A group of the Rajnagar
State Park Rangers : nice people and a close relationship developed
due to the author telling them old days-of-the-Raj 'shikar' tales
of Jim Corbett, Harry Levenson and Samuel White Baker and a display
of his tracking-skill and game-knowledge which led to him being
adopted as an 'Honorary Ranger' and the given-nickname 'Robin
Hood'. In rare moments of spare-time in the semi-dense jungle,
the author tracked sambhar, langur, karkar, wild pig and what
was termed by the Rangers as 'jungle-cow' (which resemble bullocks).
They later told me that the nearest crocodile - named 'muggers'
in India - were twenty kilometers away. Their answer to every
and any possible threat was the double-barrelled shotgun loaded
with buckshot seen here - I did point out that it was unlikely
to stop a charging animal but using solid-slug, the recoil from
a double was judged by the Rangers to be 'uncomfortable' …
but as the author pointed out, it is likely to be even more uncomfortable
to be eaten alive.
A 'snake-bungalow'
in the jungle. One had to be wary of these as a bite from a
hamadryad or cobra could be fatal - but most snakes sleep in
the heat during the
daytime and emerge after dark to catch small mammals or birds. |