Animals

The principal birds more of them heard than seen are the nightingales, spurfowl, bird of paradise, and golden oriel sometimes called the mango bird. But the singing and colorful birds of Mahabaleshwar like Kingfishers, Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, Thrushes, Honey-suckers are the real fauna that go to enhance the beauty of the place. A number of venomomous snakes are found, of which the nag (naja tripudians), Phurse (Behis carinata), Ghonas, and manyar are the commonest. Phurse are found in great numbers and though small are very poisonous. Of the larger wild animals, tigers, panthers, and leopards and of the smaller spotted and four- horned deer and hog, are occasionally seen on the hill and in the surrounding villages. Hyenas come out of their dens on a moonlight night, monkeys of fairly larger size if left alone seldom make a nuisance of themselves. Sambars are also found.