Mount Abu freezes at -3 degrees.

Mount Abu freezes at -3 degree

Abuites today woke up to the biting cold of the season so far. Met a few folks on the road with Rudolph red noses, asked why up so early and that too on scooters. Their swear word was “Demonetisation” “Said better, freezing cold that to stand in a long queue and suffer the mad rush to beat the flocking tourists who throng the ATM machines throughout the day.
 My favourite kingfisher was on cloud nine. He had landed himself a lovely fish. I’ll post the snap later in the day. Here are some snaps taken from the frozen state of the surroundings.

The Short route to Kumharwada.

 Frost 

Bird water pots froze, scooters with layers of ice!

Invasion of the Abu Sky by alien-looking objects 

For the last fortnight or so, I have gone through the Google cards that have been highlighting UFO sightings all over the world. So it should come as no surprise that this part of the world also has its share of aliens. My last few blog posts have been crying out loud that our streams have become dumping grounds of alien sources of chemicals and other debris, the alien weed the water Hyacinth is chocking our precious water streams that support our animal and bird life, not forgetting our extremely rare flora that exists in the Abode of the Gods.
I had been observing and recording the day-to-day skills of the Peregrine Falcons that hunt every day from the tower when suddenly a heavy gust of wind invaded the sky above and within seconds a host of flying objects invaded the sky above. I fired a volley of shots from my camera capturing these flying alien objects, bad enough our waterways are being polluted and our lovely forests and picnic spots now even our open space in the sky is being overrun. Please see the snaps I took today and give vent to your imagination.

Is it a bird? UFO? alien? you decide! 

These objects are high in the sky 

Hundreds of them!

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

Flying objects 

New Year’s Eve and New Year in Mount Abu

Happy New Year from the Abode of Gods

Happy New Year from the Abode of Gods

New Year’s Eve and New Year in Mount Abu

New Year’s Eve in Mount Abu. "The Abode of the Gods" is one of the best places in Rajasthan to be for the New Year Celebrations.

Never one to miss its Winter Festival held every year. Abu prepares with loads of events for the locals and for our esteem tourists who make it up the hill. New year's last celebrations are held at Polo ground. For those who are not taking part in the Winter Festival, hotels, and other hotspots offer package deals to tourists to celebrate. The fireworks at the stroke of midnight are the beckoning call where the old year is booted out and we welcome the New Year. I from the abode wish all a brighter and stress-free year 2017.

Mount Abu Sloth Bears an update

Mount Abu Sloth Bears poached.

"After a census exercise, this year, it was estimated that there are approximately 350 sloth bears in Mt Abu. These solitary shaggy, dusty and dishevelled creatures normally wander alone, usually at night, in search of insects and wild fruit. I have encountered them many a time especially on the Delwara circuit and in front of the air force station. I have snapped them in the Kumharwada area in front of the St. Anna Church. I have photographs of them at my previous residence at Kumarwada. 

Sloth bears feed predominantly on termites and ants and employ a well-evolved method to dig them out. Their long, curved claws are used to penetrate nest mounds, which can be unyielding. Once they’ve opened a hole, they blow away excess dirt and then noisily suck out the insects through a gap in their front teeth. To do so, they close their nostrils and use their lips like a vacuum nozzle. The sound they emit gives them away. I have seen them scale the trees in the vicinity of the BSNL office to get the beehives. Once they find the hive, they are least concerned about who’s coming and who’s going. 

Today regrettably the sloth bear like most of our other creatures has been reduced to a second-class creature that has to depend on handouts offered by humans who have robbed them of their natural environment. Sloth bears are reviewed as vulnerable animals. Poachers think they're an easy target; their body parts fetch good prices. Claws, paws, teeth and gall bladder fetch a nice price on the poacher's market.

A female bear was trapped last week in Abu by some known offenders that have been poaching for years not only basic wildlife like the jungle wildfowl, spurfowl, hares, wild boar and of course the honey bear. The samba and porcupine have been hunted to such an extent that their population has dwindled to an alarming level of RED. 

But who gives a dam? People rave and rant and always want to protect the environment! Well! Let me elaborate. It's useless NO one gives a damn!

(Caution some pictures are gruesome)

The Female bear victim of Poachers

Body parts removed and  left to rot

B

 Today a bear attacked a BrahmaKumari by Gyan Sarovar, in the early parts of the morning outside the complex on his morning walk. He was admitted to Global Hospital for treatment. He received surgery for about 5 hours because of his mauled condition. There has been a hue and cry by the public at large but what a contradiction in terms, a fortnight ago a female bear was trapped and killed by local poachers for her body parts, her paws, her claws, her teeth, her hair and other body parts were removed for aphrodisiacs and for charms to be sold to the traffic who indulge in the illegal trade of animal parts. There was just an investigation and two local poachers have been apprehended.

  Ghanshyam of Gyan Sarovar Art Gallery 

The operation performed at Global Hospital

Today I have confirmed that illegal trapping is still a very big factor in this Abode of ours look at the traps that have been retrieved for Tiger Path on Christmas day, which is the tip of the iceberg.  These traps were laid for. it’s obvious the few animals that roam here are the leopard, the bear or any other unfortunate animal that happens to be passing this route. Poaching is rampant in quite a few spots in Abu. Professional poachers poach rabbits and the porcupine exercises the area below Gurushiker and right up to Vastanji. The sunrise valley, the area around Upper Khodra and the Aarna area should be scanned for traps as in these areas the jungle fowl and spurfowl are the primary targets.

Two of these traps have been retrieved.

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Mount Abu The Abode: Mount Abu Pristine streams are now Cesspools APPALLING "An update"

 Mount Abu Pristine streams are now Cesspools APPALLING

Every morning opposite my Abode, a White-throated Kingfisher wakes me up from my sound sleep with his shrill whistle chi-keeeee, the rattling calls are there to tell me it's come looking for its breakfast. It knows it must hunt in the silent and slightly cleared stream. It knows it must have a morsel or two of either a crab or some surviving fish before the rising sun or else look for food on the land to survive.

Water hyacinth has overrun the stream further down, and the tiny streamlet now choking with chemical affluence taking its toll on the teeming miniature living creatures will very soon be a cesspool where even misquotes would find it difficult to breed.

The weeds spreading over the surface of the stream, remind me of us human beings, they are as prolific, mobile, diverse and not fussy about where they live, adapt quickly and are a pain in the ass to do away with.

It pains one to see all our natural beauty and resources are not at the mercy of our corrupt bureaucrats, politicians blah, blah, but for us common denizens, who have lost our responsibility and reasoning to this modern way of living pursuing pleasure and entertainment away from wonderful nature. We LOOK but we do not SEE.

I’m posting some snaps of the fate of the fish in our stinking stream.

The weed spreads its tentacles 

My morning alarm clock, the Kingfisher is at the stream at dawn,

Doomed to die like the rest 

Pathetic state

 Not many left