Frogging in Kerala was not entirely without its share of give-yourself-goosebumps thrills, especially when the electric fencing the birdwatcher walks into is meant to keep away (drumrolls please) the animal who lent its head to a god- the ELEPHANT. Never mind that elephants are intelligent creatures, who over time are known to bend the wooden poles of electric fences with uprooted trees and still 'trespass' into human territory. I am going to make a significantly yucky and slightly illogical comparison here- Imagine holding a blood gorged leech. Now start squeezing the leech, slowly watching the animal puke out the blood. The leech of course, is the Western Ghats. And you, my reader, are smart enough to make the grisly connection. So anyways, we had to keep our eyes peeled for the beautiful beasts (elephants, not leeches) lest a particularly horny tusker decided to pay unruly attention to our feminine charms. This is decidedly difficult when you are almost upto your knees in slush, surrounded by clumps of bamboo which reduce visibility to a few meters and encountering elephant poo everywhere. Add to that, the bamboos creak overhead, as bamboo is wont to do, and you mistake every creak for the snapping of a twig under the giant's foot. You are told that elephants move with a haunting silence in the forest, but jumpy nerves and an unfamiliarity with elephant behavior are the worst companions on a trip into the Ghats. All this time, Keerthi finds frogs, swabs them and releases them in the exact capture location (even if it is up a waterfall where she slips, breaks her nose and then breaks out into hysterical laughter). The show must go on…
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AuthorRamblings on wildlife sharing spaces with non-wild humans Archives
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