Big Cat Magnet or a Lucky Talisman?

Pinks are Links

I have been doing the wildlife circuit for more than a decade and a half now and my first close encounter with a big cat in the wild came after 5 years of tiger tracking! Even after that, the few times I crossed paths with the big cats, were few and far in between. 

Then, in the January of 2015 I broke my 300mm f2.8, the best lens that I owned broke in two and my heart with it. I had mounted it on my E-M1 and it was the first trip with a new camera. It still rankles but then it seems there is a bright side to the debacle. It seems that this nightmare ordeal in the middle of a safari was the turning point in my woodcrawling life.

On that first trip with the E-M1 I met two leopards, not something I had experienced since April of 2010. The first one walked past when I was still recovering from the previous day's experience. I had an older 50-200 mm lens I carried as back up but forgot that all zoom lenses have a long ends to them! I got some pictures but it was too late by the time I realized that I was shooting at around 125 mm!! The very next morning, we had our second leopard of the trip and I, again, forgot that I had a tele-zoom and an in-body digital teleconvertor! So much for getting used to a prime.

Meanwhile, Olympus Japan sent me the Zuiko ED 90-250mm f2.8 as a replacement. I wasn't very keen on a medium telephoto zoom even if it was fast. I would have preferred my prime. This lens wasn't ideal for birds even with a 2x teleconverter attached. However, in combination with the E-M1 it was doing a much better job than with the E-M5. In addition, I started noticing, my big cat encounters suddenly was on the upswing! 

People carry many things on themselves that are purportedly, their lucky talismans. I never believed in such things personally and so never had one on myself. The next trip was to Kabini, in April of 2015. The E-M1 was now permanently mounted to the new lens and they seemed to make a fine pair. together. On that trip, we met the spotted one up close. This one was lapping up water from a puddle not 20 meters away, and then walked towards us before cutting across the track into the forest beyond.  

It was then that I started getting the feeling that something was happening. A big cat was always a bonus on any trip but this was becoming a habit. I didn't think much about it but then the feeling got reinforced on our next Bandipur safari. In August we did a combined Bandipur-Masinagudi trip with a friend and his family. Once again, late in the evening, we got a call about a tiger sighting. Predators don't wait for us; so we went, half expecting that the beast would have taken cover from prying human eyes. When we reached the spot he was still there, the Prince of Bandipur. 

He was one tiger I always wanted to meet but never succeeded in any of our trips. There he was lolling about in a mud puddle looking absolutely disinterested at all the excitement he was generating.  Once again, a very close encounter! I looked at my E-M1 and the new lens with a new found respect! They were a rocking combination! Four cats in three trips never happened to me before. More like one cat in five trips!

23rd October, 2015

The pull of the wilderness never goes away and if Skanda and I had half a chance, we'd be off. So the Pooja holidays of 2015 was just another excuse! We packed our gear and drove off to Bandipur. By now I had procured another adapter for my son and we were both using OM-Ds with four-third lenses. He had the Zuiko ED 50-200 mm f2.8 SWD on his E-M5.

Morning safaris are more for the birds but as we turned a corner on Wesley road, Bomma, our driver said. "Leopard." For a few seconds we were searching around us, and then we realized that the cat was in the grass ahead of us, marking territory as cats do!

We thought he'd slink away into the bush seeing us but it seemed he was out for a purpose. He got off the grass and onto the road.

Without hesitation he kept moving straight at us. Our presence was not going to dissuade him from advancing.

At one point he moved onto the grass in the middle of the track, sprayed on it, and kept coming forward.

He wasn't taking his eyes off us. Perhaps he was curious to know what we'd do.

Then, a few meters ahead of us he crossed to the other side and continued advancing.

Some 10 meters in front of our vehicle he veered of onto the grass, maybe realizing that we were not moving.

One withering look................

...............and a purposeful turn of the head before heading off away from us.

At touching distance he moved towards the lantana...........

...........and disappeared through a gap.

It was a great morning, and again I felt that the new combination of gear seemed to be having an effect on our opportunities for meeting the big cats, striped or spotted! With that overwhelming feeling we reversed to go onto a parallel track, hoping that this beautiful creature would appear again.

As we waited, he appeared from behind us and started stalking something in the bush.

I think the noise of the camera shutters furiously clicking annoyed him. He gave a single backward glance, as if to tell us, "Buzz off! I'm hungry!"

As we moved away leaving him to his hunt he resumed his stalking, of a chital herd, once again.

Whether he caught his breakfast, we never found out, but we sat for a very satisfying breakfast at the resort. That feeling about the E-M1 and the 90-250 mm lens working as a lucky charm was intensifying!  Ever since the E-M1 came, we had not had a trip without a big cat. Big Cat Magnet is seemed to be!!

Summer in Kabini - Part 3: Dholes in the drizzle

25th April, 2015

Link to Part 2 of the series is here

Kabini is famous for its leopards and tigers. They are the apex predators in Nagarahole but there is one more predator, much smaller but no less fearsome; at least for the prey species. The dhole, or Indian wild dog. What it lacks in size, it makes up in cunning and ferociousness.

Dhole

After the excitement of the morning we were looking forward to something more interesting in the evening. We had planned to take a boat safari instead of going in the bus again but a thunderstorm forced a change of mind.

A few years ago, on sunny summer evening, we were caught unaware by a freak thunderstorm in the Kabini reservoir. The storm lasted a good 45 minutes and we had to beach that boat for  safety. After it blew over we made our way back in pitch darkness. It was the light of a few torches and the experience of the boatman that got us back to the resort safely.

Flashback 2011. Trying to outrun the storm

Flashback 2011. The storm hitting us from behind

The flashback is still not very memorable but that made us jump into our bus for the evening safari. After all the worst thing that could happen was that we'd get stuck in the mud and the bus had headlights!

The thunderstorm that started after lunch had settled into a steady downpour as we got off for the safari. The bus had shades on the sides but the rexine on the canopy was torn in many places and it was dripping onto the seats. There would be small breaks in the rain and when we passed under some big trees but it was drizzling all through. It was highly unlikely that we'd be seeing anything worthwhile, or so we though.

Black naped hare & stripe necked mongoose

One of the magnificent tuskers Nagarahole is famous for

We were in a different zone and the smaller jeeps had sped off quickly. We were in a bus that trundled along trying to avoid all the slush and waterlogged potholes. More than the reduced chances for  wildlife sighting we were worried about getting stuck in the mud!

Then, a flash of brown up ahead on the track in front of us! Dholes! Not one, but a family of two adults and seven pups. They were in a hurry. The parents loped off ahead quickly, with the pups following in a line behind them.

A little further up the track we found the parents standing on a fallen tree looking at something in the distance. They were in the hunting mode and we could sense the thrill of a live hunt. Dholes are pack hunters and I was wondering what two adults would bring down.

Without warning, they leapt off the tree and went racing after something which we could not see. We couldn't keep up with a bus and abandoned any thought of giving chase and parked at a junction waiting for the adults to return.

They would return because the pups were still behind us. They were not running like their parents but were following more slowly.

They all gathered around another fallen tree and were calling in their peculiar whistling way to their parents. A few minutes later we heard the parents return their call and soon enough they were came back to where the pups were waiting for them. No successful kill today.

The rain was picking up and standing at a place was making the torn canopy sag with the accumulated water and it was cascading into the bus. At least if we moved the water would flow off backward, so we left the pack to reunite and drove off.

The wet elephants look like they were made of black clay!

The rain had made the grass grow fresh and the were twisting the green shoots and feasting on it.

A little further on, pair of sambar bolted across the grass giving alarm calls. A predator was on the move but none that appeared in front of our waiting eyes.

We were on the way to a forest rest house and elephant camp inside the forest and then we encountered the second dhole pack of the morning, five adults and four pups.

The wild dogs are pack hunters. They run down their prey and attack from all around. Once selected and cornered the victim doesn't stand a chance. What is more gruesome is that they don't wait for the victim to die. They start feeding even before death overcomes their unfortunate prey.

Perhaps they don't want to take chances. A tiger or leopard in the vicinity might get interested, though it is highly unlikely the bigger predators will try to steal from these fierce creatures! I have seen a leopard run for its life, chased by two dholes, in Bandipur. That was another stormy day in the summer of 2010. If it were a full strength pack even a tiger will not stand a chance. A leopard can scramble up a tree, (see the link in pink), but a tiger will be hard pressed to escape!

The drizzle was steady, without let up and the light was fading. It was better to start our return rather than risk getting stuck so late in the evening. As we were driving back we passed a herd of sambar. They seemed unperturbed, perhaps the weather offered them protection against the predators.

Nagarahole's had put on display its two famous predators in one day, despite the inclement weather. Not only that, both encounters were within touching distance of the beautiful creatures. 

For once, an aborted boat trip was proving to be a blessing!