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-   -   ‘THE COLD STARE’ - I always heard about it, read about it. Now I know it - up close (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/86153-cold-stare-i-always-heard-about-read-about-now-i-know-up-close-3.html)

A good experience very well narrated, great work Extremetorque. Awaiting more pics

Awesome. Great writing and even better pics.

Now I want a pet tiger like the one Mike Tyson has.

What a catch. Tiger spotting in rains is a stroke of luck with jungle so thick. Perhaps the cats also got sick and tired of so much under growth!!

How safe is it, all those folks standing up in open jeeps while these cats are freely walking about? And, for all they know, there could be more around.

All 4 of us were in the Gypsy behind the cat. The ones in the jeep ahead of us were put up in the same guest house.
Thanks, somu. More coming up.
Thanks much!
LOL
lol: Yes, thats what the guide said. The cubs get irritated with the number of parasites in the bushes and both adults and cubs prefer walking in the clearings.
They say it is safe, but i did have my doubts. With so many around, you can never predict the behaviour of a wild animal. Jungle folk lore has it that if you can spot the tiger once, it has already spotted you 25 times. My guess is also that the tigers do not attack anything much larger than them and mistake us and the jeep as one animal. Thats the reason, there is a strict rule of not getting down from your vehicle.

As long as they are not man-eaters, tigers don't cast a second look at humans. Guess they are reading about all the toxic stuff we eat called junk food :D
Jokes apart, no wild animal attacks man unprovoked. Man-eaters are an exception. But for a tiger to become a man-eater, it needs to develop the taste of human blood.
The protocol is that open vehicles are made to stand further away from the beast. Closed vehicles enjoy a bit more of proximity. But then, one loses the fun of the jungle going in a closed vehicle.
Go to gir, you can go closer to the asian lions, more than what is done in a tiger sanctuary. Because, asian lions don't attack humans. I've seen tribals walking carrying firewood on their head, right next to lions resting in Gir!.
Leopards, those things are scary. Most often a leopard loses it's way, strays in to villages and attacks humans (more to protect self).

Precisely. As the tigers get old and cannot hunt, they tend to scavenge and at times turn man-eaters. Fazal told me that there was a recent incedent (last month) where an old tiger was spotted in a watering hole and some of the villagers gathered around it. One of them walked too close to its comfort and the tiger attacked him, ripping out his arm.

@ExtremeTorque - That was excellent narration on spotting the tiger & could feel the tense & reminded about the movie Kaal.

Magnificent snaps! Totally hooked onto this one to see the python pics and video.

The snap when the tiger is spotted is just too good and i was as excited as you must have been spotting it in the wild. Kudos to your writing skills!

Thanks a ton aargee! Yes it did remind me of kaal.
Thanks abhinav! I forgot to mention that most of the tiger snaps were taken by my good friend Satish. And i agree, he has done a wonderful job with his P&S, Sony H50. Rest are split between my friend Naga, my wife Nidhi and me. We used my friends (Prashant, from my Jog travelog) H7.

No matter how many times you spot a tiger in a forest, each time its a new experience. Nice pics extremetorque. Looking fwd to the video.

Awesome pics and good narration. You have to be lucky to spot the cat. I have not had my success yet. You are definitely a lucky man!

I hope more pics coming up soon. :)

Hey how was your heartbeat like when you saw the cat. Some experience. Nice pictures. Please continue.

15 more minutes of waiting and everyone realized that the cubs have left – to the safety of their mother. Our guide told us that the mother tigress had killed a Sambar the day before and the cubs might be hungry and headed for their dinner. Wasting no time, the driver next headed to another by lane. Some more off roading and sightings of a few spotted deer and a few birds and we were near a lake in the middle of the forest, called Telia Dharan.

Telia Dharan


All the while it had been drizzling and it suddenly started to pour.

Before the rain


After the rain, we were dripping wet, but didnt mind it


Our guide told us an interesting story at this juncture. Last year there was a Sambar that ventured into the lake, trying to escape a tiger. Little did it realize that it was stepping into Crocodile infested territory. The Sambar got stuck in the muck on the shores of the lake where the Croc’s could not reach it and could not get out as there were now 2 tigers waiting for it to come out and stake their claim. The standoff continued for 28 hours after which one of the tigers, the bigger one stepped into the muck and killed the Sambar. Most of this was captured by tourists and aired on STAR News and other news channels.

At a distance our guide showed us some spotted deer grazing. The lake is a beautiful sight in the monsoons, with the lush greenery around and a watchtower (machaan) overlooking it. This was our first clear sighting of spotted deer in the forest. Once back into the by lane on our way back, we noticed some more deer in undergrowth.

Watch tower or machaan in local lingo


Closer look at the machaan


Our first deer sighting by the lake (This is all our camera's could zoom)


While heading back to make it to the gate before the 7PM deadline, something huge crossed our road. I was sure it was not a tiger. Further inspection and proximity revealed a full grown Sambar. I was amazed at the sheer size of this creature – it was close to 6ft tall and 6ft wide. Then it struck me how powerful the tiger can be, bringing down such a huge animal. I know and I have heard about tigers killing bisons or Indian Gaur’s. But in the jungle, after a close look at a tiger (cub) and a Sambar, visualizing it killing a giant Sambar is another experience.

Sambar escaping into the bushes


Once back on to the main road of the core area, we quickly make it out of the gate, just in time and back to our guest house. Phew! What a day!!! Tiger, Spotted Deer, Sambar, wild boar, Jungle traffic jam!

We order food and retire to our rooms for a quick wash and change. The food is very basic here and I felt that some of the items are a bit on the higher side. A small 150 gms bowl of rice costs 50 bucks! But in the middle of the jungle, one cannot haggle much, especially after our first encounter with the majestic beast. Dinner done, it was good night in a short while.

Spotted these machines near the guest house. All were Hyd registered and inspiration for wifey and me to make it next time on one of these: