[fazalaliadil]

Dear all,
Our shortest trip ever to the reserved forest of Srisailam.
There was confirmed news from a reliable source that we heard in Hyderabad, "a tiger was moving in the Gundem area in the very early morning" we decided to have a go at it, evening of 4th December saw us at the Mannanur check post after our legendary dinner we were off to bed by 10:30 as the next morning had to start at 5:30, which it did.
We went into the Farahabad route towards the view point, on the way we saw pug marks of a tigress, went on till view point and there it was a magical velvet morning as the fog hadn't yet lifted neither had the moon gone down yet the soft sunlight filled the sky.
We were four Devidas, Ramesh, Vijay and myself... Vijay did his breathing asana's in the oxygen rich environs and the rest of us were enjoying the unlimmited horizon. Again after half an hour, we were on the move towards Gundem.
Ramesh and Devidas did a 2.5 kms. very very brisk walk on the forest trial and we had to keep the Scorpio right behind them as the only thing feared here is the bear attack. All did their morning exercises, my exercise started earlier then them carrying the heavy lens fitted camera for three hours.
At Gundem we saw plenty wildlife, peacocks, spotted deers and a very majestic spotted deer stag, (largest I have ever seen) at a distance of about 200 feet hardly visible under the cover of a dark bush. Then on the Gundem forest track we saw fresh pug marks of a male tiger, and we knew we missed the chance of seeing the tiger yet again at NSTR.
For the day the two set of pug marks was our reward.
Came back to Mannanur a heavy breakfast, bath and Hyderabad.
Regards,

Break of dawn on forest highway.

A wonder.

Heading to Farahabad, ineternal road.

View from View Point.

Moon still out.

Zoomed @ 640mm

At the edge of a 1000+ foot drop.

A fog drenched view for miles.

It sure was cold there.

Asana's in motion.

The serious ones.

Colours of nature.

A Royal Stag.

Pug mark of the male tiger.

Scouting for more pug marks.

The group.

[vnabhi]

Wow, another safari on a Scorp! Keep posting, Fazal.

BTW, do they allow vehicles to cross the Mannanur check post after dusk?

[mnhegde]

@fazal: Fantastic pics Sir. Every pic is a beauty. Which camera was used ?

[mjothi]

wow, interesting adventure. Just curious. How do you spot that the tiger is male by looking at the pug marks

beautiful pics. The moon and the asana. I like the innovation of that wooden trunk seat.

[muralisk]

Awesome pics and as usual, it is a visual treat. Great stuff Fazal.

[srikanthpotluri]

great pics and the sight of Royal Stag is too good. I am having the same question as mjothi

[REMU]

Jogging in the forest, that to early in the morning.

Serious Guts guys

[pulsar56]

wow! beautiful pics Fazal saab.
Really appreciate your passion for Wildlife. Kudos.

[addyhemmige]

Lovely pics Fazal sir. Even I saw a pugmark of an adult male tiger while trekking in Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala. While I did not notice the pug mark, the tribal guide who was with us showed it to me & explained that an adult male tiger had crossed our path that very morning. I consider myself extremely lucky to sight my first pug mark

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

great pics and the sight of Royal Stag is too good. I am having the same question as mjothi

Originally Posted by mjothi

wow, interesting adventure. Just curious. How do you spot that the tiger is male by looking at the pug marks

beautiful pics. The moon and the asana. I like the innovation of that wooden trunk seat.

Originally Posted by mnhegde

@fazal: Fantastic pics Sir. Every pic is a beauty. Which camera was used ?

Srikanth and mjothi,
The male tiger has a bigger paw and pointed at the front due to very well developed claws and the spacing in between which is wider than a female.
mnhegde,
The cameras in use were Canon with zoom and wide angle on the same body and also a NikonPS.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Wow, another safari on a Scorp! Keep posting, Fazal.

BTW, do they allow vehicles to cross the Mannanur check post after dusk?

vnabhi,
The check post is open till 9 pm from 6 am. Thanks for your appreciation.

Thank you all for your kind comments and appreciation, that's my reward.
Regards,

[vnabhi]

Fazal---I really admire your spirit for adventure. You remind me a lot of an uncle of mine (now deceased) who was an avid hunter. (I may be going a bit OT, but cannot resist.)

On one of his safaris in Orissa forests, he was attacked by a hungry tiger that pounced on him, despite the camp fire that they had lit. He lifted his rifle with both hands to ward off the tiger---in the process the rifle was split into two pieces, and he had deep scratches on his left wrist--those scratches remained till he died in the mid-90s.
His companion shot the tiger at close range in self defence, and we still have a picture of the dead tiger lying in front of my uncle!

So please do take precautions on your safaris.

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Fazal---I really admire your spirit for adventure. You remind me a lot of an uncle of mine (now deceased) who was an avid hunter. (I may be going a bit OT, but cannot resist.)

On one of his safaris in Orissa forests, he was attacked by a hungry tiger that pounced on him, despite the camp fire that they had lit. He lifted his rifle with both hands to ward off the tiger---in the process the rifle was split into two pieces, and he had deep scratches on his left wrist--those scratches remained till he died in the mid-90s.
His companion shot the tiger at close range in self defence, and we still have a picture of the dead tiger lying in front of my uncle!

So please do take precautions on your safaris.

vnabhi,
Yes, I have heard of this particular incident in the Hyderabadi hunter circles when I was a kid myself.
The unpredictable nature of each trip in the deep jungles gives you a high like none other.
previously, there are times each one of us could feel the presence of the tiger within feet...somewhere in the bushes, it was not possible for all three of us to feel the same electric charge at the same time, neither did we hear a sound or anything but within us our blood curdled. The tiger saw us that time we did not.
And vnabhi,Thank you for the genuine concern.
Regards,

[shams]

Very Nice pictures of a wintery morning in the forest

[gd1418]

Fazal,

It was really gutsy of your two friends to have done a 2.5 km jog inside the dense forest. What I don't understand is that you feared a bear attack but why not a tiger attack?

[Ravveendrra]

Fazal saab strikes again! Great pics, lovely photos and yes, I too am awed by your passion for adventure and wildlife.

Cheers,