[b]Anyone has an ANIMAL STORY to tell during NS/ Reservist[/
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Must excuse my recollection of the topography of the reservoir. Also the perspective of a recruit ,maybe 6 weeks into BMT, is different from a seasoned soldier. The river crossing was done in 1983 !!! Since 1984, I did not return to that damned island. Almost did on one occasion before ROD , as my company was slated to do some training there... but somehow I was attached out in same period, to do enemy simulation for Starlight.Originally posted by baer:I hope it wasn't the tortoise which walked away with a MILES helmet gear. We lost two sets during SAFINCOS, spent next 4 weekends combing the training area for them (somehow traineees dropped them during excercise). Found one 'worn' by a tortise (I kid you not), somehow it must have snagged the equipment and dragged it along for a bit before we found it. If so, say "hi" to her and send her on her way please.
BTW in Burnei - we had cicadas as big as mess tin (captured by hand then injected with meth spirit), they looked like a huge fly (bug eyes and double wings) and has a nasty habit of flying inside the bunks!! Outside we did not say much except huge spiders, giant ants (~3cm length) etc. Even say fresh water prawns in streams.
What size was this tortoise? If it was large enough, Mindef could have a replacement for a independently mobile armoured vehicle simulator equipped with MILES !!! -
oh heyyyy! im flying to london in 2 weeks time for my studies!Originally posted by specfore:Yeah tell me about weird hours. By the way, I am living and working in the UK now. Been disrupted from reservist since 1995. Hence, some of my terminology for the SAF is dated. -
During one of our FIBUA live firing, there was a commotion in one of the rooms. When we went in to see, there was a dog lying on some of the many sandbags that line the wall.
It was full of holes!!
6SIR 5th Mono -
That you are totally wrong. It is totally possible, croc been know to cross kilometer, even through jungle to find small water hole. If you track from mac ritchie to bt timah , you will see sign of croc warning in the middle which is away from water. This is because croc been spot in the middle of jungle.Originally posted by baer:Quite impossible as the part of the reservoir in Tekong for watermanship is a part of the reservior which is blocked off by a bund (raised road) which has some culverts (buried pipes) to allow cross flow etc. No chance of a croc there. Anyway Tekong reservoir is too small and too shallow for any large wildlife. BTW the temple is still 10 minutes walk away from the crossing point (you must have got muddled up with the last rest point before the crossing site).
A reservior may be view as small, but it can be fill with fishes. Also there be wild animals like wild boar to drink from it. One wild boar ate will let it go month without food. Also it can be a small croc, about 1.5m so don't need that much food, a fish or 2 for a week will do. -
There were many animals during my NS days, one of our sergents kept a chicken coop with 4 chickens in it, whenever we go to LCK we would bring back rotting jackfruit which when you break open and expose to direct sunlight you will see hundreds of tiny small worms, the chickens just loved it.
There there was platoon4 they caught a small black cobra in the field and kept in a glass aquarium back at camp, every morning during area cleaning they would catch small toads from the longkang to feed it with.
Then there was the 3 soonhock we kept in the small pond, can't remember who contributed those probably platoon6.
We even had a stray puppy, but our encik hated dogs, one day when we came back from the field ...
Of course not forgetting our camp mascot that huge squawking caged eagle .. can you tell which camp I'm previously from?
But most memorable was when we went to khatib camp for some color parade, the chief cook there kept this huge & fat monitor lizard which looked like a giant komodo under his desk. Probably grew so big from eating excess food wastage from the cookhouse. -
those 3 fishes are not soonhock !!! They are snakeheads.Originally posted by arburthen?:There were many animals during my NS days, one of our sergents kept a chicken coop with 4 chickens in it, whenever we go to LCK we would bring back rotting jackfruit which when you break open and expose to direct sunlight you will see hundreds of tiny small worms, the chickens just loved it.
There there was platoon4 they caught a small black cobra in the field and kept in a glass aquarium back at camp, every morning during area cleaning they would catch small toads from the longkang to feed it with.
Then there was the 3 soonhock we kept in the small pond, can't remember who contributed those probably platoon6.
We even had a stray puppy, but our encik hated dogs, one day when we came back from the field ...
Of course not forgetting our camp mascot that huge squawking caged eagle .. can you tell which camp I'm previously from?
But most memorable was when we went to khatib camp for some color parade, the chief cook there kept this huge & fat monitor lizard which looked like a giant komodo under his desk. Probably grew so big from eating excess food wastage from the cookhouse. -
definately soonhock bcus our section ony ic to clean the pond.Originally posted by storywolf:those 3 fishes are not soonhock !!! They are snakeheads.
you which year 1? -
Think maybe different camp, me 35 SCE at selatar, we use to have chickens, ducks, snakes, snakeheads, sea-eagle, dogs as pets there.Originally posted by arburthen?:definately soonhock bcus our section ony ic to clean the pond.
you which year 1? -
oh definately diff, mine rifle battl. but is interesting to note other units do have the same distraction.Originally posted by storywolf:Think maybe different camp, me 35 SCE at selatar, we use to have chickens, ducks, snakes, snakeheads, sea-eagle, dogs as pets there.
One other thing in lancer I caught this strange looking giant scorpion size of a normal telephone handset. Strange thing abt it is that it is totally camoflague with hues of brown and dark and light green shades like our number 4, my buddy was leaning against a boulder and it was next to his arm and he didn't even know.
I caught it kept it in a plastic bottle but it died on way back to sing. What do scorpions feed on? -
Still more cool stories coming in... Thanks for the responses.
I must stress that I have not said much about the domesticated animals that NS men will keep at the Company line. We have had our share of puppies, kittens, snakes and golden arowana (yes, the famous "kim leng" !!!) back in the 1980s.
The arowana (about 12 inches long) was kept in a 3 foot fish tank in my platoon office. It was brought in by one of the sect cmdrs whose businessman dad did not want it anymore. The OC did not like it on the grounds that the air pump consumed electricity and therefore the Singapore taxpayers' funds !!! Anyway, we were 19/ 20 year olds who did not pay tax and did not understand him at that time.
Some evenings, the duty section commander and I will conduct a "gecko parade". What this entails is that a nominated section (who is free from night training) will comb the company line for house lizards that are at least 2 inches long. All lizards will be caught and kept in jam bottles. Needless to say the lizards were rationed out to the arowana. On lizard -dry days, the parade will be a "stand-by cockroach" night !!! -
scorpions - depend on which type, some on insects others even small mammals.Originally posted by arburthen?:oh definately diff, mine rifle battl. but is interesting to note other units do have the same distraction.
One other thing in lancer I caught this strange looking giant scorpion size of a normal telephone handset. Strange thing abt it is that it is totally camoflague with hues of brown and dark and light green shades like our number 4, my buddy was leaning against a boulder and it was next to his arm and he didn't even know.
I caught it kept it in a plastic bottle but it died on way back to sing. What do scorpions feed on?