# General > Member's Lounge > Nature and Conservation >  Heavy metal poisoning and littering

## XnSdVd

Long story short, was in a nature reserve today. Bashed quite far into the forest and found:

3 rusted, dismantled mortocycles(at least! there were 7 wheels)
a switchbox and wires leading to nowhere
a shoe(nike!) 
a huge wok/kwali/whatever you call it
2 big metal drums
6-ish? abandoned fish traps along the rivers
several broken ketchup bottles(Heinz if I'm not mistaken)  :Confused:  
zinc roofs, on the floor?  :Huh?:  
lots and lots of coconuts(at least 30), with neat holes cut into them
NO COCONUT TREES!!  :Shocked:  
assorted cans, sweetwrappers  :Mad:  

1 bare-foot commando  :Wink:  

Point is, it's a mystery how whoever it is got all that junk that far up into the forest and secondly, why haven't the park authorities done anything? Or is venus road outside the protected zone?

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## Weirong

> 1 bare-foot commando


You referring to me?  :Wink:  
And not to mention that someone was very late for 2 hrs!  :Mad:  

A friendly uncle was watering the plants when we entered and according to him, he planted some of the stuff, emersed and submersed and comes here often to take care of them.  :Smile:  

It was quite a breeze walking in there. Absolutely no mosquitoes! 
And it's a small plants paradise. Saw snakeheads, barbs, pugnax, guppies and halfbeaks in strong flowing water. 

I thought you took some pictures? Maybe you can post some here.

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## budak

looks like you found paradise on earth!

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## Simon

venus drive isn't in the reserve boundary. Anyhow, reason to your question is there were old settlements there in the early days.

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## XnSdVd

On another note, anyone feel like doing a little volunteer work? Protected or not, it's sad to see the stream in such a state.

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## Justikanz

Most probably no heavy metal poisoning lah... That usually refers to Cr, Se, other industrial wastes etc...  :Smile: 

It could be due to 1)past residents, 2)dumping acts, 3)illegal immigrants...

You want to clean up, maybe can talk to NParks on collaboration... And then can ask TCS to film you...  :Smile:

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## XnSdVd

if they could hook me up with some hot environmentalist chicks, yeah, sure.

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## XnSdVd

> And not to mention that someone was very late for 2 hrs!


I was sick! really!




> Most probably no heavy metal poisoning lah... That usually refers to Cr, Se, other industrial wastes etc...


What about lead and the like from the batteries? oh, on another note, some of the plants were really red. High iron right?

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## valice

Low NO3 lar...

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## Weirong

Really quite enjoyed the whole trip. But I hope people don't go plant hunting soon.  :Crying:  
Although I did take a few samples myself, I swear that no harm was done!  :Laughing:  
Since someone actually maintains this place, I reckon it would be good to give him some plant species for planting?

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## benny

> Since someone actually maintains this place, I reckon it would be good to give him some plant species for planting?


You have to be careful not to introduce non indigenous species that may overrun the native species.

I prefer a visit to the farm anytime, cleaner and more variety.

Cheers,

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## XnSdVd

that guy was already planting indonesian plants in there from what I could tell.

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## GaspingGurami

> 1 bare-foot commando


My old stomping grounds in the mid 70s... The area used to be part of the old kampong of Ang Mo Kio. Zinc roofed huts, ponds, wells... Not adviseable to go walking around barefoot regardless of how "combat" you are. You might be pricked by rusted nails or cut by the rusted zinc sheets.

Be careful of unfilled wells too. They might be covered by a rotting branch and it's a long way down... or up.

If I'm not mistaken, used to be a duck farm under the bamboo thicket. It should be secondary growth over the area now.

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## XnSdVd

bamboo thicket? i found a place like that... was it near a place where people left their bikes? 

And hey, I kept telling the commando to put on boots  :Wink:  We artillery guys are very safety oriented you know..

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## Weirong

Ok ok, point noted. Boots next time.
We did see some bamboo but not really a lot of it. But I guess it's worth another trip to explore deeper.

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## XnSdVd

Muahahaha! just thought of getting those rubber waders! hahaha! can you imagine 5 guys walking in a knee deep river with those? hahaha  :Laughing:

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## GaspingGurami

Wellingtons no good for wading in knee deep water. Canvas boots that allow water to drain is better. Before wading in, spend some time observing the stream. Polaroid glasses with high light transmission index is a good tool here.

Bamboo thicket is within earshot of the road I remember. these are those fat yellow canes, around 4-6 inch in diameter. The clump is big as a house and taller, just beside the pond where the ducks swim and feed. Catfish and fat tilapia in the pond. But there are many clumps of bamboo there.

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## XnSdVd

Hmm... that's exactly like the thicket we saw, was the stream between the road and thicket? If so then the pond would've been on the other side of it. Unfortunately there was a small ravine that separated us. Appears to have been carved out by the river.

And just so we're clear, I'm talking about the one at venus drive.

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## budak

if you happen to find anything in the water that's round, hard and fragile, please return it to simon.  :Razz:

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## Weirong

> if you happen to find anything in the water that's round, hard and fragile, please return it to simon.


Round? Hard?? Fragile???  :Shocked:  
What in the duck is that????

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## Simon

if anyone finds a 58mm lens, please return to me  :Razz:

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## XnSdVd

Haha, might be organising another trip in march. We shall sift through the mysteriously appearing coconuts for your lens.

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## benny

It's a Canon 58 mm 500D close up filter. Not a lens. Very premium stuff.

Cheers,

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## XnSdVd

My "hunting" list suddenly looks like this now:

1. _Canon 58 mm 500D close up filter_
2. _Channa lucius_
3. _Coconut tree_
4. _Duck pond_
5. _Betta pugnax_

Heh, curiousity got the better of me  :Wink:

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## benny

Can you add my parker pen to the list? Is a silver rollerball. Near the duck pond where the big rock is.

Thanks!

Cheers,

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## Weirong

> Can you add my parker pen to the list? Is a silver rollerball. Near the duck pond where the big rock is.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Cheers,


Are we becoming treasure hunters?  :Laughing:  "Stream Raiders"  :Cool:  
How much are we going to charge?  :Grin:

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## XnSdVd

Haha, you're the bussiness guy, you tell me. I say we make it a reality series somehow...  :Grin:

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## budak

More like Raiders of the Lost Longkang..... 

How can you expect to find duck pond without bringing a duck along??  :Evil:

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## Weirong

> Haha, you're the bussiness guy, you tell me. I say we make it a reality series somehow...


Yah, bring your video cam! 
"Raiders of the Lost Longkang" Episode 1 starts filming next month!  :Laughing:  

And we might need to loan some props, including budak's duck!  :Laughing:

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## XnSdVd

Well, we'll be raiding the lost longkang this sat if anyone's interested. Apparently I'm organising so let me know if you're coming.  :Grin:  Photographers are welcome too.

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## GaspingGurami

> Hmm... that's exactly like the thicket we saw, was the stream between the road and thicket? If so then the pond would've been on the other side of it. Unfortunately there was a small ravine that separated us. Appears to have been carved out by the river.
> 
> And just so we're clear, I'm talking about the one at venus drive.


1979 is a long time past to remember clearly today. What I do remember, I could hear the traffic on Upper Thomson Rd from the pond.

The stream had eroded its bed, 1-man's height below ground level then. Maybe it is deeper now, although I doubt it will be much more to be a ravine.

There's also another duck pond if you cross the small road that lead to Island Club. This one is within sight of Upp Thomson Rd, also by a bamboo thicket, this one has green canes.

If you are interested to look for old ponds, you should get yourself an old Singapore 1:50,000 topographic map, 1980 edition.

I think the government require all ponds to be drained when the owners vacate the lot, so no point expending great effort looking for the spot as it's probably an overgrown bog now. But the shoots of that bamboo bush is edible... smells like piss when you carry it home though.

Enjoy but be careful.

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## XnSdVd

Hmmm... Well, it'd be nice to find an old kampong on the side. But the main idea of going there would be to check out fish and plants. Though if I found a duck... WOW!  :Laughing:

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