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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cubs


SafariChick

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About the antler arch - I also don´t remember that one. Could it be new?

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@@michael-ibk Rajan didn't mention if it was new. It was just outside the breakfast hall, and before you enter into the various buildings that made up the museum. If you hadnt seen it when you were there, then I guess it must be fairly new. I can't find any information on the internet on the antler arch.

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~ @@Kitsafari

 

Your barasingha series is gorgeous!

Such a noble animal.

The eyes of the female, in the portrait facing the lens, are expressive.

I smiled to see a Singaporean so bundled up. Glad you came fully prepared.

Your breakfast image shows how @@SafariChick glows on safari. No wonder she returns to nature as often as possible.

Really enjoying this report!

Tom K.

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~ @@SafariChick

 

I share @@madaboutcheetah's admiration for that first image of the barasingha in the misty landscape.

The photo of the mother and child langhur, the child's hair almost looks as if its mama had groomed it.

Both you and @@Kitsafari are well geared up for the cool temperatures. That indicates to me that a visit to India in this season isn't in any sense tropical...to say the least!

In reading about the baggage tag runaround at security checks, I'm unclear as to exactly what's meant by ‘baggage tag’ in this case.

Is it one of the airline-provided slip-through paper tags?

Or...is it a more durable reinforced tags, possibly with clear plastic protecting passenger information?

I read @@Atravelynn's comments, getting a sense that it's essential to prepare for that.

Were I to ever someday visit India, I'd want to arrive with whatever baggage tag best suits their requirements.

This trip report is great fun to read, as you have a gift for expressive relating of events, which livens up the commentary.

Thank you for undertaking this during holiday time when your kids must be home.

Tom K.

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@@Tom Kellie Thanks for the kind comments. I agree, I often thought the Langurs looked like they'd just had a haircut!

 

The tags are just little paper tags that the security is supposed to put on each piece of hand luggage after it's been screened. The important part is it needs to have a stamp with that day's date on it. I too had been given a tag for my small purse that had no stamp and the employee inspecting bags as we boarded the plane suggested I stuff it into my backpack or else I'd have to go back and get it stamped!

 

Oh and yes, my kids are home but they are quite self-sufficient and self-entertaining teens most of the time :-)

Edited by SafariChick
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@@Tom Kellie Thanks for the kind comments. I agree, I often thought the Langurs looked like they'd just had a haircut!

 

The tags are just little paper tags that the security is supposed to put on each piece of hand luggage after it's been screened. The important part is it needs to have a stamp with that day's date on it. I too had been given a tag for my small purse that had no stamp and the employee inspecting bags as we boarded the plane suggested I stuff it into my backpack or else I'd have to go back and get it stamped!

 

~ @@SafariChick

 

Who would have suspected that?

May I see if I understand this?

The paper tags need to be affixed to each piece of luggage, which isn't anything controlled by the passenger, but rather is done by the airport security screening staff.

In other words, not in any sense controlled by the passenger.

Yet if a security staff member doesn't do as they should, it's the passenger who must once again go through security screening.

Does that more or less sound right?

Tom K.

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Fantastic, I have been waiting for this report!! What a crazy trip you had getting there, I would have been a wreck, but as you say, you really have to just accept and go with the flow. WWI sounds like they did a fantastic job of re-routing at the last minute. I might need to take a sedative for the driving :o

 

So lucky to have seen a tiger on your first drive, it takes a bit of the pressure off!

 

But Rajan better keep his hands off my camera, LOL. No one touches my cameras but me. I don't even let hubby near them. :lol:Bring a decoy then and hand it over to him!

 

Can't wait to hear more!

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I don't remember that antler arch! It makes me feel better that @@elefromoz did too.

 

The chital emerging into sunlight from the dark shadows are lovely.

 

I can relate to the excitement of a pug mark--and to no tiger materializing.

 

The green spot veggie symbol is helpful. If it were not present on the Diet Coke, that would be kind of gross, actually.

 

Owls, Barasingha, misty mornings...you've transported me back to Kanha! Lovely.

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@@Tom Kellie Yes, you got that right - kind of crazy huh?

So interesting that many of you who've been there don't recall the antler arch - maybe it is new? It seemed like something that had been there forever but that is probably just an assumption on my part!
I found this site that confirms my memory of what I thought Rajen said about the Barasingha and the grass on their antlers:
Barasingha deer, star attraction of Kanha, often adorn their antlers with tufts of grass in the rutting season. - See more at: http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/travel/wildlife-destinations/madhya-pradesh/kanha-national-park.html#sthash.g8mHfVhu.dpuf

 

 

That is under the wildlife tab at this page: http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/travel/wildlife-destinations/madhya-pradesh/kanha-national-park.html

 

That reminds me, @@Kitsafari did you get a recording of the Barasingha making a rutting call? Unfortunately, I did not.

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@@Atravelynn Yes, that would be gross if the Diet Coke was Non-Veg - though there are already some pretty scary ingredients in Diet Coke! I might make a NY resolution to try to stop drinking so much of it (I am a bit of a Coke Zero addict) - notice I say MIGHT :P

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Thursday's Child

I too am really enjoying this report - and the photographs, especially the ones of the barasinghas.

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@@Safaridude @@Thursday's Child Thanks so much, glad you are enjoying it! There will be more photos of the antelopes coming - I have become more and more of an antelope enthusiast and these guys and gals were very charming!

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@Safaridude@Thursday's Child Thank you for the generous comments!

 

aren't the Barasinghas simply gorgeous? the red brown coat, and the regal antlers. I'm amazed at how they have adapted to living in the swamps, and I hope their numbers will continue to grow and spread in their natural habitat in the parks.

 

Although their counterpart - the Sambar deer (Rusa Unicolor) may have a duller greyish coat, their size more than makes up for it. I didn't expect the sambar to be so big. I had seen a sambar in Sabah once before and they seem smaller than those we saw in Kanha and Tadoba, but it could be that the Bornean sambar I saw was a young urn and hence smaller in size. INterestingly, IUCN lists sambar as vulnerable, and says they are rather rare in some parts of central and east India.

 

even the common chital (Axis axis) is enthralling, with their beautiful spotted coats and small delicate faces.

 

I had hoped to see the rare nilgai and the beautiful black buck, but it was not to be. Rajan had mentioned once in Tadoba that a nilgai was seen just outside the park, but when we left the park, we headed straight back to the lodge. perhaps the nilgai had moved on. :(

Keeping within @@SafariChick's time zones in the TR......
A gentle "battle" of antlers against the harsh daylight:
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I think this was a sambar mother and baby. a drongo hitching a ride on the mum
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@@Kitsafari yes I think you're right about the sambar above - and you are right about where I left off with my photos - because of course even though I said I wasn't doing a day by day report, I am going in order of what we saw! I just went through a bunch more photos that were from the the next day so I will get to posting some of those shortly!

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Ok back to some photos from me. A few more Barasingha just because they look so pretty with the water:

 

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This isn't the best photo technically, but this monkey was interesting to me - at first I thought he was just hanging on the tree by hugging it but when I looked more closely I saw there was the slimmest branch sticking out that he was resting at least some of his weighton

 

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This was the first time we encountered Guar and they were very close to the road. We were driving and suddenly stopped and realized we were right in the midst of a group of several, including this huge male:

 

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He came out of the bushes and we could see how massive he really was

 

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Why did the Guar cross the road? You can see how close he is to us in this photo

 

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Some pals already on the other side:

 

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I thought this one might need a chiropracter when done eating

 

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Now time for everyone to cross back to the other side:

 

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Again, very close to our vehicle:

 

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Staredown:

 

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Watching us with some suspicion

 

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After quite a few photos, we decided to leave them in peace

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Photo of a tree instead of an animal for a change:

 

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We came upon a pair of jackals (I didn't know there were so many jackals in Indian parks, but we saw them I think every day in Kanha) and one of this pair gave me what are some of my favorite photos of the whole trip. It was so expressive, a real ham for the camera:

 

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After posing for us, it went over to its partner and began to either groom it or try to wake it up

 

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Not responding to my nibbling on that end - what should I do?

 

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Let me try this end:

 

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Such a funny little thing!

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Finally a few kingfisher shots and I THINK that finishes up what I have to share about Kanha, but perhaps @@Kitsafari may have more to share before I move on to Tadoba.

 

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madaboutcheetah

Lovely Jackal shots there

 

PS - If you guys like the Guar - another plug for our Southern Parks (they really are all over the place here). These guys are much bigger than the African Buffalo, don't you think?

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@@madaboutcheetah Thanks Hari, I really like the jackal shots too - good subject! Yes, I do think the males at least seem quite a bit bigger than African Cape Buffalo

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~ @@SafariChick and @@Kitsafari

 

Guar? Nilgai? Blackbuck?

All unfamiliar species. The male guar is a walking hill!

Very cute jackals.

Drongos use sambar taxis?

Great kingfisher images!

You guys had great fun, in what appears to be nice weather.

Enjoying each installment, looking forward to Tadoba.

Thank you both!

Tom K.

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@@SafariChick actually we saw the male Gaur on his own first and the breeding group further away.

 

a quick background to Kanha Tiger reserve - it is divided into four zones - Mukki (which our lodge at Chitvan was closest to), Kanha (the location of the breakfast hall and museums), Kisli (towards the west) and Sarhi. we were mainly in the first 3 zones.

 

We saw the Gaurs as we drove to the Kisli zones. The male was hanging at the edge of the road as we came by.

 

I was so thrilled to see the gaur - it was at the top of my wishlist (tiger, dhole, gaur, barasingha, bear, others). @@SafariChick has seen American bison before, but not us.

he was a magnificent male specimen of Bos Gaurus. He was huge and all solid muscle and bone. That huge hump on the front of his back made him look stupendous and an incredible force for a tiger to take on. Only a tiger can take on the gaur, and even then, on its own, the tiger will think twice about taking on such an intimidating creature. But this male seemed to have been taken on by a tiger, or so our guides had speculated. he was limping as his left hind leg was held high as he walked, but he got away.

 

contemplating if he should cross the road

 

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here's a short video, although I did regret not pulling back to show his magnificence. :(

 

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we came on the breeding group after we drove on for about half an hour. just supplementing some pix here

 

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a one-horned adult

 

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something tasted delicious! and a shy calf behind

 

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oh you're absolutely right, my memory is terrible - good thing you are here to keep me honest @@Kitsafari! Actually I just looked at the time stamp on my photos and it looks from those like it was about 1.5 hours apart, if that seems possible? And I forgot about his limping, the poor guy - I just remembered his beauty. I hope he is doing ok! It's nice to have the videos you took as they really fill in the details.

Edited by SafariChick
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That tree image in @@SafariChick's list is the fabulous Banyan tree and is regarded to be the national tree of India. Banyan trees are considered sacred, and I've always loved the trees - the widely spread out leaves, the intertwined branches, the aerial roots, the amazing wide shelter that huge canopy can provide. But it has a insidious beginning. the banyan tree starts life as a strangler fig - a parasite that eventually kills the host tree. We used to have so many of them in Singapore, but i think most of them have been cut down in the name of development. such a shame. According to legends, the Hindus believe that Lord Vishnu is the bark, Lord Brahma the roots and Lord Shiva the branches. Buddha was said to have been sheltered by a banyan tree after he attained enlightenment. In Singapore, the trees became a magnet for Hindus and Buddhists, as well as punters who believed the spirits of the tree would help them obtain winning lottery numbers!

 

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