ADVENTUROUS PETS LT COL NOEL ELLIS 01/V/2024 The other day I got a shock when I saw one of our Apple Snails in our water lily tub had taken a leap of faith. It must have climbed up to the ledge of the bathtub and then lost its grip or balance to fall down about two and a half feet to the floor. With a cracked shell, chances of its survival were unsure. There was no way to know except to pick it up and put it back in the pool. Its ‘flesh’ appeared fresh, though the shell was cracked and the shell surface had gone dry. How long back ‘Humpty-Dumpty’ had taken the fall was unknown. This gave me a little time to look at the ‘crustacean’ in detail. These guys have a diaphragm-like feature at the ‘mouth’ of their opening through which they move their body out to feed, swim and mate. It is a dark brown/black coloured membrane which seals off that opening after they retract inside their shell. This is basically a safety feature and a defence mechanism of a snail to withdraw itself into it
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MAIDEN FLIGHT
MAIDEN FLIGHT LT COL NOEL ELLIS 18 /V/2023 Oh! What a start to a wonderful day it was. I am still awestruck with what I witnessed first hand. Nature was at its best unfolding right infront of your eyes. It was truly mesmerising, so read on…. Having watered the plants, it was time for me to observe the birds. Blackie and Brownie, our Sunbirds that had made a nest in our garage, were unusually busy today. Their absence from the nest was of lesser duration than normal. Two chicks were now sticking their beaks out of the nest. Let us call them Jinny and Johnny, J&J. All these days J&J were quiet as quiet could be. However, today they were fidgety and were popping out very frequently from the nest’s opening. B&B would come in turns with a juicy caterpillar or insect in their mouths and push both J&J back in. Naughty as they were, once fed and the parents off, they would stick their necks out of the nest again. My hunch told me it could possibly be the day when J&J
TRAGEDY IN A TUB
TRAGEDY IN A TUB LT COL NOEL ELLIS 15/V/2024 Our small little fish pond is doing well. Fish are happy, floating plants are happy, water lilies are happy, honey bees are happy, and so are the numerous snails inside. We are happy too. The issue with snails is that they munch on all kinds of greenery, drilling numerous holes in every leaf they visit. The complete appearance changes to a pock marked kind of plant. Even a healthy plant looks diseased. The end result is that the leaf finally dies and has to be snipped due to the snail massacre. Our happiness knew no bounds on finding snails in the tub when we had started our aquatic plant hobby. We were told they are algae eaters. Indeed, they were. But then, when there was a snail population explosion, they ran out of algae and attacked plants, damaging all kinds of leaves. Once while cleaning the yellowing and decaying water lily leaves, we found a cluster of transparent white bubbles, something like a bubble wrap on
WASTE OF TIME
WASTE OF TIME LT COL NOEL ELLIS 13/V/2024 These days with all the time to oneself, one can indulge in one's hobbies at any time of the day or night. You are your own boss. A big ‘time waster’ called the ‘social media’ of which I use very few platforms have been put on ‘silent mode’. No unnecessary ‘Tring-Tring’ gives so much more time to do things creative in that time wasted scrolling aimlessly. By the way, I heard WhatsApp is planning to withdraw its services from India. I wish them the best and pray it happens tomorrow. Many WhatsApp universities will shut down though. There will definitely be peace on earth. Another thing which needs to be shut down is the ‘Noise’ channels, which I have done personally for myself. No news is good news. Be that as it may. I must confess that I watch a few videos on YouTube before going to bed. They say, one should avoid the mobile two hours before going to bed. For me, I avoid it all day, so it doesn’t matter. Believe you m