Otters in the city of Singapore - are you safe? How to protect otters and yourself

 

Otters are being protected and encouraged to make themselves at home in the city. The water of the Singapore river was cleaned up some time ago.

Neighbours saw otters by the fish ponds in the grounds of Cashew Heights Condominium near Bukit Panjang in the North west of Singapore. The neighbour who took this photo said she could smell the fish. She told the building management. They checked their cameras and found that the otters, which are mammals, had not sneaked in through fencing as had first been thought. The otters had brazenly entered through the front entrance past the security guard. At the time when the guards were changing over at about 8 pm. 

Next morning when I was swimming with my friendly swimming pal, Vee, (from another block), she hailed the management. My neighbour, Vee, told me that after the otters had left, she noticed a strong smell of fish. 

Otters eat only the heads of the fish. Funny, that. Fish head curry is a local delicacy of the Indian restaurants in Singapore.

The otters also left another strong smell because they urinate marking their territory and making it easy to smell their way back. 

They have a strong sense of smell. They had travelled a distance to find the fish.

The otters had not eaten all the fish. The ponds are large and well stocked with fish. Enough to feed the otters again, should they choose to make a return visit. No need to stock up again.

I remember when the Night Safari opened in Singapore, that it was the first in the world and a great novelty. Now it seems the Night Safari is coming to us!

Are you safe?

Keep a safe distance. Especially if they are with young. Don't run up to take a photo. How would  you feel if an unknown animal galloped towards your baby! The otter is anxious as you approach from a distance, then angry and aggressive when you get near. One tourist ran up to them and spooked them. A second approaching slowly, was attacked and badly hurt.

So admire from a safe distance. It is a privilege to see them. 

If another otter attacked anybody, the poor otters might be shot or carted away. To be sure that the otters are not culled or captured and moved away from the city, don't get too near.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/dos-and-donts/animal-advisories/otters

Otter crossing sign, Outer Hebrides.

Dinner Etiquette Mysteries Solved - A Summary Of My First Workshop On Dinner Etiquette

Where
When
Why

1 Introduction to Angela Lansbury


2 Cutlery Mysteries - soup spoons

3 Water and water glass
Flat bottom glass (Stable water glass)
Champagne glass - tall.
Red wine glass rounded
White wine glass - long stem

4 The Host Chooses Drink: Sparkling White or Rose, Aperitif, White or Red Wine

Wine Bottles Labels
Why you check the label (Good and bad years, expensive wine replaced by wine from a poor or cheaper year)
Tasting and poison (Old days)
Tasting and bad wine (Host checking not for preference but quality)
What could be wrong with the wine (Colour brown, smell bad, bits)
Order of serving wine (Guest to right of host, host last)

Questions From Workshop Leader, Angela Lansbury
Looking at the table - What kind of spoon is this?
What shape is a soup spoon?
What is this large fork for? (With a Spoon. For Serving Salad - or vegetables)


Cutlery
Knives (Fish knives first, meat knives)

Tea Time And After Dinner Coffee
What is this small spoon? (Tea spoon)
I have two small spoons. What is the smaller one for? (Not a tea spoon, a Coffee spoon, matching the size of the tiny saucer of an espresso cup)

Story
Queen Victoria, drinking from the saucer

Questions From Audience
How much wine is in a glass? (Legal requirement UK, drinking)
What do you call the device for holding the corn? (Corn pick)
Do you break bread with your hands? (French fresh bread crumbles, unsuitable for slicing)
Do you break bread and get crumbs on the table (Not in my house, but like peanut shells on the floor in Raffles Hotel, copy the local diners)
How do you spread the butter? (Butter knife, not all at once)
Why does the waiter give you the cork and what do you do with it?
Can I ask for the leftover food at a UK restaurant? (Yes. If they have a deli, they must have take away containers and wrappers or bags If not, produce your own container.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How to Revive a dead Orange or Lemon Tree

Problem
We went away and our orange tree died. I hoped it was still alive.

Answer
ASK THE EXPERT
A friend from France (land of farmers and food) and New Zealand (land of sheep farms) told me what to do. Her lemon tree had looked dead earlier this year.

BREAKING AND BENDING BRANCHES
She looked at the 'dead' branches of my orange tree, which was full of dead leaves. When we tried to cut the spiky branches, she said, "some of them snap straight away and are dead. The others bend and resist because they are slightly moist and alive.?

ORANGE OR LEMON AROMA
She also broke off a bit of a living branch and said, "can you smell the orange?"

Yes, but I had thought it was dead orange, the way orange peel smells.

PRUNING REMEDY
She said prune it right back. It needs to get the water to the roots to revive.
Cut above the nodes (teeny lumps on branches).

WATER
Water it well.
Nothing might happen for a month. It needs time to recover.

Keep it moist. In Singapore we are not allowed to have water saucers under pots because stagnant water can breed mosquitoes. Government health inspectors will come around to look for water retention - even plastic bags ying around which collect water - and can charge a large fine. In other countries, cut a hole in the bottom of the pot if it doesn't have one and keep a saucer underneath.

WATER RETENTION
You can buy at garden centres the white balls which act like sponges of chalk, holding water, which the plant roots can retrieve. You will extend the life of a plant you forgot to water or could not water because you were away on holiday or a business trip or at your second home. That gives your plant up to an extra month (depending on size of plant and pot).

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

Recycling Plastic and Paper Cups to Protect Yogurt and Donuts In Transit

Problems
You have used paper cups which get squashed in transit.
You want to use them again after they are hardly used or not used.
Your yoghurt is in danger of spilling.
Your croissant or sandwich is in danger of leaving grease on your diary and paperwork in your bag.

Answer
A plastic or paper cup (or two or three) makes a great protective container for yoghurt. You can also used plastic of paper mugs as containers for biscuits, muffins, doughnuts, or cakes.

Story
One year I was delayed boarding a plane at Heathrow. We were given vouchers for food and drinks. I bought a strawberry yoghurt and other foods.  The plane was called and I had an uneaten, unfinished, not even started yoghurt. I thought it would be okay in a duffel bag. Wrong.

Unfortunately, when the plane landed, I discovered I had strawberry yoghurt over my diary, my guidebook and my bikini. I washed out the bikini at the destination, which removed a potential stain, but it still smelled of strawberry yoghurt for days.

I am not saying that a plastic cup is better than a proper, solid, capped container, nor even that it is just as good. I am saying it is better than nothing, when you are looking around and wondering, how do I protect papers and clothes from this potential spill?

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Please share your favourite posts.

My Mango Misadventure

Problem
You see items on the floor. Your first thought might be - it's free, free goods, free food, unwanted. Your second thought might be, but it's dirty. Your next thought might be, put it in a plastic bag and wash it later. More thoughts. You should not take what doesn't belong to you. You are not supposed to take fruit from trees. But what about windfalls?
Put me down - you don't know where I've been! What could go wrong?

Answer
I picked up a mango. I could not see which tree it came from. I picked it up. It made a lovely / dreadful smell in my tote bag. I had visions of home made mango lassi.

Story
When we got our windfall mango home, we washed it. Then we cut it. Out pops spider or something similar.

We try cutting out one side of the fruit. But the other side is affected.

Er - no. Not worth the risk. I need not go into details.

OK, I'll go into details:
1 Yuk - as the old joke goes, the only thing worse than seeing a worm in the apple you are eating is seeing half a worm.
2 You could get an upset stomach.
3 It could multiply.
4 You could excrete living creatures.
5 You could get one living creature stuck and growing in any part of your body causing irritation, pain, a growth.

Presumably cultivated fruit (on trees in orchards) is sprayed against insects. Maybe fruit trees in public places are also sprayed to reduce the numbers of insects causing problems and infecting other trees. Maybe not.

I have great respect for farming methods and farmers. I have had such trouble with everything in my UK garden, from aphids on roses to slugs in strawberries to insects eating fruit on trees and birds eating fruit on trees and making holes in fallen fruit and leaving only half of each windfall apple.

Never mind, say the family. It didn't cost anything. Learning experience.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.