Sameer Jain (Kittu)Leave a comment

Fight another day

The jeep stopped and Bradley pointed towards a herd of Impala. They are everywhere, he exclaimed! While everyone else was looking at the impala, my eyes as usual were on the lookout. A slight movement in a bush caught my attention.

“Bradley, I think I saw some movement in the bushes”, I called out. He backed up the jeep to a halt, I pointed in the direction of the movement. A small head popped out and peered at us. Ah! Thats a mongoose! The mongoose came out supporting itself on the branch of a thin tree and posed for a brief moment.

Mongoose_SJK7448

With lovely evening light falling on it, the mongoose looked radiant. What is it doing up a tree, I wondered?

Mongoose_Crop_SJK7448

After a brief pose, the mongoose swiftly went up the tree, and as I tried to track it with the camera, I saw band like thing wrapped around the branch. There’s a snake on the tree, I let out a soft cry! Bradley was back in action with this binoculars, it is a Boomslang, a very venomous snake, he said!

Boomslang_SJK7452

No wonder the mongoose was up a tree! It was up for a fight with the Boomslang! The mongoose tried attacking the snake and after a few attempts, gave up and swiftly disembarked the tree. Although it was not possible to capture the action on camera, it was exciting to see this brief encounter of mongoose and snake.

Having seen something like this only once earlier (a stripe-necked mongoose hunting a snake in Bandipur Tiger Reserve), witnessing moments like these make a safari experience even more special and memorable.

Sameer Jain (Kittu)1 Comment

Puddle of Snake 

During one of the monsoon evenings in Bandipur, the safari van came to a grinding halt! Shuffling feet reached the window by the door and a camera shutter went into overdrive. Sitting in the same side as the door, I cranked my neck and looked down to see what had caught the photographer’s sudden attention. A stripe-necked mongoose stood beside a puddle of water.

The mongoose then entered the puddle and walked all around disturbing the waters. What was this behavior, I wondered? Moments later, my questions were answered. The mongoose in a flash, darted towards one end of the puddle and came out with a snake in its jaws! The snake was ripped and devoured in no time. After the mongoose was done with the snack, it repeated the hunt, only to have run out of prey.

mongoose_kill_jk12043
Stripe-necked Mongoose feeding on a snake | Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Having only heard of age old stories of the rivalry and battles of mongoose and snakes, it was one of those super exciting moments that one experiences with lesser mammals. Nature and wildlife doesn’t fail to leave you spellbound with such uncommon occurrences.

Shot with: Canon 1D Mark 3 + 500 f4 IS

 

Sameer Jain (Kittu)1 Comment

The Rat-tled Snakes

 

rat-snakes
Rat Snakes in Combat | ISO 800, f8, Aperture Priority, Benro GH II mounted on a Manfrotto tripod

One evening when I stepped out for my usual rounds of the property (Forest Hills Farm and Guesthouse), I could hear something rustling within the fallen bamboo leaves towards one corner. As the combating duo made their way inwards, I followed them for an hour and a half witnessing this ritual from far and close quarters. One of the most difficult shoots too. There were very few moments when these two would actually stay still. This one picture was worth the wait.