Pic : Injured Stag in Nagarhole

dhuli · 3rd April 2013, 15:28

A quick break to Kannur from Bangalore. I took the following route - Bangalore > Hunsur > Nagarhole > Kutta > Manathavady > Nedumpoil > Koothuparamba > Kannur, which I preferred to the more preferred Bangalore > Hunsur > Periyapatna > Siddapura > Virajpete > Iritty > Kannur. It is not just a better road surface to drive (these days, while Gonikoppal route is complete no, no); but also the nice sights in Nagarhole.

I was driving at a lazy 30-40kmph and saw some interesting wildlife including this stag casually grazing just by the road side not worried about the large Innova right next to it. Closer observation revealed what looked like an injury that it kept licking...a bullet wound I suspect since it was a single hole.

They were a bunch of stags! Also spotted a Common Hoopoe with a bright orange plume, couldnt get a pic. It was 10am in the morning and saw lots of Giant Malabar Squirrels. And of course there was the Kingfisher and a Peacock. No cats, no elephants ;-)

mayankjha1806 · 3rd April 2013, 16:06

I am devastated after seeing the hole, had assumed atleast in this part of the world forest patrolling was taken much more seriously and the incidents of shooting were far less as compared to any other forest area. Watching that hole on the body makes me think i might be wrong.

Is that a Air gun hole, or a proper bullet hole (Sorry i am not aware of different types of bullets). Or could it be caused by a carnivore as well?

dhuli · 3rd April 2013, 16:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Is that a Air gun hole, or a proper bullet hole (Sorry i am not aware of different types of bullets). Or could it be caused by a carnivore as well?

I am no expert either. Perhaps the more experienced wildlife experts on this forum could comment. Clearly, it was only a single hole that we spotted.

Here is another pic - a close up. This pic was taken of the stag while seated in my car.

ariesonu · 3rd April 2013, 16:27

That does not seem like bullet entry wound. The skin around the entry point is NOT burnt, which happens in bullet entry and surprisingly the wound being so open is not bleeding too.
In all probability its a wound received during males dual for a female.

Raab rakha.

rulerofsun · 3rd April 2013, 16:35

agree, that does not seem to be a bullet hole. No burns and the angle seems to be from under the stag. A hunter would normally be perched above the animal and shooting down. Also the hole is too big for an air gun bullet. Seems it got punctured on a horn.

BTW nice images captured while on a drive. Please bring on the whole travelouge.

dhuli · 3rd April 2013, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariesonu

In all probability its a wound received during males dual for a female.

That was 'elementary'! +1 your observation! You indeed have a learned eye. Now that you mentioned it, I went back to the other pics from the herd of stags and saw the one with really big horns in the second pic. You can almost tell the story. As I slowed down from 30mph to standstill, this herd emerged with the injured one leading. It was licking the wound, but not one bit nervous. It did seem odd then that it was quite unperturbed with an Innova right next to it. The rest of the 5-6 all male stags appeared and continued grazing along the road.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rulerofsun

BTW nice images captured while on a drive. Please bring on the whole travelogue.

The shaky one with the peacock was while driving. I slowed down for the rest, as my family of photographers started clicking. We drove this stretch at a crawl just to experience it, soaking in the scene. I will share more pics once I get my hands on them.

The trip was to kick off summer vacation for kids; a very short beach holiday at Thottada, one of the gentlest beaches around Kannur.

370Z · 3rd April 2013, 21:45

That looks bad!! But, strangely, it looks like coat is neatly shaved around the wound?

jnpai · 3rd April 2013, 23:13

The deer seems to be having some sort of infection caused by parasitic mice.
A similar looking condition happened to my pet dog Rikki, many years ago.
It is called red mange. The skin around the area tends to become very sensitive and hair around the area drops off, usually in round / oval design. The skin develops a hole around which the hair loss occurs and spreads to other parts of the body.

Any vets on tBHP will surely be able to throw more light on the subject

3rd April 2013, 15:28	#1
dhuli BHPian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 201 Thanked: 49 Times	Pic : Injured Stag in Nagarhole A quick break to Kannur from Bangalore. I took the following route - Bangalore > Hunsur > Nagarhole > Kutta > Manathavady > Nedumpoil > Koothuparamba > Kannur, which I preferred to the more preferred Bangalore > Hunsur > Periyapatna > Siddapura > Virajpete > Iritty > Kannur. It is not just a better road surface to drive (these days, while Gonikoppal route is complete no, no); but also the nice sights in Nagarhole. I was driving at a lazy 30-40kmph and saw some interesting wildlife including this stag casually grazing just by the road side not worried about the large Innova right next to it. Closer observation revealed what looked like an injury that it kept licking...a bullet wound I suspect since it was a single hole. They were a bunch of stags! Also spotted a Common Hoopoe with a bright orange plume, couldnt get a pic. It was 10am in the morning and saw lots of Giant Malabar Squirrels. And of course there was the Kingfisher and a Peacock. No cats, no elephants ;-) Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

3rd April 2013, 16:06	#2
mayankjha1806 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,159 Thanked: 989 Times View My Garage	re: Pic : Injured Stag in Nagarhole I am devastated after seeing the hole, had assumed atleast in this part of the world forest patrolling was taken much more seriously and the incidents of shooting were far less as compared to any other forest area. Watching that hole on the body makes me think i might be wrong. Is that a Air gun hole, or a proper bullet hole (Sorry i am not aware of different types of bullets). Or could it be caused by a carnivore as well?
	() Thanks

3rd April 2013, 16:27	#4
ariesonu Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,343 Thanked: 2,445 Times View My Garage	re: Pic : Injured Stag in Nagarhole That does not seem like bullet entry wound. The skin around the entry point is NOT burnt, which happens in bullet entry and surprisingly the wound being so open is not bleeding too. In all probability its a wound received during males dual for a female. Raab rakha.
	(1) Thanks

3rd April 2013, 16:35	#5
rulerofsun BHPian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Thane Posts: 191 Thanked: 150 Times	re: Pic : Injured Stag in Nagarhole agree, that does not seem to be a bullet hole. No burns and the angle seems to be from under the stag. A hunter would normally be perched above the animal and shooting down. Also the hole is too big for an air gun bullet. Seems it got punctured on a horn. BTW nice images captured while on a drive. Please bring on the whole travelouge.
	() Thanks

3rd April 2013, 21:45	#7
370Z BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 52 Thanked: 16 Times	re: Pic : Injured Stag in Nagarhole That looks bad!! But, strangely, it looks like coat is neatly shaved around the wound?
	() Thanks

3rd April 2013, 23:13	#8
jnpai BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: kannur Posts: 50 Thanked: 47 Times	re: Pic : Injured Stag in Nagarhole The deer seems to be having some sort of infection caused by parasitic mice. A similar looking condition happened to my pet dog Rikki, many years ago. It is called red mange. The skin around the area tends to become very sensitive and hair around the area drops off, usually in round / oval design. The skin develops a hole around which the hair loss occurs and spreads to other parts of the body. Any vets on tBHP will surely be able to throw more light on the subject
	() Thanks