Text of my ‘When Worlds Collide’ column published in Ceylon Today Sunday newspaper on 4 March 2012

HELP! I’m under siege – from creatures only a few centimetres long.

Every nesting season, my home and office – both in Colombo’s densely built suburb of Nugegoda – are invaded by squirrels. Lots of them. They are not looking for food or asking for donations. They are answering the most primeval call of Nature: to multiply.

Evidently, we now occupy what was their roaming and nesting grounds for centuries. So they reclaim it, precariously building nests inside our wardrobes, window grills and elsewhere.

We’ve tried various tricks to scare them away — including hanging old CDs and mirror pieces, and laying wire mesh. Yet the determined little fellows keep coming.

One particularly fearless one turns up just outside my window, looks at me straight in the eye – and keeps removing fibre…