Indians For Guns

It was after I had shot my first maneater (as part of a Shikar team) that a friend of mine, Dushyant, came up to me with a request.
A pathologist by profession,Dr Dushyant has a keen interest in photography. We have known each other for a couple of decades now and over the years I have rubbed the wildlife bug on to him. Dushyant is a fantastic photographer. He has been awarded with the Governor's award in Nature Photography and the Chief Minister's award in the Landscape section. His photographs have been shortlisted and exhibited in competitions in Delhi. For the past 5 years he has picked up wildlife as a subject. Unfortunately he has never seen a leopard or a tiger in the wild.
"I will show you both within a year provided you are willing to rough it out with me." I bragged. The hangover of the maneater hunt was still on and like a fool I made this promise.
It was only later that I realised the tough task ahead.
15 June. All National Parks in the state close for the monsoon. The cosways get flodded and the jungle roads get washed away. It is only after 4 months that the parks open again.
Time was running out and I had yet to fulfill my commitment. Our 4 previous trips to the Parks including one with fellow IFG member Zaheer Bakshi (were we spotted fresh pug marks) and the other with Corbett 99 (a fresh sambhar kill) had proved futile.We had come very close to spotting the King of the Indian jungle but the beast had eluded us.
It was now or never.

To make matters worse I posted:
"Leopard on Sunday. Tiger on Monday."On Dushyant's facebook page.
The pressure (on me) was building up.
My plan was simple.
It was peak summer with temperatures rising to 40 plus degree C.
Visibility (with dry shrub) was at its best, this time of the year.
With a little extra effort we could spot the big cats near a water-hole / source.
Spotting 5 leopards in a single evening (in the same season , the previous year) was my best till date.

We would start from Motichur range in Rajaji National Park. There is only one tigress in the area. Where there are less tigers there are more leopards. There are an estimated 30 plus leopards here. But when you have to look for them in a jungle this size ,with limited time,it's tough.

The following morning we would start early and drive to Dhikala . The heart of Corbett National Park.
The first National Park in the country. We would spend two days there and be back on wednesday night.

Corbett: The Land of Trumpet , Roar and Song.

Lots of photos to follow.
Baljit you will have to help me out again.

Hi Prashant,
> Through this post you've raised the levels of anticipation & excitement....
> Awaiting the photographs & as usual your exciting narrative
Cheers
Briha

S Hussain , a local friend had spotted a leopard and photographed it a week ago in Motichur range.
Raj from Bhopal , a banned IFG member but an active member on another gun forum. Had gone to Corbett and spotted a beautiful tiger.
I was confident that this was the time.
Rather overconfident.

We left for Motichur on sunday and spent the evening there.
I had been to the range 5 years ago and had spotted large herds of Cheetal and Sambhar along with a majestic tusker in that trip.

To reduce the tourist rush in Cheela (another range in Rajaji Park) the forest dept. had opened the Motichur Range . Earlier one needed permission to visit the range which was issued by the DFO. Now you can just walk in . Pay the fee. Hire a jeep and visit the range. This , I feel has disturbed the animals and affected them adversely.A four lane highway coming up along the range with delays in the flyover project for the animal corridor has made matters worse.
This visit turned out to be a disaster.
The evening trips are from 4p.m to 7 p.m. But I requested the Range Officer to allow us in at 5 p.m. (to save us from the heat) and give us an extra hour in the evening.
Thankfully he agreed.
Dushyant and I hired a gypsy and took a guide along -- which is compulsory.

All we saw were a few spotted deer and a sambhar doe.
We saw a few serpent eagles and a lone wild boar.
By seven it was dusk and soon dark.
"Dusk to Dawn" I told my friend "Watch out for the Leopard now."
We drove and drove through the jungle roads but saw nothing.
Finally . Just about a kilometer from the main gate . I saw those amber coloured eyes in the middle of the road.
"Leopard" I whispered in all excitement.
The gypsy moved straight on , but what surprised me was that the eyes were fixed to the road.
When we got close enough to about 20 yards . We finally realised it was a stupid nightjar.
Once again I had been fooled by this bird.
Flashlights are banned within the Park so there was no way we could spot the leopard that evening.
My prediction had gone all wrong.
Both of us were dissapointed.

Will put up the snaps of the Indian Roller, Serpent Eagle and the (stupid) Nightjar.

Hi Prashant,
> Your beautiful narration has further raised the levels of our excitement & anticipation...
> May luck favor you with the spotting of a leopard in prime soon....
Briha

Is it something in the wilds that all "men of the jungle" have a gift of the narrative?

Prashantji, waiting your next instalment with baited breath...... much as you would wait in the machaan!

essdee1972 wrote: Is it something in the wilds that all "men of the jungle" have a gift of the narrative?
Prashantji, waiting your next instalment with baited breath...... much as you would wait in the machaan!

essdee,
> Every 'nature lover' is gifted with this supreme quality....
> When the vibes of the wild synch with the vibes of the 'men of the jungles'....the result is a 'symphony'
Briha

Posting pics on behalf of the good doc-
Indian Roller



Serpent Eagle



Night Jar




Pran

Great naration as usual by you, Prashant. Love to read your posts.

Cheers,
SS

Sunday was a disappointment.
No leopard as predicted by me. But our fortunes would change on Monday. On the very first day of our stay at Dhikala we would witness a spectacular ambush and charge on a herd of spotted deer (Cheetal) by a tigress and her almost full grown cub.
We left at 4 a.m. and reached Ramnagar after a comfortable 6 hours drive. Finished with all the booking formalities and hired another jeep to drive 17 kms to the main gate from where we drove another 31 kms to Dhikala Forest Rest House.
We were welcomed by a barking deer (doe) within 200 m of the entrance.
It's raining Elephants in Corbett this time of the year . I counted more than 30 that afternoon.

Will have to ask Pran to put up the second set of photographs.

Few more of doc's pics-
The Elephants


Mama, Papa and the little one!







Jim Corbett






Pran

Hi Doc..All photos are clicked very professionally. After seeing the pictures it seems the journey might have been very exciting.Give my regards to Dr. Dushyant.

The land of Trumpet (wild elephants) , Roar (an estimated 200 tigers) and Song (throughout the day you can hear the birds chirping).
The Ramganga with it's crystal clear water is the life line of Corbett. The water is home to Mahaseer (fish) , Gharial and Magar.
On my last trip (which was in the winters a couple of years back) I spotted Gharial and Magar basking in the sun. In peak summer they are difficult to spot.
The beauty of Dhikala is it's Chaur (grassland). It's almost like the African Savanah or the South American Pampas.
The grassland are home to the Hog deer which can be seen grazing with herds of spotted deer.
As a child I have seen hundreds of them here, but their numbers have gone down subsequently.
The Kalagarh dam, built on the Ramganga at the southern end of the park could be one of the reasons. The dam has taken away more than 40 sq kms area of grassland and forest area.

After our drive through the grasslands, we were returning to the Rest House when our driver heard some Cheetal calling. (We had taken some snaps of the elephants in the backdrop of the setting sun and were very happy with ourselves.) We drove straight to the edge of the forest from where the calls were coming. The Cheetal were restless. With their tails up they were all grouped together (safety in numbers) and calling at regular intervals. They were all looking in one direction , where we presumed the predator was sitting in ambush.
There were a couple of jeeps on the other side as well. My friend and I were ready with our zooms to take snaps of the tiger when, to everyones surprise a tigress jumped in from the opposite side. In three leaps she crossed the wide forest road and was gone within a couple of seconds. In a desprate last minute charge, the cub came out from the other side, to help his mother. The deer were faster than both of them and it turned out to be a failed attempt.
The tigress had placed her cub on one side of the road. The cub had made himself visible to the deer. In the mean time the tigress had crossed the road , come to the other side and was waiting for the right time to make an attack.
The attack was so swift that none of the tourists could take a decent snap. I captured one image when the tigress had crossed the road and entered the jungle while Dushyant captured the image of the cub racing away.
How I wished I had a movie camera , at that particular time ,instead.
Though the snaps of the big cats haven't come out well. The memory will remain fresh for a long time to come.

The two (forgive the poor quality) snaps of the tigers along with a few others.

Posting more pics on Doc's behalf-


Doc n Doc


The Tiger!






Pran

Hi Prashant, Pran,
> Lovely narration & thrilling pics...
> Eagerly waiting for the next installment....
Briha

Good thread Doc,

Last pic is screensaver material.

-Inder