"Wildlife" in Mhaswad

I love animals. Ants, spiders, sheep, birds, whales, horses, bees, lizards, bears, leopards, penguins, seals, ladybugs, jellyfish… the list could go on and on. There are only two animals that I really dislike: mosquitoes (which can actually cause me harm in India) and cockroaches (which I feel bad disliking); yet despite disliking them, they still fascinate me. In the spirit of my love for animals, I thought I would dedicate at least one blog entry to my frequent encounters with some of the local animals. Most of you will find this post incredibly boring, and for that I apologize. Some of you, however, have been waiting for a ridiculous post like this :-)

Goats: Goats are among the animals that, for no reason, I feel particularly passionate about. Whenever I take the long road to work I encounter dozens of goats at the local farms. They are either being herded, in their pens, or tied to a stake where they can graze. There is also a woman I pass by who always offers me food, and after I refuse she sometimes picks up a baby goat for me to pet. The goats always make their lovely “mehhh”ing noise, which I have on occasion confused with a human infant. There seem to always be at least a few baby goats who make me giggle; their legs are too long for their bodies, they aren’t used to walking, and they trip all over themselves. A few times a week people walk through the village carrying goats, and once I even saw four goats helplessly piled on a motorcycle!

Gulls: I’ve been told that the birds perched on the office ledge outside are gulls. They show up during lunch every day to pick at our food waste and occasionally fly right up to our tiffins (food container), snag something, and take off… swift and brave! One day, a bird ate my curd.
Oxen: There are ox-pulled wooden carts (with wooden wheels) to transport goods throughout Mhaswad. They are faster than you would expect. I was once even offered a ride in an ox-cart that passed me by on my way home!

Snakes: To reiterate sentiments expressed in my Kerala post, I LOVE snakes. I don’t think any other animal fascinates me quite as much. Chetna’s farm gets a few cobras and vipers each month, but unfortunately I’ve only seen the head of some kind of snake poking out of a pipe. Still, I’m hopeful that the number of snakes will increase, without injuring anyone of course (the nearest anti-venom is several hours away).

Frogs: There are tons of frogs at Chetna’s house which is great for two reasons: 1) They are cute, and 2) They attract snakes. Each night one particular frog (or maybe different frogs each night) wanders into my room to sleep; I have affectionately named the frog Herbert. I also spend a fair amount of time each evening rescuing the frogs from the mouths of the 3 dogs that live at the house.

Dogs: The Sinha’s have three dogs—two adult mutts (Soni and Raja, Soni’s son) and one purebred Rottweiler (Dyna, a 2 month old puppy). They are all very sweet, loyal puppies with unique personalities. They keep me lighthearted, laughing, and sane, and take up a great deal of my free time which greatly adds to my happiness.

Soni looks cute and innocent but is an incredibly intelligent, jealous, and protective dog. She killed the Sinha’s cat, 16 of their chickens, and numerous other small animals that wander around the farm. If she spots a snake, she forces it to stay in its place (for hours if needed) until someone comes to remove it. She is having major problems with Dyna; the Sinha’s fear that if they allow Soni near Dyna that she will kill her. She is also pregnant (for the fourth or fifth time), so I’m anxiously anticipating the arrival of new puppies and wondering if she’ll let me come anywhere near them!

Raja is large and muscular and looks incredibly intimidating, but is a big dumb baby. He will come up to me and whine until I pet him, and once I start petting him he can sit there for hours. When I sleep outside, sometimes he joins me at the foot of the bed, and when I leave the house he’ll see that I safely reach my destination. However, if he’s with me and any strangers come within 50 meters, he can get unbelievably vicious, and although the Sinhas get many visitors during the day, people refuse to come at night because they are afraid of Raja. Still, he’s one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever encountered.

Dyna is a beautiful hyperactive mischievous puppy. She’s learning to play fetch, likes to chew on people’s bodies, and recently has demonstrated a preference for shoes. She tends to follow me around, and for a while I had to feed her from my hands (she couldn’t be bothered with a bowl). Since I spend more time with her than anyone else, she listens to me the most. This is something I would like to discourage since I will be leaving in June and multiple words for the same command (it’s a multilingual household) are confusing for her. Vijay wants to send her to obedience school (Dad and Julia, care to join?). I don’t think that’s necessary, but she does need some clear cut consistent boundaries and simple one word commands to keep her out of trouble.

Rats: Many of you read about my rat experiences. I’ve been sleeping outside most nights in Mhaswad, because although I haven’t seen any more rats, I know they’re still there. They go through the trash and drag it all throughout my bedroom. I can also hear them scampering about. They’re cute from afar, but not while crawling on me.

Bats: Sleeping outside replaces rats with bats, another rabid animal. They fly very close to my head and make annoying chirping noises, but because they don’t crawl on me, I much prefer them to rats.

Water buffaloes: The Sinhas have 6 water buffaloes that provide them, the bank, and some local restaurants with fresh milk. The milk by itself isn’t amazing, but it makes the freshest, most delicious curd (yogurt) I’ve ever had. Seriously… it’s amazing! Buffalo milk also makes fantastic sweets and can even be enjoyed with just a little sugar to mask the smokiness. I have asked one of the workers to teach me how to milk the water buffaloes; more on that to come later!

Hogs: There are lots of hogs (pigs?) wandering around Mhaswad. Aside from the little babies, they’re pretty ugly and dirty since they spend a fair amount of time in waste and sewage on the sides of the road. Still, they’re cute and it’s fun to watch them waddling around.

Lizards: There are lizards all over the Sinha’s house. They are the smoothest, creamiest lizards I have ever seen. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to catch one to see they are actually as smooth as they look, but I’ll keep trying and report back.