Cruel Games

Dragon flies are a vanishing breed, and I am happy our garden has attracted them. They remind me of my younger days when innocently we used to indulge in cruel games. One game we used to indulge in is to catch the dragon flies tie strings on their tails and attempt to fly them like kites. It was indeed cruel but we were young and not in a position to know that our cruel acts could cause the extinction of one of  God’s beautiful creations.

I believe my generation has been responsible for wiping out many species of animals and birds. One I can remember is the flying fox, a species of bats that live on fruits. They have wings that can span 4 feet. They are a delicacy and I have not seen it around for more than fifty years. Another is the Ikan sepat a fresh-water fish about 6” long. 

They abound in padi fields, but we had them too  in a stream in my Kampong. They are indeed tasty but bony and the last I saw them was in Pudu Market when we were in Jalan Belfield Kuala Lumpur. The King Fisher and Wood Pecker are very colorful brds. The Kingfisher lives on fish and can be seen parked on branches of trees overlooking a stream while the woodpecker survives on a diet of worms and insects usually from the bark of trees. 

While these birds are colorful and pretty they are silly especially the wood pecker. When we use a catapult to shoot at a woodpecker, she will just jump 2 inches away and continue pecking allowing us to take further shots at her. We had fighting fish in a pool of water near a stream  close to the house we lived in.

In my young days I used to breed pigeons at the back of our house. A box with pigeon holes is mounted on a 8 foot pole where the pigeons will nest. The young pigeons are succulent and on many occasions, they form our diet of proteins.

The number of pigeons started to reduce and I knew it was not caused by our taste for pigeon meat. One night I saw the culprit; it was a cat. We set a trap for the cat below the pigeon coop. In the morning when we woke up we found the cat attempting to get out of the trap. We caught him tied strings on his 4 paws and stretched it on a tree with its back on the trunk. I think it was 4 or 5 playmates armed with catapults. We lined up about 10 feet away and took pot shots at the cat. The cat’s screams when the stones found their mark attracted the attention of some adults in the neighborhood who much to our disappointment released the cat.

Despite the punishment the cat continued its taste for pigeon meat. The traps went up again & the silly cat fell into the trap again. This time we devised a plan to get rid of the cat once & for all. We put it into a sack tied the opening of the sack and attached a stone to the sack. We took it to the Sg Pari River along Jalan Silibin Ipoh that is near where Lim Gardens now stand. Standing on the bridge we tossed it over the bridge into the water. 

We heard the splash and at the very moment we heard a shout. We looked where the sound came from - it was a policeman getting off his bicycle hurriedly and jumped into the River. We saw him dragging the sack and the cat was screaming for dear life. We ran for our lives. The following morning I saw the cat again and realized at that moment a cat had 9 lives and gave up attempts to get the cat. I wrapped a piece of zinc sheet on the pole and the cat was not able to access the coop.

As penance for my past sins I now allow squirrels, birds and musang to feast on my banana and jack fruits when they ripen. I take jackfruit that is left over by the squirrels.

Yes, I do see dragon flies and butterflies in my garden too, They look pretty indeed. My compound is full of shrubs and flower plants and indeed I see sparrows, magpies and  a variety of bird species beginning their noisy chatter near my bedroom window. 

There is a silly cuckoo who  defiantly builds its nest on the ledge of a cross beam in my garage.  It built a nest on the narrow space between the beam and the pillar and a few times the eggs were blown away with the nest & all. Another time I saw a cat crouching at the base to climb up the pillar. I had to chase it way but it is a matter of time the cat succeeds getting at the bird.

 A few years ago before the condos replaced the undergrowth in my backyard I have spotted green pigeons but alas when the condos rose the birds disappeared. However I am not too kind to snakes especially cobras and rat snakes which can retaliate when I attempt to shoo them. Not so the Pythons as they are harmless when they are in their infancy. 

They have a free run and I have created a shelter with twigs and garden waste for all kinds of birds like water fowl and wild chicken in my backyard. Imagine having snakes, musang, rats and other rodents like the monitor lizards in your backyard in Central Kuala Lumpur. This is my atonement for the wild life of my schooldays.