We can’t go outside due to COVID-19. Maybe we can but we have some social restrictions. As we rarely went outside during the lockdown, birds and animals in the neighborhood thought this is the same as when there were no homo sapiens. They believe they had the whole world to themselves or maybe they need to check on us, humans. I have observed this change in my housing society area, too.
The first change I observed was with the pigeons 🐤. They are roosting in our Air Conditioners and used one of our plants as their nest! Read more about this story by clicking “here”. Then, there are the bees. I can see a big beehive in the apartment across mine. And the bees🐝 hover into our balcony garden and even stung my mom once. My mom was in pain but she said the bees are good beings; they are needed for pollination. She is happy to see some butterflies, too, and we are seeing a few other birds, like sparrows.
The second change was – monkeys 🐒. That’s right – you read it correct. Our society is built where there was once a forest. When the monkeys noticed that the society was partially empty, during the lockdown, they took over. Some new vegetable and fruit shops had opened inside our society and the monkeys had a gala time, every morning. I even came across a family of monkeys eating bananas and the baby monkey was very cute. Children tried to play with the baby monkey but the adults scolded them as the mummy monkey could have attacked them to protect its little one.
I like cute dogs but I am also afraid of street dogs 🐶. While cycling, I parked my bike in a corner to take a walk. When I went back to get my cycle, I heard barking. I looked back and found a dog near my cycle. I left it there and asked by father to help me get my cycle out. It was a very scary experience. Sometime back a few people took the stray dogs and left them in an open space far away from the society. It was not that far away though! The entire family found its way back into our society.
Do you know, when it rains, we even have snakes 🐍 in the society garden area! A couple of years back, snake charmers were called in to catch a few cobras. We even had a video taken.
My mother says, when humans encroach about forests and open areas, and build houses, it spoils the natural habitat for these animals. Last year, close to our society, a fishing cat 🙀 was seen. It was all over the news. We did not go out to play because it could climb over the walls and injure the children. Many other states have reported seeing leopards in villages, and busy roads, and captured them on camera!
Has the animal kingdom also come too close to you for comfort? Comment down below.