Dear Friends:
Here is a primer from a forest Officer R Bedi on how to spot a tiger.
I would be grateful for your comments.
What a wonderful time we all had at Sundarbans!
Regards:
Ashok Kumar, R.
How to ensure conditions for spotting a tiger even in the Sundarbans.
Adapted from an
extract from Corbett National Park.1987. Ramesh Bedi.Clarion Books. p 29.
About
45 meters from the kill, a machan had been set up on a tall tree, where
we could spend the night. We inserted freshly cut leafy branches in its
flanked walls, to make it look like an ordinary tree and removed every
dry leaf from the machan. Very important. Because, in the dead of night,
a dry leaf if stepped upon, makes a distinct crackling noise and
defeats the entire exercise.
We
sat there
motionless, with legs crossed. Soon our legs became stiff and we longed
at least to rearrange them, but we dared not, for the slightest sound
would be instantly picked up by the tiger's ears in the eerie stillness
of a jungle night; even the calls of nature had to go unanswered. A
cameraman on a machan must sit as motionless as a stone statue(witness
the 80 year old croc on the Sundarbans bank!), with the stable mind of a
yogi in meditation; and must neither sneeze or yawn.
A
tiger's eye is not capable of spotting a stationary object easily.Hence
our motionless state was its own protection. Nevertheless, a lighted
cigarette or the slightest movement would
be a certain give-away. Tormented by mosquitoes, we sat there helpless.
Because we knew that if we waved our hands, the tiger, for whom we were
waiting in such a disciplined manner, on emerging for a moment, would
slip back into the jungle at once.
A tiger and a leopard always follow the wind direction when stalking their shikar.
It
is believed that their whiskers help them feel the wind direction.
Their whiskers, though stiff and thick at the base, thin out towards the
ends; they sway in the slightest breeze, the
vibrations are carried to their base, from where, sensory
nerves take them to the upper lips.
When
dense jungle renders it impossible for a tiger to see a distant
object, he is guided by sound. It can hear the faintest whispering and
stifled coughs. Endowed with exceptionally acute eye-sight and extremely
sharp hearing, the tiger's sense of smell is, however, very feeble. Sit
absolutely motionless on the machan. make not the slightest sound,
remain wholly hidden behind leaves, and a tiger is unlikely to suspect
your presence. Indeed, there are instances of tigers coming within five
meters of machans without being aware of the presence of
humans. God's wisdom is infinite; for if the tiger's sense of smell
matched its hearing and sight, no animal could have lived safely in a
jungle.
The question in everybody's minds should be:
While walking into the Sudhanyakali Watch tower or the Sajanakali Tower enclosure, did we honestly create conditions to spot the tiger? Like in the way hinted above?
I feel Bombay Natural History Society would do well to give a pep talk on this to every batch visiting Sundarbans and other Cat reserves so our money we put on such costly trips was not washed down as we did not take care to create the needed conditions because of our own mistakes.
The fault dear Brutus, lies not with the Tiger but in ourselves, the nature lovers, because we failed to satisfy scrupulously the conditions laid down by the cat to spot the beauty!
Where and under what precise conditions did one boat party in the second batch spot the Royal Bengal Tiger(ress?)?? This is a gem of a prize! Perhaps for a lifetime!
The question in everybody's minds should be:
While walking into the Sudhanyakali Watch tower or the Sajanakali Tower enclosure, did we honestly create conditions to spot the tiger? Like in the way hinted above?
I feel Bombay Natural History Society would do well to give a pep talk on this to every batch visiting Sundarbans and other Cat reserves so our money we put on such costly trips was not washed down as we did not take care to create the needed conditions because of our own mistakes.
The fault dear Brutus, lies not with the Tiger but in ourselves, the nature lovers, because we failed to satisfy scrupulously the conditions laid down by the cat to spot the beauty!
Where and under what precise conditions did one boat party in the second batch spot the Royal Bengal Tiger(ress?)?? This is a gem of a prize! Perhaps for a lifetime!
Posted by R. Ashok Kumar, after BNHS trip to Sundarbans, 17 to 20 December 2012.
23 Dec 2012