* Cats & Frogs, & Things that go Bump in the Night (DK)

I thought I would introduce you to some animals and sounds we are experiencing in this tropical land.  Although this has been an enjoyable aspect of our move here, at times the night sounds keep us awake.  Other than the barking dogs and mewling cats, not one of them is familiar.  There are rustlings, and bangings, and strange animal noises.  In the darkness of night, these can make us feel like strangers in a strange land.

Here are some of the creatures we've seen in our house and yard.  I'll leave it to you to figure where we've seen them - inside or out.

One of 3 stray cats that seem to like us

A Toad - See his lunch below

A Grasshopper - at least 6 inches long

A Collared Kingfisher

A Grey Wagtail

A House Lizard

The house lizard, by the way, is not a quiet creature - it often makes a chirping noise.  In addition to the one that visited Sharon at the kitchen sink, we have one who keeps an eye on us from the window while we're eating supper (he's behind the screen).  There are also geckoes around.  The noise they make sounds like their name.  Haven't seen any yet, though.

And then there are things that go bump in the night.  Well, some things howl actually, such as the dogs.  They have a knack for getting each other going and producing quite a chorus.  Planes contribute their share.  In certain wind and weather conditions they fly right overhead on their way to or from the Manila airport.  It's quite a roar when a 747 is only (it seems) a couple hundred feet overhead.  That will wake anyone up at night!

But sometimes there really are bumps in the night - and loud ones at that.  The last few nights have been rather windy, and large bangs on our metal roof have often startled us at unearthly hours.  We couldn't figure out what it was at first, attributing it to some noise at a neighbor's house (after all, we did just pass through the noisy new year's season of fireworks, fireworks, and more fireworks).  But we eventually discovered the reason from evidence in our back yard.  Here it is:

Mangoes from our Mango Tree

As you can tell, most of them are cracked.  I did however pick out one the other day and ate it.  Delicious!  I'm keeing my eyes open for another keeper.

We've enjoyed getting to see and know this part of God's creation.