Fruits for sale.

Fruit stall on the Colombo - Avissawella road. Bananas, Pine-apples, Melons, Mangoosteens, Rambuttaans and Guava fruits are some of the wide variety available for sale

Langurs raiding a 'Rambuttan' tree, Meepe, Sri Lanka

A sumptious feast of 'Rambuttans'

'Rambuttan' trees produce fruits which fetch Rs.2 to Rs.5 wholesale and Rs.10/- each for consumers. Thieves rob the produce. Bats, squirrels and various birds eat part of the produce. Langurs raid the plantation to enjoy the fruits. The owners do various ruses to prevent these acts. In earlier days empty tin cans were tied to the top of the trees and were made to rattle by pulling a string from a hut close by to scare away bats at night. Transistor radios were put on full volume and tied to the top of the trees at night. Recently I heard that domestic dogs are put in a cage and tied to the branches of the trees to bark and chase away thieves and pests. I saw a keeper using stones on a catapult to chase away the monkeys.

Video:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwGgtzyTXmY

Fruits for 'Puja'

A  roadside sales point for sale of fruits to make a 'Puja vattiya', for offering to the Gods at the Katharagama shrine. This was on the Tissa - Katharagama road.