Sahyadrica

The distinct nests of the Crematogaster ants, like oddly shaped footballs suspended precariously from the edge of a branch or jutted between two, remind me that I am in a familiar landscape. They’re quite rare to come by in the central Indian highlands where I now stay. These pagoda nests, as they are called, stand out starkly up in the trees. They are called pagoda nests because their papery roof-like structures made from wood pulp appear to be piled one above the other, like a pagoda temple – an adaptation used by the Western Ghat species of Crematogaster ants to drain off the rain. I’m looking at a forest that is seven years older since I last saw it – and it looks beautiful – the hills that roll in front of me are straddled with lianas embracing their host trees, and the fruiting of figs has brought together the most iconic of this forest’s species together. The smell of the forest is the only thing that hasn’t changed in all these years – it is still indescribable but rem...

If there is one animal I am fully uncomfortable around – or truly scared of – whichever way you infer it, it is none other than a wild bear. Having said that, I have had the liberty of lying very close to a fresh, odourless, dung of a Black Bear ( Ursus americanus ) in the temperates, always wondering if the bear was still around, or had simply trailed away on his daily trot as I was lulled to sleep by some outworldly forces. I do not know until this day if I really slept through it as I waited in the hide, or was my body innately reacting by feigning death to the presence, or the unknown absence, of the bear in the vicinity. But no bear sniffed me that day, I believe, however my imaginations opened the doorway to vivid dreams, exciting but downright scary. On the other hand, I observed that even man undergoes thanatosis, just as the little beetle you scared the hell out of, when you grabbed him off its perch. That was three years ago, and only a year before I had had the ...

Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve from 16th May 2009 to 23rd May 2009, a Report Introduction Dandeli-Anshi Tiger reserve is an 874 sq. km area of a variety of habitats, situated in Uttara Kannada, the northernmost district of Karnataka. Karnataka has four tiger reserves including Dandeli-Anshi. This tiger reserve is a merged area of Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and Anshi National Park, along with adjoining forestlands (10th May 2007). The habitat ranges from moist-deciduous and semi-evergreen to rainforests, with the panorama changing from mountain to mountain. The climate is humid and pleasant with off-season showers quite often besides with hot, sunny days. The flora is diverse, and harbors a myriad of life forms, from insects to large mammals. Everything in these forests is huge in proportion to everything that is seen in my backyard, like huge spiders, huge skinks, huge snakes (and longer) and huge trees, least I forget, ants and etc. I followed all of these, (pardon me botanists!) fro...