Krack Jack
Amongst the things that I had gotten used to, in my previous home, was the company of 2 or 3 stray dogs who had become my very good friends in the two years I had spent there.I had practically seen them since their birth as they played around in the lane that lead to the house where my 1 BHK bachelors' pad was located.
Initially, I started out by feeding them with little biscuits, cakes and fruits and as they grew I moved them to the left over chicken and mutton bones, which they really relished. They would vigorously wag their tails and follow me everyday as I left for and returned from office, and once even protected me from thhe stray dogs of the neighbourhood when I cam home really late. They had become so accustomed to having me around that one of them would practically sleep at my doorstep all night.
All this changed last year, as we moved into an apartment. No stray dogs are obviously allowed now and I had started to miss them. However, one sunny Sunday as Prachi and me were relaxing on our couch, enjoying some movie, we saw some shadows moving through the curtains of the drawing room. Initially, we were a bit scared, but on further investgating we found that it was nothing but a squirrel that was playing around the grill of our balcony.
I remembered my cousin, Abhishek, also had a pet squirrel would come and eat biscuits left on top of the air-conditioning panel and I followed suit and left a few old biscuits on the balcony wall. Right on cue, a few hours later, the squirrel was back and we watched with delight as he nibbled away at the food left there.
This was a few months' back. Since then, we did our research and fed him with fruits, bread and even little cut tomatoes till we realized that it was the biscuits that he liked the best. Ocassionally, we would see two of them playing around and come one-by-one to first check if the coast was clear and then nibble away to their stomachs' full. The 'National Geographic' keeda in me, even took me a step closer as I would spend time studying their movement and calling patterns (just I had done with the dogs earlier) and slowly started to try and understand what time they would come and how best to understand what they wanted. The result - a small plastic container of drinking water left on the balcony sil, which they (along with the crows) would religiously drink into on a hot sunny day.
Now, it has become a daily routine for me to leave some food and water for them before I leave and unlike my previous four-legged friends, Prachi and me decided to name our new found pet after the biscuit that he likes the most.
Hence, allow me to introduce you to dearest 'Krack-Jack':
All this changed last year, as we moved into an apartment. No stray dogs are obviously allowed now and I had started to miss them. However, one sunny Sunday as Prachi and me were relaxing on our couch, enjoying some movie, we saw some shadows moving through the curtains of the drawing room. Initially, we were a bit scared, but on further investgating we found that it was nothing but a squirrel that was playing around the grill of our balcony.
I remembered my cousin, Abhishek, also had a pet squirrel would come and eat biscuits left on top of the air-conditioning panel and I followed suit and left a few old biscuits on the balcony wall. Right on cue, a few hours later, the squirrel was back and we watched with delight as he nibbled away at the food left there.
This was a few months' back. Since then, we did our research and fed him with fruits, bread and even little cut tomatoes till we realized that it was the biscuits that he liked the best. Ocassionally, we would see two of them playing around and come one-by-one to first check if the coast was clear and then nibble away to their stomachs' full. The 'National Geographic' keeda in me, even took me a step closer as I would spend time studying their movement and calling patterns (just I had done with the dogs earlier) and slowly started to try and understand what time they would come and how best to understand what they wanted. The result - a small plastic container of drinking water left on the balcony sil, which they (along with the crows) would religiously drink into on a hot sunny day.
Now, it has become a daily routine for me to leave some food and water for them before I leave and unlike my previous four-legged friends, Prachi and me decided to name our new found pet after the biscuit that he likes the most.
Hence, allow me to introduce you to dearest 'Krack-Jack':
Comments