mixture of heavy rains and hot dry spells, signals the end of the monsoon. September is also the time of the 10 day festival of Ganesh so, in addition to thunder and lightening flashes, our days and nights have been filled with loud bangs from fire crackers and spasmodic amplified music which continues well into the early hours. Most of our dogs are terrified and spend their time hiding under the beds and furniture. All our dogs were born here and they are native street dogs so you’d expect them to be used to the noise. Urchin; who at 13 years is one of our oldest residents, could take it no more and ran off through the gates and was missing for 24 hours! Although I drove and searched all through the neighbourhood, she was finally found by a staff member’s relative just a few miles away, very tired but still trotting along a busy road. A lost dog here is no big deal and there was much astonishment that I should spend so much time looking, I was even assured that I should not bother as she would be “dead by now” ! During my search I picked up someone else’s pet, it was also in a panic and jumped into the car with little encouragement, she is still waiting to be claimed. Unfortunately she is not the only one, at this time our rescue kennels fill up with terrified lost pets.
The monkeys simply huddle together during the worst noises but refuse to leave the pens for walks, they feel safer at home. Due to last minute cancellations there was a shortage of volunteers this month and the Ganesh holidays means there has been a shortage of staff as well.
Still we have managed to get many of the monkeys back in the pool as the weather improves and they were able to enjoy a cool dip once again.
Raj has never shown any interest in the pool or even going near the edge, although from his pen he can see the other monkeys frolicking in the water. On one hot day this week, he actually put his feet in the shallow end and was then gently encouraged a little further in and actually got to have a short swim!. This left him stunned and he couldn’t seem to understand why he was wet, but hopefully he will be willing to have another go in the future.
Due to staff shortages Nora and Tilly’s meet and greets have decreased but they have met a few more times. Although they always greet each other with enthusiasm, they have already had one short spat over some imagined insult, so all is still uncertain for togetherness in the future.
Nissa; the hand reared baby Languor is now over a year old and still comes out for walks; however her pen mates are semi wild orphans and they keep warning her not to trust humans and even try to pull her back in the pen on occasions.
