The bedroom is where people sleep and no matter where you are in South Asia, sleep here is probably different than what you are (or were) used to. It certainly was for me. For the most part, I’ve gotten used to all the noise compared to the perfectly quiet night atmosphere of the neighborhood I lived in near the East Coast but some things still surprise me.

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Roof

In the first house we lived in, we had monkeys.

All of the following information is true:

• They did gymnastics in the trees, like repeatedly climbing up a tree only to leap from a branch and flip on to the ground
• did somersaults on the lawn
• wrestled in the grass
• played on the trampoline
• jumped on the roof

Enjoy the Videos of proof

I would often be lying in bed as the sun (and myself) were waking up and hear pouncing on the roof or a loud crashing sound from the corner of the house. The crash was always the monkeys jumping from the roof to a plastic overhang that protected the dryer from getting rained on, on the balcony. The plastic roof was held up with metal beams so it was always an unpleasant clanging sound whenever the monkeys were descending from the house.

Civets in the Attic

a nocturnal animal (aka: night time is their most energetic time of the day)

One night, when Robby was out of town, I got in bed and heard a LOUD thud. I leapt out of bed and ducked down, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Pretty soon it happened again, but this time I heard the noise above my head. It sounded like a pretty big animal jumping and briskly walking back and forth. Every so often it would fall and create the thud sound.

Our landlord told us to always walk on the beams if we ever needed to go in between the concrete flat roof and the tin roof above it, that protected the building from water damage. If this animal was as large as it sounded and it didn’t know the “rules” of the house, that meant it could fall through the ceiling onto me. I  didn’t even want to think about what could happen next. 

I was terrified! It was so disruptive, I slept on the couch that night.

Although we heard it, we didn’t see it for a month because we couldn’t find it during the day and at night, we weren’t going to fight off an animal that could possibly leap and attack with sharp teeth.

We thought it was a mongoose since they are everywhere around here.

One day, when we had guests over and we were all happily playing a game in the living room, we heard a terrible noise outside the door– a high pitched screeching noise. We all leapt up and saw this…

Well, that is NOT a mongoose. It’s an animal I never knew existed, a civet. And it had babies in our attic. Oh. My. Word!!!

We battled this creature for almost two months.

This is what we did:

• put out poison

• set traps

• had workmen seal any openings in the “attic” area.

• The electrician even installed a light in the attic (brilliant idea since it’s nocturnal). It left for a week but to our dismay, it came back.

About a month ago, I woke up in the middle of the night to screeching noises from the baby. 

And worst of all, we now have fleas IN THE HOUSE. They were even in our bed! I know, disgusting!!!!! All because of a civet who gave birth in our attic.

Update: we think the civet is gone. It was trying to get its baby down for a while and finally one night when we were eating dinner, I saw a little furry bundle literally fall from the roof onto our balcony. We haven’t  seen anything or heard any noises since then. The fleas have taken months to get rid of and they are currently somehow surviving on our balcony but are no longer inside the house. Praises!!! 

Dogs

I left dogs for last because, although they can be wildly annoying at night in South Asia, they have been the least of our nightly concerns. Sometimes, they bark and fight and growl and yelp ALL night long. They are in cities and villages alike, so no matter where you are bring your earplugs or turn on a sound machine.