durian hunting in singapore

durians from malaysia will be with us in about a week's time. wonder how and where the stalls at geylang are getting theirs earlier. in fact, they seem to have the fruit the whole year round.

went looking for durians at a few rural places, some not actually rural, in singapore. in lim chu kang, there are a few durian trees by the roadside after the equine quarantine station. in other parts of lim chu kang, there are durian trees left behind by people who were resettled. there are also durian trees at the durian loop of the rifle range trail. they are also found in bukit batok nature park and yishun park.

at the durian loop, i came across a number of 'damaged' fruits on the ground. most of them have been tampered by monkeys (according to the national park board personnel). somehow the monkeys were able to dig through the husk to get at the flesh. according to the national park board person who was there to stop people from 'camping' in the reserve to pick durians, those durians were not ripe yet.

today, i found out the real culprit behind all those durians on which some animals have left their marks. it is not the monkey's job. if we humans have problem prying open the husk, i do not think the monkeys can do any better. it is a smaller animal.....the squirrel. saw this squirrel working on one of the durians at a tree in lim chu kang. there was a hole on one side of the fruit.