Observing nature in your environment
Andrew Scott
One need not always travel hundreds of miles spending much time and
money to observe nature’s marvellous performances if only one cares to
look around his immediate environment, with an observant eye of course.
Adventure is almost at our door-step and we have to seek for it
patiently. I live in the hill country city of Kandy, a paradise for any
animal lover - specially the more humble and less significant creatures.
We can observe the habits, moods and behaviour of many animals in our
home gardens and the study itself will be very interesting and mentally
rewarding. Any reasonably large home garden is a haunt for insects that
creep, crawl or fly, small reptiles, birds and mammals as well as
amphibians such as and toads. Some of the animals in your homegarden
will be diurnal. Some are nocturnal and a few others visitors, either
regular or casual.
Hide-outs
Many feathered friends visit any home garden, the most common
being
the crow (Kaputa) |
The common amphibians in any homegarden are the frogs and toads.
These nocturnal creatures of nature, spend the daytime hidden away in
some crevice, under a stone or in holes sheltered by a fence or shrub
and emerge from their hide-outs at nightfall. At night they come out in
large numbers and become very noisy specially when they serenade their
eligible ‘lady-loves.’ They live on unmolested when the silence is
shattered by the rude raids of marauding owls and rat-snakes.
Unwelcome visitors to most home gardens are snakes who are occasional
visitors.
Regular visitors
Their sting can be fatal. Rat-snakes (gerandiyas), are regular
visitors to almost all home gardens and their arrival can be easily
known by the sharp warning cries of squirrels and the frightened cries
of little birds on the nearby tree tops who keenly observe the path
traversed by these snakes.
The mongoose, the mortal enemy of the cobras, comes out from their
hideouts under the shrubs specially at dusk and sometimes, though
rarely, late marauders leave the home gardens after daybreak.
The mongoose comes to a garden in search of lizards and other prey
and will always appreciate a feed of chicken whenever available.
Because of its marauding habit the mongoose is an unwelcome visitor
to many Sri Lankan gardens and whenever possible it is mercilessly
killed specially by the owners of poultry farms. The common garden
lizard (Katussa), is well-known for its unpredictable movements and the
intricate act of laying eggs.
Laying eggs
This process of laying eggs is quite fascinating to watch but many do
not care to observe it even though it takes place in almost all home
gardens quite regularly. The female garden lizard is not shy and it is
quite easy to watch her laying her leathery eggs.
Many feathered friends visit any home garden, the most common being
the crow (Kaputa) and the Etikukula.
Both these birds are very useful in controlling snails, slugs and
other little creatures which are found in abundance in our home gardens.
In most of our gardens where trees abound early in the morning, crows
bustle on the tree-tops. Honey birds dart across in a hurry and at times
seven sisters jump and twitter all over the compound. The magpie robin,
nature’s playboy, dances about in many a home garden and high up on the
large trees can be heard the sharp cries of the naughty parrots, mynahs
and the selalihiniyas. Sporadically king-fishers too can be seen happily
devouring their unfortunate victims.
Artistic nests
The nesting habits of many of the birds in any home garden are very
fascinating to watch.
There are great variations in their nest building from the artistic
nests of the weaver birds to the untidy structures of the crows.
Some of the artistically inclined birds exhibit an artistry and
ingenuity which can hardly be matched by even human beings.
During the migratory season butterflies flutter and dance adding
colour to the home gardens and this is the best time to observe closely
these dainty creatures.
Bats, emitting their little squeaks are nocturnal predators who come
to home gardens specially when there are fruits on the trees to feed on.
Earthworms, humble and inoffensive little creatures, enrich the
fertility of the soil and their greatest enemies are the birds,
specially the early birds. All our home gardens abound with a wealth of
ants, specially the red and white ones and the latter are a great
nuisance indeed. Throughout the day they are active and agile and there
is a great bond of unity among them.
Aren’t these noble qualities that man can learn from the life of
ants. Other little creatures in the home gardens that we can observe
during the wet weather are the centipedes, millipedes and the ever
dreaded leeches. All of these creatures could pose a nuisance. Another
unwelcome home garden inhabitant is the scorpion.
Insects
At night many geckoes would come down to feast on the left-overs or
on little insects that frequent the home gardens at night.
More than all of these nature’s voices at night - the orchestra of
the frogs, the chirp of the crickets, the hoot of the owls and the
squeal of the bats, supported by the background sound of smaller
creatures illumined by the phosphorescent light of the fire flies that
criss-cross the pitch-dark environment will always remind us that we are
so close to nature.
So, do take pride and satisfaction in observing nature in the very
environment you are living and make your living exciting and
pleasureable. |