Holy Moly – Check dit dan!
Long long long time ago I studied Environmental Biology (yes, I was an early adopter) at Wageningen University. So naturally, I must dedicate at least one of my updates to Nature and wildlife. Of course, there is not much big wildlife in Ouro Preto city unless you count the numerous street dogs that wander around town. A lot of people love them. They put drinking troughs on the street for them an also feed them. Other people find it sad that there are so many dogs living outside. What strikes me most is that all the dogs are very friendly, are not aggressive, do not bite (yes really 😊) and step aside when you need to pass. Besides the street dogs I also count the numerous black vultures as big wildlife since they are quite impressive. They circle above the city in the afternoon when the right thermals have developed. This means that there must be something for them to eat. Last week I saw them eating a dead dog on campus, so they do like that. Hopefully, they also like pigeons because their number could be substantially reduced in Ouro Preto.
No, for the real big wildlife I have to wait until my holiday in December. Looking forward to spotting a jaguar, tapir, and armadillo. At this moment I focus and the smaller species that are living around campus and the city: birds and reptiles. To begins with the birds. The first couple of days I was flabbergasted about all the different colorful species that were living around my house, in the city parc and at the campus of UFOP. Armed with my camera with zoom function I crept around to capture them at the same time using the Merlin bird app to identify them. I got many stares of Brazilians. Rare jongens die Hollanders …. Apparently, bird watching is not a popular hobby around here yet. In the pictures you can see some of the common birds here including their English names. What strikes me is that they are totally not afraid. Especially the saffron finch and Rufous hornero are quite brutal and just keep sitting when you pass at less than 1 meter. They just look curious at you as you can see.
Besides the birds, there are also a lot of lizards/reptiles to be spotted. On campus, they cross the pavement in front of you looking for the greener grass on the other side. But they also live in the parc that stretches out across the city. Don’t ask me why but my family loves small lizards. Probably because they have such a friendly smile. Luckily for them there are a lot of insects to eat. Large ants, small bugs etc. Although I did not see them catching any. When I arrived here, I was afraid there would also be a lot of mosquitoes so the first night I already put up a mosquito net above my bed. But so far, they only thing that got caught in the net were my toes when I stretched them too much. Let’s hope it stays that way.
So much for my animal encounters here in Ouro Preto. I will end with some nice pictures from the city park I already mentioned. It is a tropical surprise that stretches out from the lowest point of Ouro Preto all the way up to the highest point. About 1,5 km I think. A climb but worthwhile with many benches to sit and enjoy the animals I just described. The only disappointing thing so far is the limited number of flowers. But maybe that is because it’s only spring here. I will find out soon.
If you have any request for next times update, please let me know. I’ll see what I can do 😊
Ciao, Jappe
PS: want to get a day-do-day short update? Install the Polar steps app on your phone and enjoy: https://www.polarsteps.com/JappedeBest/20745838-professor-visitar?s=09f3c004-aa21-4211-a4e0-c57a5921248a
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