Friends from the green

One of the delights of a home with a garden is having special friends who visit every day.

Early mornings we are greeted by chirping purple-rumped sunbirds; a long name for creatures so little! They flit around happily sucking nectar from the hibiscus, hovering over the purple showers, fly up and down the bottle brush tree before perching on the branch of the wild cherry, pecking frantically. Bulbuls always come in a pair, singing and romancing, we imagine. We hear the sweet call of the koel, joyful on cloudy monsoon days.

A greater coucal flies by somewhat furtively to sit on the tabebuia tree outside our gate and begins its deep call, while the butterflies and bees hover silently. In the background, we hear the gregarious mynas and crows; then the chip chip chip gets louder. That’s the squirrel family waking up somewhere inside the gaps between the sloping roof tiles of our house.

One evening, a few days back, my husband and I stepped into the garden with our tea. I saw the squirrel on the far side of the garden running down the wall behind the wooden bench where we were headed. Normally, she would have darted away quickly. But that evening, she seemed to hesitate, reluctant almost, before disappearing behind the cherry tree. I sat on the bench. A few moments passed. Sipping my tea, I looked up and saw a baby squirrel making its way down the roof tiles. We stopped paying attention to the squirrels as we chatted.

Suddenly, we noticed the little squirrel trying to climb the wall at the front of the house. He made several attempts but couldn’t quite manage it. In between attempts he ran to and fro on the floor.  Then I saw the bigger squirrel, perched on the front wall, peering down at her baby. This is why she had been reluctant earlier! She keenly watched her baby’s efforts. Several unsuccessful attempts later, she came down and held him close. She seemed to be cuddling him, whispering encouragements in his ear.

Then, she ran up the wall again to take position and watch. He still couldn’t climb; she came down again to cuddle and whisper. This went on for a while but the baby made little progress. We looked on quietly from the bench.

Our attention wandered again, till we realised the squirrels were on the other side of the gate. We quickly left the garden to get back into the house. We worried “what will the mother do if her baby can’t climb? How will she get him back to their home on the roof?”

A few minutes later I looked out of the window to see if they were still around. As I watched, the mother ran up the front wall. She looked different somehow...then, I realised that she had her baby riding piggyback! She reached the top of the wall, stopped to look around, then took a leap onto the roof tiles, taking her baby back to the safety of their home. He wasn’t quite ready yet to face his fears.