Wildlife of the hills of Xi'an

Siyuan University's campus is pretty far from the city center of Xi'an. It takes me an hour on an express bus line to get from Siyuan to the center of town. The hills of Siyuan's campus have maintained a pastoral character in contrast to the rapidly urbanizing valley below. Yet it has taken me three weeks to identify wildlife living on campus. Only after I changed my definition of wildlife was I able to spot any.

The typical wildlife present in the American countryside just aren't here. No rabbits, deer, squirrels, rodents etc. If these animals do live in China, they have been chased away by a different kind of wildlife--stray dogs and cats. There are packs of dogs that roam the streets of Siyuan. At first I thought they were pets of the students, but I have since learned that pets are forbidden to the students. Cats walk the aisles of the cafeterias in search of scraps. The only 'typical' kind of wildlife I've since are giant toads. And I assume they are around because the dogs and cats know they are poisonous.

Stray cat outside of my favorite cafeteria

Giant toad on the footstep of my building...most definitely poisonous

 Earlier this week while I was teaching a class, a stray dog came in and curled up under a student's desk. The dog was in the room for 15 minutes before I discovered it. I think the students were trying to hide it from me because Chinese teachers would not tolerate a dog in their classroom. They were quite surprised when all I did was take a few pictures and leave the animal be.

Is that a louis vitton knock-off?

Oh wait, its just a puppy.

I like to think he left my lecture with a better understanding of the English language.

The girls in my class seemed to really enjoy the dog. I asked them who owned the dog. They told me 'he's homeless'. I showed my pictures to students in my other classes. They were all pretty jealous that they had no dog show up in their classroom. One guy who I showed the pictures to was not as pleased. 'Dogs are forbidden. They are filthy and carry disease,' he told me. I asked him what he had against dogs. He grabbed his ankle and said, 'I was bit when I was a child'. I have to admit he's not wrong about them being filthy. Because all the dogs are homeless, most of their diet is made up of garbage. However dogs are not the only things eating garbage at Siyuan.

What's that pecking on garbage?

I really hope these guys are 'homeless' too...just to be safe, I'm not eating at this restaurant anymore.