Local Fauna - Our hotel suite is immaculate - I have never stayed in a place so beautifully maintained and serviced, so our run ins with some of the local wildlife are a reminder that we are in Asia, and not everything can be tamed or come under the influence of advanced technology.  (I am reminded  that in northern Virginia I've been more than challenged keeping the rats out of my compost bins :), so it is not just in Asia that some creatures resist our attempts to control them.)

Dogs, dogs, dogs everywhere.  They don't appear unfriendly or rabid - though we are under strict orders not to touch any - few look starved though most look dirty and uncared for and they all have a vague family resemblance from generations without arranged marriages: long legged, short haired, curled tail Labrador like faces.  Although the paths are swept daily on our big road (Lodhi Road) we have to make sure we keep our eyes on where we are walking because of the piles left by the dogs or the uneven pavement.  Interestingly stray dogs and cows don't seem to find the very, very wealthy areas attractive!

Cows - well I haven't seen so many yet, but the one in the middle of a nice mall was a bit of a shock.  We've had an occasional traffic jam because of a couple of leisurely cows, but not many yet.

We have dark wood panelling throughout our suite and instead of blinds or curtains we have the same dark wooden sliding door panels to close the windows.  Last week I was closing up the living area when the sliding door provided a dramatic back drop for a 6" pink lizard.  We observed one another for several seconds before he decided he preferred the darkness of the sliding door opening.  I don't have much history with lizards so I calmly phoned the 'butler' service and asked:  is it normal to have lizards in the room?  Do they carry disease?  Will they go after my food?  The butler was totally unfazed so I guess the lizard is a semi-permanent resident and he certainly doesn't like my food and I haven't seen him again.

A couple of days ago Felix rushed into our room because something  heavy had scampered across his leg.  Regrettably we have still not been able to identify this specific visitor.  We like to know who we are entertaining.

Sunday afternoon Bert and I were enjoying a cup of masala tea together when a dark haired foolish young mouse decided to scurry across the room against the white wall (his mama didn't teach him about camouflage) and into the kitchen. I was very grateful that Bert saw him too.  I think I am worried that people will think I am exaggerating, so a witness is always reassuring.  Our trusty butler service came immediately and within minutes we had one of those horrible glue pads in place with some delicious tempting morsel on it.  Our inexperienced young visitor fell for the trap within two hours and was escorted from our premises by an apologetic butler's assistant.  How this guy got in is a mystery, but the whole city is probably enjoying new animal activity as so much building has been going on for the Commonwealth Games.  When you disrupt a rodent's home he has to find a new one. . .no wonder the athletes' village is finding cobras and mice!

For good measure housekeeping put another glue trap under my sink. . .I hate checking it regularly.  Why does it make me more squeamish to open the door and check to see if something has got stuck on the board, than it did to actually see the mouse?