As a part of Nick’s photo assignment, we have visited a plethora of bird markets. I wouldn’t hesitate to say we have seen some of the largest Java has to offer. The markets are crowded and intense, filled from floor to ceiling with thousands of birds. Feathers flutter everywhere, the birds sing madly and shopkeepers lounge on wooden benches beneath their live wares.
In addition to birds, you may also find endangered monkeys, a flying fox, fruit bats, puppies, squirrels, rabbits, rats and cats for sale. Oftentimes the animals are stacked in cages one on top of the other with no regards to what may be a natural predator to the other in the wild. Perhaps the most beguiling of animals I saw were the fruit bats and flying foxes. Hanging upside down in the cages, wrapped in their leathery wings, the bats have an almost eerie and haunting presence. Sadly, they are sold for this very purpose. According to one shopkeeper people buy the bats because they may absorb or deflect evil spirits if kept caged in a house.
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