Feed the Birds and Komodo Dragons are Vicious

2 year old Komodo Dragon
Today was a free day since yesterday we were broken into smaller groups in order to facilitate the indigo dye workshop. So I decided I would explore Ubud and instead of going to the Monkey Forest which I think I will try on Friday I went to the Bali Bird Park. 
As part of their programming I arrived just in time for the Komodo dragon feeding. Did you know that Komodo dragons are quite dangerous. I got to watch one feed today and saw two babies.Komodo dragons can lay motionless for hours waiting for their prey. The ends of their forked tongue samples the air which when put back in the mouth is brought to a receptor in the roof of the mouth called a "Jacobson  Organ". They can "smell" food ie dead meat from up to 4 miles away. There are serrations in the teeth that harbor pieces of meat from previous meals supporting about 50 mostly poisons bacterial strains.  The teeth are also carved allowing it to tear flesh efficiently. Their mouths have venomous glands that keep the blood from clotting in animals that they bite and results in shorter contact time being necessary when attacking other animals so it can go after larger prey. They also have a special jaw that can open incredibly wide allowing them to eat large prey in one swallow! I saw one today being fed and eat a rabbit whole. Gross I know but the circle of life is what it is.


I honestly felt like breaking out in a Mary Poppins song and this isn't the big one. The Bird Park has Birds from around the world many of whom are wandering freely through the park. This pelican seemed to be a crowd favorite as he ambled along.  One of the enclosures included a walkway through the trees and there was an employee at the top fo the walkway with a bowl of apples pieces and four birds he was feeding them to . It took me four tries to get this picture as I kep t much to the chagrin of the employee giving them the apple to eat and share with each other instead of as he kept telling me to hold onto the apple so that they fly to you and not past you as they grab their apple piece. Once I got it the two pretties on my arm landed and had a fourth snack from me:).



After my Bird Park adventure I got to try Balinese dance and to try to play the gamelan. Can't figure out the scale it is on but since I love to collect instruments from around the world and play them when I can I did give it a try.
Balinese Gamelan



Day 3: Photos

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