Salim Moshiur, Comilla South

Vegetables and fruits gardens in the greater Laksam Upazila of southern Cumilla are facing an existence due to the terrible attack of small and ferocious squirrels.

This small and ferocious animal is not only eating these resources. Rather, it is constantly eating the dreams and hopes of millions of people in this region.

Several people in the southern upazilas of the district said that in this region, rural fruit farmers are destroying various types of vegetables and fruits, starting from coconut, daub, guava, plum, amla, ata and pineapple fruits, to beans, gourds, pumpkins and cucumbers.

That ferocious little animal is known to everyone as the rural name for squirrels, which jump from one end to the other and from one tree to another by jumping about 100/150 feet every minute. As difficult as it is to catch them, all the techniques to kill them are even more difficult. Every morning, the animals' vicious paws can be seen destroying every fruit and vegetable tree. The squirrels' herds wreak havoc on mango, jackfruit and litchi crops throughout the year, in addition to coconuts and coconuts.

Sources also say that this vicious animal lives in the fruit and vegetable gardens of most of the people in rural areas of this region throughout the year. Due to the cruelty of the wood squirrels, people are losing their dream fruit and vegetable products worth lakhs of taka. Especially, this small, vicious animal, the squirrel, is creating a major obstacle in rural economic development.

In every village of this region, the cruelty of the wood squirrels in those fruit and vegetable gardens does not seem to stop. Since there is no permanent measure to prevent them, the garden owners are suffering irreparable losses. Initially, the common man is not getting any remedy even by making a sound trap with tin to protect the garden crops from the reckless cruelty of the ferocious wood cat.

At one time, this small animal was afraid of the presence of humans and used to rule the fruit and vegetable gardens even during the day, seizing the opportunity, but now they are ruling freely day and night. There is nothing humans can do. Various types of valuable fruits and vegetables are produced throughout the year, but squirrels are indiscriminately eating and destroying those crops in the blink of an eye. As a result, the victims are facing financial losses.

In this regard, it was not possible to get a statement from several officials of the district-upazila animal resources, forest department and agriculture department, despite repeated attempts on their mobile phones.