Tag Archives: pests

Feeding the pigeons in Jaipur (Rajasthan)

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Here is a brief excerpt from my book “88 DAYS IN INDIA: A JOURNEY OF MEMORY AND DISCOVERY”, In this sample, I am writing about pigeons in Jaipur (Rajasthan) and elsewhere:

“While we were being driven around the city, we passed areas where food and
water were being distributed to some of the city’s many pigeons. The provision
of food for pigeons (as well as street dogs and other animals) is commonly
found in many other cities and villages we have visited in India. In Jaipur, we
saw vendors selling passersby seeds for the birds. Earlier in 2024, when we
were in Istanbul, we saw similar vendors at an area (near the Spice Bazaar)
where pigeons were plentiful. As a child during the early 1960s, my parents
used to buy me cones full of corn for feeding the pigeons in the Piazza Signoria
in Florence (Italy). Long ago, I remember pigeon feed being sold in London’s
Trafalgar Square. However, now Londoners regard pigeons as pests, which
should not be fed. One of London’s former Mayors, Ken Livingstone, who
ended selling of pigeon food in the square in 2001, called pigeons: “rats with
wings”.

Although feeding pigeons has caused India’s population of these
creatures to increase to alarmingly high levels, Shreemoyee Chakraborty
(quoted in an article published by theprint.in in November 2024) noted:
“In India feeding pigeons is not just a habit; it has a religious and
cultural significance as well.”

In an online article about Vastu Shastra (published on vastulabh.com), it was
pointed out that:
“Pigeons have long been associated with Goddess Lakshmi, the deity
of wealth and prosperity. According to Vastu Shastra, pigeons are
believed to bring positive energy and good fortune into the home.
However, there are differing opinions and specific guidelines on how to
interpret their presence.”

So, it is likely that feeding these winged creatures in India has a good chance of
continuing despite the occasional attempts of some municipal authorities,
including in Jaipur, to reduce their population.“

If you wish to purchase a copy of this book, hasten to Amazon’s website:

Catching rats in Surat, a city in Gujarat

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PROFESSOR ROBERT HARKNESS was my PhD supervisor between 1973 and 1977. He and his wife remained my close friends for the rest of their lives. Robert was interested in everything. His was not a fleeting interest, but a deep, enquiring passion. He was fascinated by the contents of hardware shops, especially when making his annual overland trips between the UK and the North of Greece.

During his explorations of these shops, he noticed that the designs of traps for rodents varied from place to place. Many of them were constructed so that the rat or other pest was not killed when caught in the trap. Over the years Robert collected a wide variety of differently designed traps.

The rat trap and the man who made it

Today (the 8th of December 2023) when wandering through one of the many bazaars in Surat (Gujarat), we spotted a metal worker’s shop. On a table outside it, there were a pile of rat traps for sale. They looked like little sheds or garages. At one end of each of them, there was a sliding door. Bait is placed in the far end of the trap. When a creature touches this, the trap door drops down and imprisons it. I do not know what the owner of such a device does with the victim enclosed within it. I suspect that the animal might be killed by drowning.

The owner of the shop said that most of the traps on display were made elsewhere, but he showed us one he had made. As we examined the traps and other ironmongery on offer, I thought how much Robert would have enjoyed visiting this shop.