When it is time to shed their horns

Sambar Deer
Originally uploaded by Nachiketa Bajaj

It was a fine and misty morning while we drove around the forest hoping to catch some Tiger activity. We drove along 'Kamarpatta', A hilly and dense forest road where I was once charged at by a male Tiger but will discuss that in a different story as this picture here is just to share the beauty of this adult stag who was rubbing his antlers against a tree in a hope to shed his horns. I hope you enjoy my pictures and appreciate the  beauty of these fine animals.
To view more wonderful shots of this deer where it is actually rubbing its antlers against a tree, Please click here

The Tiger that came looking for us

Bijrani, Corbett National Park - November 14th 2008

Sometimes when you try real hard to find something, that thing comes to you itself.

I entered the park with two of my friends for a day visit in the Bijrani area on the afternoon of 14th November 2008. The sun was still high in the sky and we had about 2 hours of day light left to explore the forest. We set off on our journey and the forest seemed very lively on that beautiful Corbett afternoon as there were plenty of deer and birds around the area. Few minutes into the forest and we crossed the Bijrani  Forest rest house and entered the inner forest roads where we were soon greeted by alarm calls by spotted deer indicating the presence of a Tiger in the area. Driving a bit further on 'Kichar Road' we came to an opening in the forest where all the jeeps were parked looking at the alert Deer herd standing in the grassy patch nearby. We waited for 30 minutes looking at the direction where the Deer were looking till the time the alarm calls died out and the Deer became relaxed showing that probably the Tiger had either sat down to rest somewhere in the forest or maybe had gone away.

We waited some more hoping that the alarm calls may pick up again if the Tiger is still in the vicinity but it was to no avail. We pushed off from that spot and reached an open grassland where Elephants could be heard in the grass. In November, when the park reopens following the monsoons, the grass is so huge that even Elephants get hidden inside.
Disappointment started to show on one of my friend's face since it was his first visit to the park and he was still unable to see anything after being in the park for some time.

Light had now started to fade as the sun was almost at the horizon now. It was time to bid goodbye to the forest for the day. While we still stood there in the grassland I took some shots of the setting sun against elephant grass. Finally everyone started to make a move one by one to exit the forest for the day and my friend decided to go for one last drive down the forest road that lead to the Bijrani Watchtower to test his new offroader.

We were short on time and were just punching down the beautiful forest road which was surrounded by tall Sal trees. The evening had started to get cold and with the fading light our hopes of spotting any more wildlife also faded so we started to pack our cameras in the bag while driving. While packing I raised my head and noticed a large animal walking towards us. At first glance I thought it's a Sambar deer as it was hard to identify considering the low light and the distance at which it was and then I realized it was the King himself. I immediately asked my friend to stop and hurriedly the cameras came out of the bag and excitement reached fever pitch. I got out from the window and sat on the door and watched the Tiger pass by our jeep. My hands trembled in excitement as I clicked pictures. Realizing that the light was so bad that all my shots were coming blurred I stopped clicking and just enjoyed the Tiger before my eyes as it walked past us flawlessly marking and checking it's territory taking it's own sweet time and not at all bothered by our presence. This was the only somewhat stable shot I got of those majestic stripes walking past me. Long after the Tiger passed by we stood there feeling on top of the world for having such an awesome and close sighting forgetting the fact that we were getting rather late now to exit the forest. Realizing this fact we drove back to the camp in haste and remembered our superb sighting.