Night time strolls - The Maredpally macaques - 4

It's not just during the day that these macaques are around the place. Every once in a while trips will be made at night as well. This is the last of pictures in the present set of The Maredpally macaques and was taken a few months ago well past sunset and under the golden light of the street sodium vapour lamps


crossing the road...

... the sights are set above...

...and some make the most a late evening snack...insects and moths that throng around a sodium vapour lamp.

It's our chance too - The Marredpally Macaqeus - 3

The boss is sleeping; it's our chance too

It seemed like the entire troop was taking its cue from the boss...

If you don't use your balcony, we certainly will!
The 1st and 2nd floor balconies of the opposite house are rarely, if ever, used by the owners and the macaques seem to have figured this out just right.

The Boss is sleeping - Marredpally Macaques - 2

The other day the troop of about 15 monkeys arrived at about 2 pm and stayed on for exactly two hours. It was clearly siesta time, because almost all of them, located at different positions in the vicinity spent most of the time napping.
This guy, the biggest and the most aggressive of the troop, behaved and was treated like the leader. He took his position on the chickoo (sapota) tree right in front of our balcony and 'slept'. He didn't move till it was about 4 pm and when he did, the entire troop took off immediately after him.



Tomorrow: The boss is sleeping; so shall we!

The Marredpally Macaques- 1

The rather leafy and peaceful neighbourhood of West Marredpally in Secunderabad is home to a largish troop of macaques that has pretty much a free run of the place. No one living here can miss them as they go about their rounds across the area and I've been coming across them almost once in three days ever since I moved to Secunderabad a couple of years ago.
It's not very clear where these animals came from. Some people say that they have been here all along, from the earlier times when these areas were even more thickly wooded. Others say that these are the animals (and their descendants) from the lot that animal rights activists freed from the National Institute of Nutrition some time back.
That, as it may be, they are unavoidable reality in today's Marredpally and from what little I have seen and heard they've not become the menace that they have in other parts of the country. There are the occassional accounts (like from a friend of our's) whose kitchen on the 2nd floor is regularly raided by them.
The area around our house is particularly green with a number of trees - chickoo, gulmohar, neem and a huge and beautiful pipal. Not surprisingly we are regularly visited by the troop - and at different parts of the day. I have been occassionally clicking the animals from the balcony of our house and over the next few days am going to put up a selection of the pics with the different moods of the Marredpally Macaques...

You eye me; I eye U

Mother and child

You mind your business, we mind ours

Rains in Secunderabad

It's the same story in Secunderabad as it is in most of the country - almost no rains. The clouds have been coming and going, but that's about it. The night of 26th June was somewhat of an exception. After a hot and sultry day with clouds and the sun playing hide and seek with each other through the day, things changed at night and we had an hour or so of heavy rain.

Here are some pics in the golden light of sodium vapour from the balcony of my house in the rather green and leafy Mareddpally part of Secunderabad