On 15th September, I had the privilege of visiting PFA, Bangalore. It was one of the most touching moments I have ever had.
A little bit about me. I am very very quiet and rarely express.. Makes people think that I dont care about anything or show any enthusiasm.. (which is kinda true :P ) But being with nature makes me feel so alive and makes me smile. I can spend hours looking at squirrels chasing each other.. pigeons squabbling over the water hole.. sparrows chirping..flying around happily.. crows picking up scraps of food and leaving half eaten stuff on our balcony.. ants swarming around a dead insect and gnawing their way into its exoskeleton.. a spider on the wall building its web.. rats running out from behind the storage place.. occasional snakes which find a way into our hostel.. bats which fly from one tree to another after the sun has set.. these little things make me get so excited..
I cant help but admire god's non-human children.. :)
Sadly, my mom has a severe phobia of the animal kingdom.. so I grew up without a pet at home :( :( My first wildlife rescue experience was when I found 2 baby squirrels on the lawn of my hostel. Waited for their mom to turn up but she dint.. They were getting bitten by ants and they were too young to walk away.. So my roommates, Lavanya, Prasanthi, Mahalakshmi and I, sneaked them into our room to look after them till they grow up. However this was the end of the semester with just a few days to go before which we all had to go home for around 20 days.. So we desperately hoped for Chikku and Chippi (christened by Gee .. ) to grow up within those few days left to go till our holidays. Unfortunately, nature takes its own sweet time :) With our bags packed to go home, we placed them in a cardboard box planning to leave them behind but I couldnt bring myself to it.. Unable to hide the tears in my eyes, I went back to the carboard box and decided to bring them home along with me till they were big enough.. :) Those days with them are so special for me. Along with my bro, we would feed them .. watch them chase other...run around..start climbing on whatever they could find.. eventually, they would run all over us..climb on our heads, sit on our shoulders.. and ya.. I guess babies of all species poop a lot!! ;-) :P
I eventually had to leave to back to my hostel, leaving Chikku and Chippi in the care of my brother and Grandmother. The plan was to look after them and let them free in the park with lots of trees when they were quite big.
A little bit about me. I am very very quiet and rarely express.. Makes people think that I dont care about anything or show any enthusiasm.. (which is kinda true :P ) But being with nature makes me feel so alive and makes me smile. I can spend hours looking at squirrels chasing each other.. pigeons squabbling over the water hole.. sparrows chirping..flying around happily.. crows picking up scraps of food and leaving half eaten stuff on our balcony.. ants swarming around a dead insect and gnawing their way into its exoskeleton.. a spider on the wall building its web.. rats running out from behind the storage place.. occasional snakes which find a way into our hostel.. bats which fly from one tree to another after the sun has set.. these little things make me get so excited..
I cant help but admire god's non-human children.. :)
Sadly, my mom has a severe phobia of the animal kingdom.. so I grew up without a pet at home :( :( My first wildlife rescue experience was when I found 2 baby squirrels on the lawn of my hostel. Waited for their mom to turn up but she dint.. They were getting bitten by ants and they were too young to walk away.. So my roommates, Lavanya, Prasanthi, Mahalakshmi and I, sneaked them into our room to look after them till they grow up. However this was the end of the semester with just a few days to go before which we all had to go home for around 20 days.. So we desperately hoped for Chikku and Chippi (christened by Gee .. ) to grow up within those few days left to go till our holidays. Unfortunately, nature takes its own sweet time :) With our bags packed to go home, we placed them in a cardboard box planning to leave them behind but I couldnt bring myself to it.. Unable to hide the tears in my eyes, I went back to the carboard box and decided to bring them home along with me till they were big enough.. :) Those days with them are so special for me. Along with my bro, we would feed them .. watch them chase other...run around..start climbing on whatever they could find.. eventually, they would run all over us..climb on our heads, sit on our shoulders.. and ya.. I guess babies of all species poop a lot!! ;-) :P
I eventually had to leave to back to my hostel, leaving Chikku and Chippi in the care of my brother and Grandmother. The plan was to look after them and let them free in the park with lots of trees when they were quite big.
So, all was going on really well until Chikku fell ill. All of us were so worried. It hardly moved, sat still as if paralysed and would shiver badly. My parents tried to look for places where they could treat it and make it fine. I was so tensed... They found about PFA, People for Animals, an NGO that has dedicated itself to the welfare and rescue of wildlife of the region. Dr. Vetrivel who treated Chikku and brought it back to good health was very kind enough to keep me updated about its recovery and the other activities of PFA. I am extremely grateful for having been introduced to PFA.
So, now back to the start of my story. Now that college is over, I had a lot of time in Bangalore and I decided to get back in touch with my passion for wildlife and contacted Dr. and wanted to get more involved with PFA. This led me to visit them a few days back. I met other passionate volunteers and was given a tour of their place. I had a range of feelings... from being swept over by the cuteness of baby monkeys.. in awe of a blind female monkey that acts a surrogate mother to abandoned new-borns..sad, yet amazed at the resilience of a monkey that stumbled into electric wired and had its limbs amputated, and overcame the accident and has a strong will to live on.. Parakeets that had their wings clipped and were used by fortune tellers and are still in the habit of picking leaves in front of them (as they do with cards).. kites that were injured due to either flying into exposed wires.. or fell victim to people mindlessly hurling stones at them..turtles..squirrels.. snakes.. they always have their hands full.
They have a graveyard for pets and it was so special. Every grave stone told the story of how their pet touched their lives and made a difference. It made me realise the difference animals can have on people.. they are full of love.. something so pure and innocent about them.
I was so lucky that day since I also got to accompany the volunteers for releasing the snakes which they rescue, back into the natural environment. We ventured quite deep into the thickets nearby and selected the right place.. The guys first released an adult cobra.. I just held my breath.. It was so beautiful. I couldnt help but respect the fact that its one of the deadliest snakes in the world. The guys who handled it, understood it perfectly.. handling it with grace.. The snake with its open hood and occasional hissing, had me totally hooked. When released, it quietly slithered away leaving me speechless!! :)
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| Rat snake |
I got the honour of holding a rat snake in my hands before its release. I could feel it breathing.. its scales moving over my hands..it kept slithering quietly..flicking its toungue out.. I was told the right way to handle it.. calm it down.. :) I couldnt stop admiring its elegance. Its grace, made me realise how clumsy I was with it.. hope I get better :) Also got to release a wolf snake..It was quite squirmy..but once calmed down, it coiled neatly and could fit on the palm..
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| Wolf snake |
An infant cobra was also released.. A saw scale viper.. Both quite deadly.. But watching them in front of me, I realised that the world would be incomplete without them.. We need to respect them and share our planet with the entirety of nature..the world is not exclusively ours. I have decided to do my part and help.. I regret not having done this sooner.. But atleast its a start.. Thanks to PFA
