Not quite as vibrantly colored, but there was a massive squirrel thing - or god knows what - rustling about on my 5th floor balcony around 7am this morning. No idea how it got up there. I thought it was a huge rat at first and it made quite a noise as it jumped onto stuff. 
(This is the best photo I could get - didnât want to open the window and risk having to deal with whatever the hell it was inside my apartment 
)
Thatâs a giant flying squirrel. I lived with one in my rafters for years.
Wow. Are they common in Taipei? I live in Zhongzheng near the Hakka park area. Thereâs a few trees around but wouldnât have expected them to come inside peopleâs apartments!
I lived next to the hills. Cyril would fly into the trees at dusk to get food and climb back up at about 5 am. They can fly a surprising distance. You wouldnât normally find them downtown but numbers of every type of animal are rising since people stopped eating them.
When I came here 30 years ago even squirrels were rare on the ground.
Yep.
Iguanas are native to North America. Itâs likely a former pet.
They are a pest spreading all over Taiwan. I saw one recently in the deep mountains in Hsinchu, was quite shocked to be honest because I had thought they were still confined to the south. Even though it is a cool animalâŚIt is going to damage Taiwanâs ecosystem. They are spreading faster and wider than anticipated.
Oh boy. There are probably in the millions already here. Be careful what you wish for.
Doesnât mean itâs right to do so.
They either die or they become invasive species.
I think theres a fine for releasing your pet willy nilly but itâs not that much from what I hear.
Also itâs even possible itâs bought by a Buddhist and released into the wild. This is very damaging to ecosystems. Because some Buddhist consider it good karma to release captive animals into the wild.
I didnât say it was right to do so. I simply pointed out that yes they can survive in the wildâŚimplying to the detriment of the local ecosystem.
Didnât we have this discussion before?
Is that a cat?
Raccoon
âŚOr even Baccoon.
