My Exotic Pets: Living with Wild Animals in Goa

Goa, India, is a part of the Western Ghats, which has been designated a World Heritage Site due to its rich biodiversity and native species. You can see wild animals in Goa wildlife sanctuaries, but that’s not the only place! Wildlife is part of your everyday life. It could end up being your neighbor or roommate.

It took a long time before I realized how rich the wildlife of Goa is. I lived near the sea, in places full of people’s activities. I knew I could meet snakes in India everywhere, and I had encountered them more than once. Frogs are jumping everywhere, they often climb into the house, and a toad settled on a shelf in my closet. Everyone must have seen the widespread palm squirrels, right? But that’s all.

Yet, in 2020, the COVID lockdown happened. Goa became quite empty. The animals scurrying on the streets became more visible.

Indian Grey Mongoose

Mongooses are widespread wild animals in India. I have already seen a few different kinds of them in Upper Dharamsala. India has six species of these animals. In Kerala, I saw brown mongooses playing in front of my bungalow. In Goa, the most common are gray mongooses. Most often, I see them running across my path. They do not approach people. Even though I’ve seen mongooses many times, spotting one again never fails to excite me. In my eyes, they are still exotic creatures, vibrant symbols of wildlife in Goa.

Birds in Goa

My Goan home buzzes with avian activity. Fruit trees in the garden entice visitors of all sizes. Huge, pheasant-like birds share branches with tiny creatures smaller than eggs. Their diverse songs fill the air, a constant reminder of nature’s variety. One day, the smallest dared to enter through a half-open window, nesting on my bathroom sill. This unexpected intrusion showcased the remarkable diversity of Goa’s bird population, all observable from my doorstep.

We are always wanting more than what we currently possess. Seeing a peacock is something I’ve always desired. Even though I have heard them many times, I have never had the chance to see one. One day, while walking in the fields, suddenly I frightened a peacock.

I’m unsure which of us was more frightened, him or me. I didn’t manage to take a photo, but I did get a good view of his extraordinary, bright blue feathers.

Here is my video, filmed at the same location. In it, you can hear the sounds of birds singing.

Monkeys in Goa: Gray Langur

Several monkey species live in the Western Ghats. In Goa, I met only one, the black-footed gray langur. There are many of them here; they move in flocks: males, females, and cubs.

Grey langurs stand apart from other monkeys. While some breeds harass humans, these noble primates respect boundaries. They never approach people or damage property. Instead, langurs spend daylight hours roaming or resting in the jungle. Come evening, they survey nearby trees, searching for fruit.

The first time I visited my current home, I found a small langur sitting on the balcony when I opened the door. It escaped in fear. “Baby monkey,” the sweet girl with a smile said, showing me the house. However, later, I found that I had more than one tenant.

Brown Palm Civet

On my first night in the new house, I sat in a chair on that very balcony. I heard some noise, turned around, and saw an unknown animal. Dark brown in the sunset light, with short powerful legs and a big belly. Later, I had the chance to take a closer look at it, but I still could not understand what it was. Initially, I mistook it for a marten but eventually determined its actual species. It was a civet! The same one that is called luwak or musang in Indonesia. I did not know that these animals are also found in India. And it turns out that several species live here!

I spotted a brown palm civet, native to the Western Ghats. It’s considered fruit-eating, but it ignored the fruits I left for it on my balcony. I’m pretty sure that local civets eat rats and bats. Unfortunately, there are almost no fruits around. People prefer to grow coconut palms, which only provide food for palm squirrels. The remaining Goa wildlife is forced to adapt.

I named my first civet Kunya, unsure whether it was male or female, and just assumed it was a girl. She was a beauty. Her muzzle was much like a rat’s, she had powerful, clawed paws, a round belly, and a luxurious tail. Her hair was dark brown, almost black, and her long, fluffy tail had random white spots.

Kunya was not afraid of me at all, although she had no desire to get to know me better. She often walked between my legs while I sat in a chair because she needed to get through. As it turned out, my balcony was an air route for squirrels, monkeys, and civets.

The brown palm civet is a nocturnal animal. Kunya got up early, at sunset, and went to sleep after sunrise. One early morning, she offended the crows with something, and they attacked her in a flock. Kunya panicked. She climbed higher and higher up the tree, instead of hiding from the crows below. Apparently, that’s how she died in the cyclone – she tried to hide higher up. After Cyclone Tauktae passed in 2021, I never saw her again.

I was sad about Kunya for a long time, and finally, a new civet came to me. I think Kunya was a very mature civet. The new one turned out to be smaller, with a smoother tail without decorations. Its character was not much different. It ignored me and darted between my legs. Once, two of them started coming at once. When this pair played and ran on my balcony, I preferred to hide in the house.

I hadn’t seen civets in my place for a long time; they had stopped coming. But I already know that I need to wait.

Palm squirrels

And last but not least. Palm squirrels can be easily seen anywhere in India, at any time of the day. Wherever there are coconut palms, and they are everywhere.

Squirrels spend a lot of effort gnawing through the thick and hard shells of coconuts. This work takes several days. But then the squirrel can feed on this coconut every day. They do not disregard the flowers of the coconut palm either.

I adore these animals; watching them is a great pleasure. I like their cheerful energy. Early in the morning, squirrels greet the sunrise with loud singing. Yes, yes, the sounds they make resemble birdsong. With the sunset, squirrels hide in the interweaving of palm leaves near the trunk.

More than once I noticed squirrels hanging on with their claws to the curtains of my open window or a towel drying on the balcony railing. They swing and have fun. Another pastime of squirrels is biting on the air conditioner hose. The water sprays out so well! In short, they have caused a lot of trouble on my balcony, but I can’t be angry with them.

If I sit still, the squirrel can come very close, almost right up to me. It is interested in examining what lies on my lap. I close my eyes with my eyelids and look at the squirrel through my eyelashes. However, sooner or later, I blink, and the animal runs away.

And Some More Wild Animals Found in Goa

I also saw with my own eyes:

• Many snakes, and among them an Indian python. It’s an endangered species, and it’s really huge.
• Monitor lizard – right at the crossroads, on the roadway. I never knew before that I could find these creatures in India.
• Porcupine. A very funny animal, crumpled and disheveled, like a wet turkey. He ran across the road in front of me at sunset time. It’s the best time to see any wildlife.
• Hare, and I didn’t believe my own eyes at that time. I rode a bike at night, tired, and after passing the hare, I asked myself: what did I see just now? I rewound the picture in my mind a little and realized that it was a hare.
• Otter. I saw it a few times on the banks of small rivers in Goa.

And probably someone else; I just can’t remember now. But other people told me about leopards in Goa eating dogs at night. I guess I’m glad I never got to meet him.