Snakes are making themselves at home in the rain

Friday, July 17, 2009 . Times City . Page 7

Mumbai: With the rains hitting the city in earnest, it isn’t just Mumbaikars who fear water entering their homes. Reptilian residents too have an aversion to living in waterlogged homes. No wonder then that a Lokhandwala resident found an eight-ft-long python curled up in his home on Wednesday night.

The monsoon is typically the time when animal welfare societies receive the maximum calls from residents who’ve spotted a snake in their home. During the four months of the monsoon alone, professional snake-catchers claim they get calls to rescue between 400 and 450 snakes.

“Trying to find a safe place when their holes fill with water, snakes often enter homes and industrial estates. Last year, we rescued a 12-ft python which had entered an oil tanker. During the monsoon especially, our inspectors receive many such calls,’’ Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals secretary J C Khanna said.

According to professional snake-catchers, as snakes often live in sewers and nullahs, they enter homes through the toilet or bathroom when the nullahs overflow. The high tide also floods mangrove areas near the city. Venomous snakes like the spectacled cobra and Russell’s vipers which inhabit the mangroves, come out in large numbers.

Animal lover and professional snake-catcher Anil Kubal said, “This monsoon I’ve already rescued 112 snakes. A lot of the snakes we rescue are baby snakes as the monsoon is the birthing season for Russell’s vipers.’’

While venomous snakes like the cobra and viper have been known to enter residential areas, the snakes most commonly rescued by animal welfare societies are the nonvenomous rat snake and sand boa. Just last week, a rat snake was found on the premises of a college in Thane. “The snake entered the first floor of the college through an air-conditioning duct. We were obviously scared when we saw it. But once the snake catcher trapped it, he explained that rat snakes aren’t venomous. He also held out the snake for us to touch, but none of us took him up on the offer,’’ said Sachin Karavle, a college staffer.

On a positive note, animal lovers add that while earlier the tendency of residents was to kill snakes, there is more awareness now. “The number of snakes that were killed was quite high earlier but it’s almost nil now. Residents call us if they spot a snake and we immediately rescue it. The snakes are then released into the wild—either at Sanjay Gandhi National Park or Yeoor and Vikhroli,’’ said Sunish Subramanian of the Plant and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) Mumbai.

शेजारी येती घरा

Prahhar Mumbai . Thursday . 16 July 2009 . Front Page Story

गेले दोन दिवस ख-या अर्थानं पाऊस कोसळतोय.. अशा अतिवृष्टीत आपलीही जिथं तारांबळ उडते तिथं मुक्या जिवांचं तर पार भानच हरवतं. बिळांमध्ये पाणी शिरतं, कुठे काटक्यांचं घरटं मोडून पडतं, कुठे आसरा देणारं झाडच कोसळतं आणि मग हे मुके जीव बिचारे वाट फुटेल तिथं आश्रय शोधू लागतात. ठाण्यात तर एकदा एक कोल्होबाही पाहुणे म्हणून उगवले होते. सिमेंटच्या जंगलाच्या कडेनंच नांदणारे हे ‘शेजारी’ आगंतुकपणे ‘पाहुणे’ बनून घरात शिरल्यावर आपलीही गडबड उडते. त्यातही साप वगैरे दिसल्यावर तर लगेच लाठय़ा-काठय़ा बाहेर पडतात, एक जीव हकनाक बळी पडतो. हे होऊ नये, आपलीही धावपळ उडू नये आणि ‘शेजारधर्मा’चं पालन व्हावं, या पाहुण्यांचीही योग्य व्यवस्था लागावी, काळजी घेतली जावी यासाठी ‘प्लँट अँड अ‍ॅनिमल वेल्फेअर सोसायटी, मुंबई’चे सचिव सुनीश सुब्रमण्यम यांनी केलेलं हे मार्गदर्शन..

साप

भारतात आढळणारे मण्यार, घोणस, नाग, फुरसं असे मोजके विषारी साप सोडले, तर बहुतांशी साप बिनविषारी आहेत. मात्र नेमक्या विषारी सापांच्या जाती मुंबई-ठाण्याच्या आसपास आढळतात. खासकरून पावसाळ्याच्या दिवसांत साप बाहेर येतात आणि खाडीकिनारी किंवा जंगल परिसरातील सोसायटय़ांच्या आवारात शिरतात. गेल्या आठ-दहा वर्षामध्ये साप मारू नयेत यासाठी सर्पमित्रांनी चांगलीच जनजागृती केली आहे. त्यामुळे दिसला साप की मार, ही मानसिकता बदलू लागली आहे. साप दिसताक्षणीच ओळखीतल्या सर्पमित्राला तात्काळ फोन जातात. सर्पमित्रही सामाजिक बांधीलकीच्या नात्यातून साप ज्या ठिकाणी आहे, त्या ठिकाणी धाव घेतो. परंतु त्यांच्या येण्यापूर्वी साप भलतीकडेच गेलेला असतो. मग सर्पमित्र आणि त्याला दूरध्वनी करणाऱ्या नागरिकाचे प्रयत्न निष्फळ ठरतात.

सोसायटी किंवा परिसरात साप दिसल्यानंतर तो कुठे जात आहे, यावर लक्ष ठेवणं अत्यावश्यक असतं. पावसाळ्याच्या दिवसांत सोसायटीच्या आवारात येणारा साप झाडाझुडपांत दडून राहू शकतो. त्यामुळे खालची जमीन दिसेल अशा पद्धतीनं झाडांची नियमित छाटणी करावी, त्याचप्रमाणे आवारातील कचरा, अडगळीचं सामान पूर्णत: काढून टाकावं. असं करण्यास टाळाटाळ केल्यास सापाला आश्रयस्थान मिळतं. तळमजल्यावरच्या घरात ‘लव्हबर्ड’सारख्या पक्ष्यांचे पिंजरे असतील तर या पक्ष्यांना खाण्यासाठी साप येतात, तसेच दुस-या-तिसऱ्या मजल्यावरील घरातही साप आल्याच्या घटना आहेत. त्याचंही असंच कारण आहे. घरात येणाऱ्या झाडाच्या फांदीचा आधार घेऊन साप घरात येऊ शकतो. त्यासाठी अशा झाडांच्या फांद्यांची वेळीच छाटणी करणं गरजेचं आहे.

पक्षी

वाढत्या शहरीकरणामुळे मुंबईतल्या झाडांची संख्या रोडावली आहे. वड, पिंपळ, औदुंबर यांसारखी मजबूत झाडं कमी होऊन त्या ठिकाणी गुलमोहर-बदाम या झाडांसारख्या पोकळ झाडांची मांदियाळी दिसून येते. मात्र पक्ष्यांना राहण्यासाठी सुरक्षित जागाच नाही. सोसाटय़ाच्या वादळी वाऱ्यात, पावसात घरटी पडून पक्ष्यांची पिल्लं रस्त्यांवर आलेली दिसतात. कधी कधी वादळी पावसाच्या तडाख्यात सापडलेली घार वा घुबड असे मोठे पक्षी रस्त्यांवर किंवा इमारतीच्या आवारात जखमी अवस्थेत पडलेले आढळतात. या पक्ष्यांना पकडायला गेलो तर हे पक्षी चावतील या भीतीनं नागरिक घाबरून लांब पळतात. परंतु घाबरून न जाता त्यांच्या अंगावर कापड टाकून, त्यांना पकडून लहान लाकडी पेटीत किंवा सुरक्षित ठिकाणी ठेवावं. तसेच पक्षीमित्रांच्या मदतीनं त्यांची रवानगी वनखात्याकडे करावी. काही वेळा लहान मुलं हौसेखातर त्यांना पाळायला नेतात. परंतु पाळण्यासाठी नेलेला पक्षी दुर्मीळ जातीतला असला, तरी त्याचं महत्त्व मुलांना समजत नाही. परिणामी त्याची योग्य देखभाल झाली नाही की तो मरतो.

कासव

मुसळधार पाऊस पडल्यावर नदी-नाले भरून वाहतात. तेव्हा यातील अनेक जलजीव शहरातील गटाराच्या वाहत्या पाण्यात आढळतात. यात कासव प्रामुख्यानं दिसतं. तलावात मासे पकडण्यासाठी टाकलेल्या जाळ्यात बरेचदा कासव मिळतं. ज्यांना कासवाचं महत्त्व माहिती आहे, ते त्याला लगेच पाण्याच्या प्रवाहात सोडून देतात. कासव घरात पाळणं वन्यप्राणी कायद्यानुसार चुकीचं आहे. मात्र फेंगशुईसारख्या अंधश्रद्धेमुळे किंवा घरात कासव ठेवणं भाग्याचं असतं, असं मानून वाहत्या गटारातून, काठोकाठ भरलेल्या विहिरीतून बाहेर आलेली कासवं पाळली जातात. चुकून असं मिळालेलं कासव घरात न ठेवता लगेचच वनखात्याकडे अथवा प्राणिमित्रांकडे सुपूर्द करावं. जेणेकरून त्यांना पुन्हा निसर्गाच्या प्रवाहात सोडता येईल.

Residents sniff out missing stray dog after frantic search

Tuesday, July 14, 2009, Page 11 . City
Kept hearing her howls but were only able to locate their ‘adopted’ stray four hours later – trapped on terrace of neighbouring building

My little dog, a heartbeat at my feet- Edith Wharton, American author

Most dog owners would agree. Especially residents of a housing society in Thane, who spent over four hours recently, looking for a beloved ‘missing’ dog. But not any particular family’s pet, a stray all of them had ‘adopted’. The bitch they named Vini had made Highland Annex in Balkumbh area her home when she wandered into it over two years ago.

On Sunday evening, residents of the society panicked when they kept hearing Vini’s howls, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“The children were especially fond of her and her puppies, and would feed them biscuits. No one noticed she was missing till the evening,” said Shyam Giri, one of the residents.
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Giri launched a hunt for her with a few other residents. “We looked on the terrace and in the compound. We even checked whether she had fallen into a gutter or a pit.”

The children also began to look for Vini and soon spotted her. “Our watchman sometimes shoos Vini away and she wanders around nearby. So she probably ran into the building across the street and went up to the terrace. We noticed her when we went to our terrace to look for her,” said Rohit, Giri’s son.

According to the residents, Vini had entered the building through a corporator’s ground floor office. She got trapped when the office was locked in the evening.

They tried to call the office bearers on their cellphones but could not get through. When contacted, the NGO Plant and Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sent some of their staff with an ambulance to free the dog.

“We went there at night. As the dog was trapped on someone’s property, we did not want to barge in or break open the door. So we began asking around if someone had keys to the office. It was then that a woman came forward saying she knew someone who had a spare key and that she could get it. We opened the door and freed the dog. The residents gleefully took her back to the society,” said Sunish Subramaniam, secretary of PAWS.

Vini was reunited with her two puppies.

3 baby kingfishers saved from skewers

Monday, July 13, 2009 . City . Page 3
Animal lovers rescued the birds – guarded under Wildlife Protection Act – from becoming broth at the hands of tribal kids at Uran mudflatsThree baby white-breasted kingfishers landed in the soup near the Uran mudflats after being caught by hungry young tribals, but escaped becoming broth after they were rescued by two alert birdwatchers.

Oceanography student Nitin Walmiki and his friend Amol Kumbhar, who is studying environmental science, visit the mudflats every Sunday for a research project they have undertaken. When they take a break from work, they take the opportunity to bird-watch.

This Sunday, while they were at an area called Ram-baan in Nhava-Sheva, they spotted something suspicious.

“We saw three children climbing trees. After taking a quick glance around, they threw something in a drum-like container,” recounted Kumbhar.

The sound that emerged from the drum sounded like a kingfisher, so the two took the boys in confidence and peeped inside. “We saw three kingfishers, barely a couple of months old,” said Kumbhar.

“They told us they would cook the birds and eat them. It was shocking,” said Walmiki.

The boys were clearly unaware that the birds were protected by the law, and that according to the Wildlife Protection Act, it is illegal to even keep them, let alone consume them. Not wanting to lodge a complaint against the young offenders, Nitin and Amol decided to counsel them instead.

“We explained to them that the birds are important for nature and should not be eaten,” Walmiki added.

The tribals said they would have sold the birds for Rs 10 each had they not eaten them. Nitin handed over the cash and brought the birds home.

Since the birds are a month old and cannot fly, the students will leave the birds with an NGO – Plant and Animal Welfare Society – before releasing them in the forest.

And as for the tribals, they’ve at least got some food for thought to chew on for a while…

How to spot the bird

Also called white-throated kingfisher, the white-breasted kingfisher is a bright turquoise blue bird with a chestnut-coloured body and white throat. Adult birds are very bright and attractive, while younger ones are relatively dull. Young ones are usually spotted post-monsoon, which is the breeding season. They are the only kingfishers who feed on insects in addition to consuming fish.