31st, August 1997

Pssst! Pets aplenty

For most of us, a pet is a dog, maybe a cat, an occasional budgie or an overfed goldfish. But apparently snakes, monkeys, giant squirrels or insects also make good companions. Here Chaminta Thilakarathne speaks to people who share their homes with strange and unusual animal friends.

Snakes alive. If you think snakes are slimy, repulsive creatures, then take a trip to Moratuwa and meet Mr. Jayalath Ferdinando. He is a snake lover and has over fifteen varieties of snakes at his house.

"Ever since I was schooling I was interested in reptiles and later on, I had the opportunity of doing research on reptiles," he said. But why reptiles? "Well, everyone is concerned over cats, dogs, and other animals someone has to take care of reptiles," he said smiling.

His daughter, Sumadhu, who is also a reptile lover was petting a few snakes when we met her. Smiling she walked towards us, with a snake wrapped around her arm. When I jumped back , she smiled, "they are not at all harmful, you know, they are just ordinary animals just like any other dog or cat."

"I came to love snakes as my father rears them. Even my little brother is fond of them," Sumadhu said. According to them, snakes are very friendly and lovable pets who do not need as much care as dogs or cats. "They eat quite rarely. And one meal is sufficient to keep them alive for days. Besides, they do not need to be vaccinated or given tick treatments. But they can be petted like any other animal. They identify us by our body heat. One can play and have fun with them like dogs too," Mr. Ferdinando said.

At their home, in Moratuwa, they have built several cages and ponds for the snakes. And how do the neighbours feel? "At first, people were quite afraid to visit us but we have had snakes for a long time, in fact, I had them even before I got married.The good thing that has come out of having reptiles for pets is that the neighbours are no longer afraid of them and whenever they see a reptile, they let us know. As a result, there is a lot of awareness and interest among neighbours," they said.

The Ferdinandos are obviously happy with their unusual pets and they're not the only ones. Many Lankans we discovered like keeping pets and some of them are adventurous enough to take on something more than a cat or dog, who are top of the list of favourite pets. Next on our 'strange pet list' was Sharmali Perera of Nugegoda who has a number of unusual pets. Among the most eyecatching are the leaf insects, but she also has turtles, and even porcupines. The leaf insects live and grow on the guava tree and take the shape and colours of the guava leaf, and "during the seasons when the guava leaf changes colour they too change colour," she said.

"So far I have had no complaints by the neighbours of the leaf insects. I keep them in a box and they have no way of escaping. But I do take them out because they need sunlight and they are animals who live and eat on the guava leaf," said Sharmali. As for her other pets, "they do not need as much attention," she said. "They usually take care of themselves and find their own food. At the same time, one needn't worry about food and lodging for these animals either," she added.

She began her strange collection on a whim, just out of curiosity. Seeing the little creatures on the leaf, she had wandered as to what they were and as a result, had taken them as pets and later on started to study them.

MP Lakshman Abeygunawardena is greeted every morning by 'Kiri', who never fails to rush to his bedroom window and tap on it, until he opens the window and greets 'Kiri' with a smile. 'Kiri' is also the last living being he meets when leaving to work and the first he sees when he returns home. And no, Kiri's not a dog, she's a deer.

"Kiri knows when my father's vehicle is on its way home, and runs to the gate to greet him, before we could, from wherever she has been hiding. If my father does not greet her, she is all moody. He too is worried if she's not around," said his daughters.

The only other thing that can drag her out of any hiding place or a dull mood is a biscuit, apart, of course from Mr. Abeygunawardena's voice. Though fruits and vegetables are the usual favorites of deer, in the case of 'Kiri' it is biscuits, and savoury ones. Just like many of us, 'Kiri' insists on her morning tea, and if she does not get it then she comes into the kitchen in search of it, according to Premewathi, the housekeeper.

Piyadasa Baas who lives at Pepiliyana has an unusual pet in his garage. But beware, he bites. This pet rock squirrel which was gifted to Piyadasa by a friend from Matara, eats almost everything Piyadasa does and does not demand a special diet.

While for those mentioned above, having an unusual pet was a matter of choice, Milton Abeysinghe had no such intention until one day, a monkey came in search of shelter and protection at his home in Polgasowita.

"We were not in search of an unusual pet and it was as if we were destined to have these monkeys mother and son," said Mr Abeysinghe.

The two monkeys had been wandering around the trees of their garden looking somewhat scared, as they were being hunted by another male. In their search for a hiding place, they came across the Miltons who fell in love with the two monkeys and decided to provide them with a refuge. Now for almost two years, the two monkeys have been living with the family and according to Mr.Milton they have become a part of the family. In fact, the baby monkey has been named 'chuti putha' (Little son) by them.

Having monkeys as pets might seem difficult and a nuisance but not to Milton and his wife Dalsi, who protect them as they would their own children. "When the children go to school and Milton to work, they become my companions and family," Dalsi said.

At the sight of them the monkeys come running and climb onto their shoulders refusing to get off. "Nothing in the house is safe with 'chuti-putha' untied," they stated with much pride and affection.

"They eat the same things that we eat, and we have no problem in having them, although it took us some time for us to get used to having monkeys running around the house," they said.

How do their neighbours react? Pretty well according to the Abeysinghes, for they too have got used to them by now.

It is curiosity in the cases of many of the unusual pet lovers that seems to have led them to rear these animals as pets. Anslem De.Silva, senior staff technical officer of the Peradeniya University said that recently they have started introduced lectures on wild animals because there seem to be a lot of people bringing unusual pets for treatment.

It has become somewhat of a fashion nowadays, but Mr de Silva added a word of caution, saying that few people are genuinely interested. "Most often school children have them for fun and as a way of showing off,but they should learn frist to take care of them," he said.

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