Wildlife offer a wonderful insight into the natural world

Returning the Favour IMAMAH HANIF

I will never forget what I saw one spring evening in 2019 at my local park. At the time, I liked to go and watch the sunset at a park, which was a seaside area in Karachi. There, I would always see the same elderly lady feeding the pigeons. The birds, usually around ten to 15 in number, would gather around her before she even had a chance to retrieve the bag of bajra (pearl millet) from her handbag. It was the same each day, part of her routine.

I found that watching her perform this ordinary task with such keen purpose was both calming and beautiful.

On this particular evening, the lady arrived at her usual spot to feed the birds. But, as she approached the bench to sit down, her beaded necklace fell to the ground.

I was sitting on the grass nearby and got up to retrieve it for her. However, before I reached it, one of the pigeons from the group picked up the necklace and,

holding it in its beak, flew to the bench and dropped it on her lap.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. The old lady, also surprised, began chuckling to herself. I was left with a huge smile on my face and happily went back to watching the birds being fed.

Patience Rewarded JUDITH CAINE

My family is delighted to share our garden with a band of friendly blue tongued lizards, who love to laze about in the warm sunshine. One summer day last year while pruning some shrubs, I came across a large, juicy looking snail not far from where Lizzie, our favourite garden ‘resident’, was sleeping soundly on the garden path. Knowing that lizards love snails (our garden has very few), I placed the juicy delicacy close to Lizzie and waited to see what would happen next.

It was some time before Lizzie stirred, opened her sleepy eyes, and flicked her tongue in and out several times, before moving towards the snail. After a few more minutes, Lizzie nudged the snail to and fro, eventually tipping it upside down, before promptly falling back to sleep. Puzzled by this odd response, I continued to watch. And it wasn’t long before I understood why the lizard had tipped its ‘lunch’ upside down.

It was a very warm day and with the sun’s rays beating down on the upturned snail, the creature soon began to spill itself out of its shell. When it was fully emerged, Lizzie opened her sleepy eyes, flicked her tongue in and out a few more times, then devoured her perfectly prepared lunch.

That day I was reminded just how clever our wildlife is, and how much we can learn by taking the time to observe the little things that go on all around us in the natural world, often right in our own backyards. We just need to look.