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Urban jungle

Pause and you will see them. Deepa H Ramakrishnantracks the animals and birds in town

Photos: T. Singaravelou

In good company They too are residents of Puducherry

Someone said that one must make time for the moon and the stars, and the gentle hush-hush of the leaves in the evening breeze. Well, I also believe that we must make time for buzz of the bees, songs of the birds, purr of the cats, moo of the cows, c

roak of the frogs, bark of the dogs, the hiss of the snakes and the chirp of the sparrows — sounds made by many of our winged and four-legged friends, who remain invisible in the hustle and bustle of the day. For the past few days, it has been raining every evening in Puducherry and puddles have formed, here and there. Crows take a dip in them, and ruffle their feathers.

Talking of rains and clouds one thing that comes to the mind is Kalidasa’s Meghadhootham or Meghasandesh, which is the story of how a yaksha (a celestial being) conveys his love to his wife through the cloud.

Professor Dharaneedharan, Reader, Sanskrit Department, Pondicherry University says that in the ninth sloka, Kalidasa mentions three good omens (sagunam) — a soft breeze that was blowing, the chataka bird waiting for the rain as it consumes only rain water and the peacocks that are dancing in joy with their beautiful feathers.

Adds Dharaneedharan, “The yaksha, who is seated beneath the Ramagiri mountain, uses the cloud as a messenger and the poet gives a description of all the places that the cloud visits, the people of those places and the animals there.”

Coming to our time, peacocks in Puducherry are found in cages — at the Villianur Thirukameshwarar temple as well as behind the Forest Department’s office — and in the wild at Auroville.

“The peacock’s dance is actually how it threatens or bullies the peahen in the mating season,” says P. Devaraj, Deputy Conservator of Forests and Wildlife. “The peacocks in our custody have been rescued from various people. They eat seeds, small insects, snakes and lizards. A peahen has laid an egg, and we are going to incubate it. It takes about 28 days for the egg to hatch.”

You can also find other rescued animals including spotted deer, jackals, palm civets or civet cats, mongoose, barn owls and kites in enclosures behind the new building of the Forest Department. There are also deer at the Thirukameshwarar temple and snakes in Auroville.

According to Devaraj, “The civet cats, which are normally found on coconut palm and palmyra palm trees, were handed over by a tree climber. Some animals that are hurt are brought in by people. Birds like owls and kites are deliberately injured by people or by a flock of crows or sometimes get entangled in electric lines. There is a lot of awareness about bringing in animals and birds that are hurt. We might set up a shelter, otherwise we usually hand them over to other zoos.”

Some animals you go looking for, for others you have to keep your eyes open. Snakes are found in large numbers in the residential colonies around Puducherry. Squirrels (the State animal), blue kingfishers, monkeys (a nuisance in the White Town area), the State bird koel, the egret (vella kokku) and the heron (naarai) can be found in paddy fields in large numbers.

As we shop at the Goubert Bazaar, pause a moment and watch the sparrows peck at the cereals. The chittu kuruvis once made nests in niches under tiled roofs and meter boxes. But with less of such homes, they flock to Goubert Bazaar. As the sun sets, look heavenwards and you can spot parrots flying to their homes on palm trees near various water bodies. Though we have so many animals and birds, Puducherry has never had a census of them, not even during the French rule!

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