A crocodile tale from Mount Abu.
I was limping down the creek in front of the home, stopping now and then to hammer away at each bird that crossed my path, when two village lads came up to me and inquired whether I was photographing the crocodile. “Crocodile!!!” I exclaimed, wondering what crocodile they were talking about.
They glanced at me, stunned by what I had just said: “Surely you’re joking, sir.” You’re after the crocodile. We observed it downstream earlier in the day; has it migrated up here? For the love of Mike, I was at a loss, and I believed the boys were making fun of me.
I smirked and informed the boys that if I saw the croc, I would absolutely show them the photographs. I was waiting for them to depart because I didn’t want them to see the young white-breasted waterfowl I had discovered at the stream’s bank. Finally, I grabbed a couple shots of the bird and forgot about the croc.
Here are some of the photos I could get on my wobbly legs.
White-breasted Waterhen juvenile
White-breasted Waterhen juvenile
Oriental Magpie Robin
During lunch, a colleague, Mohan, arrived and requested me to check the settings on his camera. While reading it, I remembered the talk I had earlier with the local guys and asked Mohan to go down to the creek and see if it was real or not. I reasoned that it was possible because we got unusually severe rain on Saturday the 28th, and all the water bodies were overflowing. So this croc most likely floated down from Trevor's tank. Mohan put up his camera and went in search of the Croc.
Later that day, Mohan sent me a video clip over WhatsApp. He said he did not see the crock, although it was supposedly spotted the day before and mentioned in the local Hindi newspaper.
Wow, I thought, the leopard hasn't been too active on this circuit recently, but if this croc had gone upstream to my home, he could have had a field day with all the mongrels that rush in and out of the stream at all hours of the day and night.
