Why should wildlife authorities object to camera traps on private property?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Last week, after a couple of days of torrential rain, an unexpected visitor showed up at our house. Just as I was getting ready to go to work in the morning, I saw a large furry creature climb over the neighbour’s wall, saunter across our garden and slip through the small gate that separates our garden from the garage.

At first glance, I thought it was a bandicoot, but something about the shape of its body and the way it ran across the grass gave me pause. Unlike rats that hug the wall when they run, this creature was boldly running across the lawn, its bushy tail firmly parallel to the grass. In a flash, it occurred to me that my unexpected guest was a grey mongoose.

I live in the heart of Bangalore city, a stone’s throw away from its central business district. All around me, stretching for miles in every direction, is the built-up concrete jungle of this fast-growing metropolis. That a wild animal, the likes of which I had only seen before in the rainforests of South India, was scampering down my lawn, beggared belief.

The next day, I had my son join me. Like me, he too is an avid wildlife photographer and I wanted confirmation that I wasn’t dreaming. At 10 o’clock, we both saw the creature raise his head over the wall and slither down, following the same path he’d taken the previous day.

We both agreed that this was indeed a rare sighting of urban wildlife, a mongoose living in the heart of the city. It had probably been flushed out of its burrow by excessive rain. We made plans to set up a camera trap to photograph our furry friend knowing that, without pictures to prove it, no one would believe there was a wild animal running free in the city.