I live in a bungalow. Around the house is a small piece of land which we call our garden. In this garden there live a surprising number of wild animals, birds and insects.
Every morning, the magpie-robins, yellow vented bulbul and mynahs wake me up with their songs. It is often a mixed chorus of shrill voices that never fail to delight me. The birds are so wonderful. I sometimes wonder why people should keep birds in cages. It is far more pleasing to hear the wild birds sing their songs.
On the fruit trees, the tailor ants or kerengga make their nest. Woe to he who is not careful when venturing among the trees, for these little red devils can really bite. Often we have no choice but to get rid of them when we want to get at the fruits. Usually, however, we leave them alone.
In the garage and behind it we can find spiders and their irritating webs. Some spiders are actually quite large, almost the size of the palm of a man. Seeing one of these can be quite unnerving. Normally it is these spiders that lose their nerve when approached by humans. We are far larger than them.
We have to keep the grass mown regularly, otherwise, unwanted creatures, especially snakes, make it their playground. More than once, we encountered cobras, grass-snakes, skinks, iguanas and other creatures wandering among the grass. Sometimes, unfortunately, we had to kill the cobras and other poisonous snakes for they can become dangerous. The skinks, frogs and millipedes are harmless.
Among rotting vegetation can be found scorpions, centipedes, many types of beetles, earthworms, ants and other smaller creatures. It is always interesting to watch these creatures scurry about, doing what they had to do. Of course, we have to be careful of the scorpions and centipedes,
Ah, then there are the butterflies, bees and other flying insects. It is quite amazing to see butterflies of different sizes and colours flitting among the flowers. They are really beautiful to behold. It makes me marvel at the genius of nature that made them.
The bees are different. They are forever busy collecting nectar among the flowers. The honey-bees are small whereas the bumble-bees are much larger. I have to be careful with them though, for they can give a painful sting if disturbed. So far I have only been stung once and that was when I was unlucky enough to pick a flower with a honey-bee in it. My hand was swollen for a day, but the poor bee died because it had lost its sting.
These are the wild creatures that live in or come to my garden in the daytime. In the night I have seen bats flying by and heard nightjars making their clicking sound. I suspect there are other nocturnal creatures that I am not aware of. Anyhow, I still marvel at how a small garden like ours can contain so much wildlife. It is indeed wonderful.