Wildlife

It's hot here and sticky and there's lots to eat so it comes as no surprise that there's a lot of wildlife too. Phu My Hung isn't exactly the countryside, although that isn't far away but there's a lot creeping and crawling about. We are also surrounded by water, some flowing and some stagnant. There's a ditch alongside Sky Gardens which I can see from my living room window and on the the other side of that there's a patch of undrained and as yet unused ground which I refer to as 'the swamp'. Over by the university there's a couple of wide channels flowing with a mixture of organic debris and plastic bags. The water is milk chocolate brown with suspended mud and whatever effluent the city discharges into it. We are not far from the sea so there's the occasional tidal backwash to contend with too which adds a salty tang to the mix. Even in my little area, which is still being developed, there are overgrown vacant plots between some of the buildings covered in a low lying but dense hatch of undergrowth.

All this make for a great habitat for wildlife. Snakes are supposed to be common but timid so the only ones I've seen have been for sale alongside the road towards the university. The woman who sells them keeps them in mesh sacks next to a set of kitchen scales all set up on the kerbside. I can't imagine a snake coiling quietly on the scales whilst being weighed and have yet to see anyone buy one.

The vacant plots between the buildings are mainly home to rats which scurry about at night dodging between the buildings. When you get near one they shoot off into the weed patches unlike London rats which I swear give you a sullen look and almost say 'wot-evah' at you. The local cats look no match for them as they are too small and boney. In a fight between cat and rat my money would definitely be on rat. After a bit of rain, and that's most days, you might find a giant snail slowly making it's way long the road. Frogs are common too given the amount of water around. They're quiet most nights but from time to time they let rip with their froggy croaking and they often hop along the road next to the snails.

My apartment is also home to the odd creature or two. I have minute ants that come out from nowhere when I eat fruit. I bought sugar last week and they found that too, where I hid it from them, in one of my many kitchen cupboards. I think they found it quicker than I did. I have so many cupboards to search through I sometimes lose food. But today a saw a tiny gecko in the kitchen when I came home from the shops. I was pleased to see it and told it to set to work on the ants but I don't think it heard me as it shot off rather quickly underneath a cupboard. Hopefully it'll be out when I'm asleep and be tucking into an ant supper.