Musings of an eccentric mind
On a dry, hot October afternoon, the deer were relaxing in the shade of their little oasis. The way some of them stared at us, I can only imagine them gossiping about the wide-eyed trespassers and the ridiculous noises coming from those black things in their hands.
This is post #25 in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or as Ra calls it Nano Poblano
NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month = Thirty straight days of blogging
The Sariska Wildlife Reserve was, at one point of time home to over 40 tigers. During our safari, our guide informed us that wildlife enthusiasts preferred Sariska over Ranthambore. Unfortunately, poachers felt likewise. Due to poor monitoring and rampant poaching, by 2004 there was not one tiger left in the Reserve.
The lack of tigers led to an increase in deer with the population of over 25,000 Sambar deer alone.
In 2005, three tigers were relocated from Ranthambore and the number of tigers in the 800 sq km forest has now risen to 13 (with less than half the area allocated to it, Ranthambore boasts over 50 tigers)
This gorgeous creature is one of thousands of deer at the Sariska Wildlife Reserve.
It’s November. Regular bloggers may be familiar with the Nanos. This year, I’m also going to try to post something every single day. So I’ll see you tomorrow 🙂
This is post #2 in this year’s NaBloPoMo, or as Ra calls it Nano Poblano
NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month = Thirty straight days of blogging
Thanks a bunch to all the cheering peppers who have been tweeting and liking posts across WordPress 🙂
We took to the roads early morning and checked into our hotel just before lunch. While our rooms were being readied, we confirmed our safari booking. We then picked up the keys and headed towards the rooms.
Our rooms were towards the back of the property in a separate compound. On entering, we were greeted by a small lawn with a cluster of bamboo plants in the centre.
Near the edge of the lawn stood a Sambar deer with the most majestic set of horns. What a welcome!
We rushed to our room, dumped our belongings and went to meet our host.
Not wanting to frighten him away, we maintained a fair distance. Having clicked away to our heart’s content, we moved closer. The deer didn’t seem to mind. We walked further ahead until we were less than 2 metres away.
That thickness was an opening into the Sariska Wildlife Reserve.
Being at the edge of the forest, we were told it was not advisable to go out alone at night. And for good reason. The next morning, our safari guide confirmed that pug marks were found just outside the hotel. One of just 13 tigers in the 800 square km forest had paid us visit while we were asleep.
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “(Extra)ordinary.”
PS: This beautiful creature is a Sambar. The south Indian dish frequently accompanying idly, vada and dosa is pronounced SambAAr.
Musings of an eccentric mind 