Mundakkai: Birds and animals are known to foresee natural phenomena and alert humans. K M Vinod, a resident of Chooralmala in Wayanad that was destroyed in the recent landslide, had a similar experience when his pet parrot named ‘Kingini’ warned him about the imminent disaster. The parrot’s warning helped Vinod save the families of several neighbours and friends.

Vinod and his family had shifted to the house of his sister Nanda at Colony Road on the day before the landslide. They also took their pet Kingini with them. “Early next day, before the second landslide, Kingini began creating a ruckus inside its cage. The parrot screeched loudly and hit the iron cage violently so that its feathers began to come off,” says Vinod.

The sounds woke up Vinod, who felt that something was seriously wrong. “As I was aware of the situation in Chooralmala, I immediately called my neighbours Jijin, Prasanth and Ashkar. They were all sleeping and woke up to attend my call. Being awake, they looked outside their houses and saw muddy water flowing. All the families evacuated their houses and shifted to a safe place,” says Vinod.

While the houses of Vinod and Jijin were completely destroyed in the landslide, those of Prasanth and Ashkar were partially damaged. Vinod and his family are now staying at the camp in Government Higher Secondary School, Meppadi.