The animals in India deserve a mention. My favourite to date is Lakshmi the elephant at the Ganesh Temple in Pondicherry. She is a beautiful creature with a lovely nature. For a carrot or just a bow of your head she will bestow a 'blessing' by gently tapping you on the head with her trunk.
Then of course there are the cows in the middle of city streets. They just amble down the streets or congregate on street corners totally oblivious to humans.
But sometimes they do serve a purpose - like cleaning up some of the garbage.
Or pulling heavy loads - note the painted horns.
Then there are the other grazers - goats. Interestingly in Ft Kochi in Kerala we have seen very few cows on the street but lots of goats.
Can't forget the monkeys but as cute as they are we stay clear of them as they are notoriously naughty and carry rabies.
There also are dogs everywhere but I couldn't take pictures of these as it was a bit sad. Although they all seemed healthy enough - only one or two had any evidence of mange - they are neglected and let to roam and I am quite sure full of parasites. There is no de-sexing so all the bitches are lactating and having too many litters. They also carry rabies so as much as we would like, we avoid patting them.
What also is of note is what animals there aren't. Although we spent a lot of time on the Coromandel Coast and now the Malabar Coast on the Western side, we have not seen a single sea gull. Instead they have these crow like birds, I think called a House Crow, that seem to fill in the ecological niche of the gull, ie live by the sea side scavenging from the fishermen and generally making a pest of themselves, but dd not have webbed feet.
There are also no vultures. Bob remembers in the 70's and 80's that every city had vultures soaring over it. Now there are none. Apparently they have been wiped out to near extinction by poisoning from a commonly used veterinary drug used for treating arthritis in cattle. Old cows are given the drug to extend their working life, then die and are eaten by vultures who in turn die. The farmers are suppose to stop using this drug as there are alternatives but rebuilding the population will take a long time.
Oh and I almost forgot the cute chipmunks that run around everywhere - also rabies carriers so we keep our distance, plus Eileen has a scar on her first finger when a chipmunk bit her when she was a child.
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| Lakshmi |
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| bestowing a blessing |
But sometimes they do serve a purpose - like cleaning up some of the garbage.
Or pulling heavy loads - note the painted horns.
Then there are the other grazers - goats. Interestingly in Ft Kochi in Kerala we have seen very few cows on the street but lots of goats.
Can't forget the monkeys but as cute as they are we stay clear of them as they are notoriously naughty and carry rabies.
There also are dogs everywhere but I couldn't take pictures of these as it was a bit sad. Although they all seemed healthy enough - only one or two had any evidence of mange - they are neglected and let to roam and I am quite sure full of parasites. There is no de-sexing so all the bitches are lactating and having too many litters. They also carry rabies so as much as we would like, we avoid patting them.
What also is of note is what animals there aren't. Although we spent a lot of time on the Coromandel Coast and now the Malabar Coast on the Western side, we have not seen a single sea gull. Instead they have these crow like birds, I think called a House Crow, that seem to fill in the ecological niche of the gull, ie live by the sea side scavenging from the fishermen and generally making a pest of themselves, but dd not have webbed feet.
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| House crow on the beach |
Oh and I almost forgot the cute chipmunks that run around everywhere - also rabies carriers so we keep our distance, plus Eileen has a scar on her first finger when a chipmunk bit her when she was a child.
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