The tiny well (about 2 ft deep and 2 ft dia.) in front of our home invites a wonderful mix of birds. Neighbor's cats and nobody dogs too come there to drink, and I am sure that there are nocturnal life forms who bathe there and drink from that well, but that must be in the quiet of night. Mongoose is not a night creature; it is shy. I have seen bands of them around the pool at any time of the day.
I saw a pair of bulbuls bathing in there. They nervously hopped on the edge before mustering courage to dash on the water, barely dipping their wings and that fraction of a second contact with water seeming more a rustle of wings than anything else remotely connected with diving. Unlike us they do not soap up nor shampoo.
Vikas has hollow roofs. Ceilings are vaulted, so there are gaps between a ceiling and the top floors. Here parrots live. None of my neighbor has complained of noise during quiet hours. Parrots, when they enter their nesting fall quiet. It is only in the morning before collectively flying for their 'jobs' , they create a rumpus. It happens again in the evenings when they return to rest for the night. But only when they are about to leave or enter their holes in the pipe homes do they shriek.
Bandicoots and civet cats are there and I have spotted banded tailed raccoon-like animals. Rabbits and hares, chameleons, birds of captivating hues and plumage have caught my eye.
I had found a tortoise crossing the street which I have released in the bigger pond nearby. He surfaces in the rains when flooding of pond heightens his chances of escape.
Going by the various calls I get to hear from dawn to dawn, I can say that Vikas is home to a million species. They seem happy, and that makes me happy.
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