Vegetable and fruit gardens across the greater Laksam area of southern Comilla — including Nangalkot, Lalmai and Manoharganj upazilas — are facing an existential threat from fierce attacks by squirrels.
Capable of leaping roughly 100 to 150 feet a minute from one spot to another and from tree to tree, these squirrels — locally known as “chhola” — are not just devouring these resources; they are steadily eating away at the hopes of several hundred thousand people in the region.
Multiple residents across the district’s southern upazilas say the squirrels are destroying a wide range of produce in the area, from native fruit varieties such as coconut, tender coconut, guava, jujube, hog plum, custard apple and pomegranate, to vegetables including beans, bottle gourd, pumpkin and cucumber.
With no effective way to keep them away, garden owners are bearing the losses. Local residents have initially tried building makeshift noise-making traps out of tin sheets to protect their crops from the squirrels’ relentless assault, but have found no real remedy.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report