Bamboo Shoot in Agent Bittens Garden
Agent Bitten epitomises the true man of the jungle, a walking encyclopaedia of jungle plants, flowers, animals & insects PLUS the inherent ability of getting bitten by lizards & snakes, stung by bees & attacked by squirrels that get personal. Oh yes. I had the privilege of being in his nursery of flora, fauna & fearsome dog, Brownie, which had ticks falling off him everywhere he went. I was told not to run or hell bite. His huge garden was something Id envision of keeping when I retire & as I treaded around for subjects to shoot, his deceptively well kept garden threatened to swallow city bumpkins like me, with foliage-covered holes & grooves that only Brownie could dodge. Shaken, but not stirred, I tried not to let my own scream prevent me from traversing further into the lush of the trees within. PINK GUAVAS! Hundreds of juicy, succulent, ripe pink guavas on the ground!!!
Orchid in Agent Bittens
Can I pick up & eat???
Agent Bitten replied, No, you cant eat those. The stupid squirrels had taken a bite off those & flung them to the ground. Pick them from the tree.
(Huh? How do I pick them when they are sky high?)
With much pestering, Moggie plucked two off the tree using his tripod just so that he could get back to photo taking. I washed them in the nearby tap & do what any normal human being would do when they hold two juicy, pink guavas in their hand, chomp on it. AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH…..! The guava was spat out & the remaining fruit was flung towards Agent Bitten. Maggots. Pttooooi…blech…yuck. Another booby trap. Then Agent Bitten told me that I had to break the fruit apart to check first before I ate. Fine. Im from the city, remember???
Blooms in Agent Bittens
We proceeded to pluck four more & every time I broke them, there were maggots!!! So I gave them to his pet monkey, Bobo, instead. Bobo was saved from poachers that shot her & Dr. Luv & Agent Bitten nursed it to adulthood. Hmmm…..
Cacti in Agent Bittens
He showed us orchids, pitcher plants & fly traps that hed cultivated & salvaged from the jungle. As we trotted into the nursery, we had an avalanche of pink guavas, pelted at us, apparently by the squirrel aiming at Brownie, avenging the murder of another squirrel. I felt as if we were engaging in battle with invisible enemies, though we cant really fight back, because they are obviously smarter than city bumpkins. The whole place is a trap!
Fiery Orchid
Truce! I only came to shoot plants, not to get involved with territorial supremacy wars. Where in the world would you get this kind of animal vs human action if at all, it should happen? Right here in Cameron Highlands, where the community never sleeps. REACH, a community based organisation with likeminded volunteers, are set to blow your mind away with their lives, their causes & the place where they live in.
Plenty Of Life In Agent Bittens
Sundew – This carnivorous plant is only about 4cm in diameter & traps flies/insects with the dewlike sticky substance on its spatulas. Scientific name is Drocella spatulata.
