing who can point out the well-camouflaged insects first!

A shelter within a sheltered area - the butterfly house should be the main star for the attraction as it was the originator for the namesake.

Interior of the lepidopterarium which wasn't much to speak of but we shouldn't be expecting much when we were paying less than S$2 a person for entry. In comparison at Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom in Sentosa, Singapore, the ticket for one adult would set me back by S$16! 

Fruits on a tray to attract the butterflies. Sadly, we didn't see many and i thought i would stand a better chance at Changi Airport's butterfly garden.

A scary looking gnome (i think) with bloodshot eyes and seemingly blood trickling down its red lips; not exactly a child-friendly image.

Finally, a butterfly! 

Rajah brooke butterflies that didn't appear to be alive. Strange that in the few occasions i was at the butterfly farm / garden at Cameron Highlands; they were never very active. From what i remember, it's a result of too cold a temperature.

I was delicate to pick this up and i couldn't help thinking it looked as if it was wearing a thick black / red sweater to protect it from the cold. 

Many were just 'stuck" on the corners of the lepidopterarium.

Out of the butterfly house to continue our exploration - this smelly enclosure housed a raccoon and there was only one i can see with my naked eye and its colour was a light brown; different from the black-white-grey version commonly seen on tv.

Spacious environment for you to have a quiet session with your loved ones. Well, maybe because it was so quiet and i can count no more than 10 visitors! 

Hedgehogs with a feisty one that was just poking its nose out from its slumber when i peered over it. As there wasn't any barrier, i do empathise with the rough handling the spiny mammals had to endure with inconsiderate humans.

Syrian hamsters! Like some of you, i do wonder why they were displayed as they could commonly be found at pet shops. My weak excuse is that maybe they were abandoned? 

A long line of glass enclosures on stone platforms. Want to make a guess on what they house?

Insects and they comprised of some green, shimmering bugs, tarantulas, the grasshopper looking thorny stick insect (only the green ones are females by the way) and the almost unnoticeable dead leaf mantis! 

This was obvious - for the little dragons; lizards / geckos! 

The bad thing about the description is that there's nothing substantial or interesting to pique our interest. And you know what's worse? Even if they have, i doubt i would remember any of them! Haha.

Reminded me of a scene in a Chinese movie, the The Mermaid, where the upper body of a barbie doll was fused with the end section of a salted fish! 

Bullfrogs section had more information even though i doubt scientific jargon like tetrapod, pectoral girdie, ranid, vomerine, fenestrated etc would make any sense to common folks like i. 

Millipedes; one was about the length of my forearm! 

Two ducks that were free roaming i think as they could easily jumped off the ledge and waddle together with us, if they want.

Koi pond; i am surprised there wasn't any dispense for fish feed as it can be lucrative business, especially for kids who totally enjoy getting near to animals / fishes.

Not part of the attraction but it's worth publishing here as it's a simple work of nature. As i mentioned before, as i get older, the more i feel for the animals caged up in zoos and i am increasingly veering towards the line that animals should be set free and be put back in their original habitat. 

Chickens in a coop! Anyway, it's easy for me to say what i felt in the paragraph before this as i don't live in a rural environment where my livelihood can be destroyed by wild animals; an example would be hens reared for their eggs being eaten up by snakes, tigers etc.

Flowers have that mysterious pull to lighten one's spirits! It's sad that many commercial flower beds have pesticides and that was said to be the reason for the spike of nose cancer for people working in flower nurseries. 

Inevitable encounter with my old enemy. 

Said to be a symbol of poison and revenge, i have long regarded the snake to my nemesis as there's nothing i am more afraid of. Okay, maybe my mom's wrath and my dad's nagging when i was younger. 

From being terrified to see a picture of a snake in a book, i am now brave enough to even touch one so long the reptile is held by a professional and assurance has been given. However, it was still unnerving to have a menacing snake arched up in the manner above.

It was looking into the next enclosure where the red tail rat snakes were and with the way that both sides were behaving, i am thinking there would be nasty confrontation if there's no barrier in between them!

Bombarding you with photographs of the daisy flower beds!  

Ultra adorable chipmunks and they could run so fast! Anyone remembers the chip and dale cartoons?! It's been a while since i last saw them appearing on screens... i am getting old. 

Sun-bathing gecko.

Hibiscus, the national flower for Malaysia! I have always liked rose and there are quite a number of countries that have bestowed the status of national flower to it; USA, Maldives, Bulgaria etc.

Vandalised cactus - i honestly couldn't understand the reason for vandalising something! If you need to mark anything, do it on your own body. 

Wait, is this a cactus garden too?! For a really comprehensive cactus garden, you can consider the Big Red Strawberry Farm at Brinchang

Coming to the fluffy rabbits; they were blessed to have such big enclosures! Advantage was that they can stay far from humans; their advantage was our disadvantage.

Beetles, including the three horn rhino beetle.

Scorpions - once again, the lack of any protective barrier is worrying and the low height brought me to think about the recent cases of kids falling over the escalators. 

Not something to laugh about where there were literally hundreds of scorpions! I can only hope that due to the cold weather, they were not as active as they would usually be. 

Want to get a memento? You may purchase little pots of cactus, key chains with specimen of insect and butterfly and like many souvenir shops, get your hands on boxes of strawberry chocolate, teabags etc.

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Location Map
As above

Operating Hours
Mondays to Fridays - 9.00 am to 6.00 pm
Saturdays & Sundays - 8.30 am to 7.00 pm
School Holidays - 8.30 am to 7.00 pm
Public Holidays - 8.30 am to 7.00 pm

Ticket Pricing
Adult - RM 7.00
Child - RM 4.00


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