This is not exactly related to dogs, but it has got me so excited that I just had to share this with you guys.

For a week or so, I had been waking up in the middle of the night on hearing strange howling noises. I am hypersensitive to howling noises because of all the four legged people in the household. One is always worried if something is wrong with them.

Now this howling noise seemed to come from an area that is a little far away, and didn’t exactly sound like a normal dog’s howl. But it still got me worried. It also jogged my imagination to a considerable stretch.

Before I continue, let me describe to you the place I live. It is one of the “posh” corners of North Kolkata. Modern, but still dotted with trees (though they are disappearing fast). During the British rule, this area actually used to have a Rajah (King). The palace—three magnificent buildings and a huge garden, still stand intact. The place is surrounded on three sides by a lake.

One wing of the lake runs right behind my house. Beyond the lake is an elevated grassy dune supporting the arterial railway lines that connect Sealdah to the rest of the world.

I had heard from my father that many years back—some 30 or 25 years back—foxes used to roam the areas around the railway line. One could hear them howling from the dusk to dawn. The area around had numerous “Garden Houses” belonging to rich families who came to spend their weekends over there. The ambience was ideal for small wildlife like foxes and jackals to survive.

Then, with the advent of millions of settlers from post-war Bangladesh, the scene began to change. They took over (legally or forcibly) the garden houses, and began to live there. Trees started to be felled—there are hardly any left, and the foxes began to disappear. It wasn’t long before they were all gone.

So when a couple of mornings back, I asked my parents over tea whether they had heard the howling at night, and whether they thought it was a fox, they laughed it off. Then last night, we heard a very loud “Kya Hua” howl behind our house. Even I, who had never heard what a fox sounds like, knew what it was. My father confirmed—they are back.

Some of the settlers around the railway tracks have confirmed that a pack of 5 foxes have built their homes around the tracks. They are worried that the animals might harm them. Rumors are already abound about the animals being as large as calves and that they kill children.

So it may not be long again that the foxes will be gone. They will probably be killed by humans. After all, this is the state where a Chief Minister’s security guards beat a pregnant vixen to death because the CM, who had just moved in next to a quieter, greener area, could not sleep.

Another worrying factor—where did these animals come from? The word out there is that somewhere along the tracks, a big tree covered area is being destroyed… for human habitat, no doubt. Where will the animals go if you keep driving them out of their homes?

On that worrying thought, anyone has an idea how we can get the forest department to pick them up and take them to a safer place?

Do send me a word if you can help with the info.

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