Wildlife of Sabang
Trip Start
Aug 30, 2009
1
199
244
Trip End
Dec 25, 2009
Where I stayed
Puerto Galera, Mindoro, Philippines
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
There is the two legged, very short and small variety and then the four legged variety. The four legged variety runs from very tiny and small to a fairly good size for something on four legs. Under the two legged, we have the children, the kids of the village, the little people and as of yesterday, we also have the roosters. The four legged variety includes the cats and dogs.
Sabang is a fairly small place. Everyone who lives here on a regular basis (snowbirds, other villagers, locals, and expats) knows the names of every kid and where they belong and probably the same for the cats and dogs and roosters. The kids are in a frenzy of activity from the minute they walk out to the beach until they disappear at night into whatever back walkway leads to their abode. I rarely see an adult with the ones who have passed the toddler stage. The kids roam at will and play in the walkways, the patios, the shops and restaurants. While I don't see adults with them, they are watched. The adults are also living their lives outside so any kid playing on any surface, be it the walkway, the beach, the shop, the restaurant, an adult is sitting or working in the walkway, the beach, the shop or the restaurant and calls out to them every once in awhile. If they wander too far from their place of belonging, some other adult takes over the watcher position or sends them back to their home area.
The boys are the most ambitious of course. They are in and out of the water, scrambling over the outriggers of the boats, digging in the sand, playing with whatever they find, or chasing after the cats and dogs. They invent their games based on whatever they can find at the tide line or whatever is left behind by a late night reveler. The girls are a bit more subdued, following an older woman around or playing with hula hoops. When the kids get tired, they just drop where they are for a break and chatter away to anyone who comes near. Today will be different though as the kids go back to school. Now it will just be the very small ones who are running about.
The dogs are the same. They come out in the morning from somewhere, and spend the day wandering where they like, sleeping where they like, begging food off of anyone who has it and generally living a life of ease. The most activity they do is to run onto the beach when another dog walks past their view or nose. Most of the dogs do belong to someone but none of them wear collars and certainly all of them have fleas. There aren’t a lot of puppies around so people must be getting them fixed here. This might be due to the fact that there are so many expats living here and probably take care of their own dogs.
The cats are a bit wilder. Their territory is higher. They wander around on the roofs. A cat could probably go the whole length of the beach from rooftop to rooftop but we are talking cats so they are probably too lazy to do that. And they slink. You can catch a glimpse of a cat slinking around a corner and running along the side of a building. Three cats allow me to approach and give them a pet. The rest are wary of all people and as the locals don’t seem to like cats as much, they are wise to get out of the way of feet and hands. And yet, even the wary ones have their spots where people put out food for them.
Yesterday I met my first rooster. I can hear them at different times during the day, crowing in the background. Yesterday I walked around the corner behind a dive shop and a big red rooster with a cord hanging off his leg was strutting through the patio. I snapped a few photos and one of the dive shop guys picked him up so I could take some more photos. Last night when I was downloading my photos in front of the dive shop crowd, they saw that and go, "Oh that’s a fighting cock." I suppose in a few weeks, this rooster will be dinner, or he will be when he loses a match.
As with wildlife viewing anywhere, it is fascinating and interesting to watch the dynamics. They are all working out the pecking order and hierarchy. They are all learning their place in this small society. It’s human/life dynamics at its most basic. It’s great to watch.
